Rainy Days Ideas

Experience, discover and be inspired by the amazing worlds of the miniatures. Be fascinated by Dr Schultze's old fantasy railway or Lilla Småland's genuine landscapes and environments. Run your own model train or try the robot track. See the historical exhibitions, tin soldiers, airplanes or Holger Johansson's carved wooden figures. Take a break in the cinema or the café. 1000 sqm of discoveries await you.

Are you brave enough to come face to face with living dinosaurs? Ten kilometres outside Kalmar there is an exciting exhibition about the dinosaurs’ time on earth. The exhibition is the biggest in Europe and shows more than a hundred skeletons and ‘live’ dinosaurs of real size. They even move and roar! They include T-Rex, raptors, Triceratops, Pterodactyls, water-dwelling dinosaurs and many, many more.

This is where Astrid Lindgren, our best-loved author, was born and grew up, took inspiration for many of her stories and books, climbed in the lemonade tree and played with her brothers and sisters in the woodshed. In the 1960s, Astrid Lindgren restored her childhood home to the way it was when she was born, and today the home and garden are open to visitors on guided tours

Most activities can be made suitable for children, including glassblowing. Many of the glassworks in the Kingdom of Crystal offer children and adults the chance to blow, paint or engrave glass.

The premises of the world’s first IKEA shop are in Älmhult, and they have been turned into a museum. Playful and creative exhibitions make IKEA Museum a fun visitor attraction for both young and old.

In the summer, Kalmar castle belongs to the children - great adventures await! Meet horrid ghosts in the dungeons, follow a princess through the many halls and bedrooms in the castle or help the castle jester find a treasure. If you’re brave, you can fight the Black Knight. For rainy days, the indoor adventures at Kalmar Castle are not to be missed!

When you get to Filmbyn, you are more than a cinema or museum goer. Here, Astrid Lindgren’s stories are told as they were in the films about That Emil, Seacrow Island and Pippi Longstocking. Here you can go behind the scenes and be part of making your own film, sing along to the film music, visit the studio sets and much more in the interactive settings.

Your children will love the hands-on Superkronan exhibition. They'll get to play as they learn all about the royal ship Kronan, life in the 1600s and life aboard a ship at sea. The exhibition is aimed at children from preschool age upwards – and their parents. Everyone aboard can play on the deck, climb the mast, dive down to the wreckage of the Kronan, and study different things in the lab.

Rock candy has its home in Gränna where it is made in many sizes, flavours and colours. The original is red and white with a peppermint test. The mother of rock candy, Amalia Eriksson, has brought on many smiles. In 1859 she was given official permission by the town administration in Gränna to: "Here in the town as a means of support, bake with her own hands coarse rye and fine breads and make so-called rock candy." The Swedish word for rock candy is ‘polkagris’. At that time, polka was a very popular dance, and the men liked to use sweets to attract ladies to dance, and thereof the name ‘polkagris’!
There are many rock candy makers in Gränna that not only sell but also offer demonstrations and allow visitors to make their own rock candy.

Dress up as a troll, princess or knight. John Bauer’s fairy-tale characters come to life with the costumes in the fairy-tale wardrobe. The exciting and mystical wardrobe, which offers fun and play, can be found at Jönköping County Museum. There are troll outfits, princess dresses, knight costumes and more that fit children.

Test your adventure skills in some 50 rooms with challenges to solve. Form a team and choose from three levels of difficulty. Each room has a unique challenge and the team has two minutes to solve it. If you do, you get a green light and can continue to the next challenge.

Whether you’re a real water baby or a little more wary, you’ll find something to suit you at Rosenlundsbadet – Jönköping’s largest pool complex with an adventure pool, relaxation suite, outdoor pool, lane swimming, diving pool and gym. Rosenlundsbadet in Jönköping has everything you could ask for when it comes to swimming and health and wellness!

Don’t miss an adventure at the water park! Whizz down the waterslides, bob up and down in the wave currents, enjoy the hot springs and have fun in the lovely pool environment. There is a children’s pool for the very youngest. At Västervik Resort the Mediterranean flows straight into the Baltic Sea!