What’s it like to take a hiking trip to Wipperkotten, which contains a historic wrought with a water wheel? On an island in the Wupper river (Wuppertal is the city with the famous suspension monorail and the big zoo) lies the romantic Wipperkotten, which still houses a wrought where one can sharpen one’s knives. We…
What’s it like to take a walk through NaturGut Ophoven in the city of Leverkusen, a big park where you also can celebrate children’s birthdays? On this beautiful fall day, we ventured out to NaturGut Ophoven with grandma and aunty. Entrance is free. In addition, one can book events for kids, all around the topic…
Have you ever held an American Eagle? Nope? It’s quite heavy, and when you look it in the eye and see its huge beak, you might be lucky to wear your sunglasses that day (at least I was). Lyons Cub “only” got to hold a barn owl (kids got smaller birds to hold), but still…
What’s it like to search for fossils in a quarry? Disclosure: Some of the links below are affiliate links. This means that, at zero cost to you, I will earn an affiliate commission if you click through the link and finalize a purchase. Today, we drove to the city of Hagen to meet the GeoKidz…
What’s it like to go hiking and determine the name of plants with the help of the PlantNet App? Today, we went on a nature walk again, but this time, it was special, because we went hiking with a group of other parents with kids in Landschaftspark Fuhrkamp, with the goal of determining plants with…
What’s it like to play soccer in a club with school children? Disclosure: Some of the links below are affiliate links. This means that, at zero cost to you, I will earn an affiliate commission if you click through the link and finalize a purchase. Sports is very important for children in order to train…
What’s it like to build a snowman with children? Red cheeks and nose, thick snowsuit, snow boots, and warm gloves — it’s that time of the year where kids and parents enjoy sledding and building a snowman together! The snow has to have just the right consistency (not powdery and light, but sticky and moist)…
What’s it like to visit the Neanderthal Museum in Mettmann? Are your kids interested in ancient human beings, tools from the Stone Age, mammoths, skeletons, and the like? Well then, a cool destination would be the Neanderthal Museum in the city of Mettmann, on the traces of one of the first human beings, the Neanderthal…
What’s it like to visit a dripstone cave? Today, it was wet and cold (4 degrees C). Where could we go for an outing? Got it — somewhere warmer and drier — a dripstone cave!!! We picked up grandma and drove to the city of Iserlohn to visit the famous “Dechenhoehle.” It is the only…
Disclosure: Some of the links below are affiliate links. This means that, at zero cost to you, I will earn an affiliate commission if you click through the link and finalize a purchase. Ahhh, the fascination of little kids with sand and water 😉 Here we are at the park with the climbing animals and…
Hello expats, travelers, or even locals who need a few tips what to do and where to go with kids aged 2-12 in the Rhineland — check out our recommendations for activities around here, be it inside or outside, in all kinds of weather. I moved back to Germany after 15 years in the United…
Lyons Cub loves to play outside, especially in the forest, where he can build and hide in wooden teepees, climb on tree trunks, and find all kinds of insects, such as lime hawk moth caterpillars, etc. We found a cool nature adventure park, Landschaftspark Rheinbogen, in the town of Monheim at the right side of…
Ahhh, finally!!! The otters were out. Maybe because it was a sunny day for a change (although it was quite cold for October, brrr… Lyons Cub wore a scarf and woolen hat for the first time outside). We made a trip to the Wildpark in Leverkusen again, in the hopes of seeing some animals that…
It was May 8th, 2009, around 11 a.m. I sat at the computer in my office in the English department in Faner Hall of Southern Illinois University Carbondale, from time to time glancing out of the window at the bending trees and the pouring rain. It was finals week, the final exams and essays had…