Spring Day and the fair  " Kids are to have fun outdoors!"

The Spring Fair on 1 May is open between 10.00 and 16.00, events on farms take place from 11.00 to 16.00.

The events of this year’s Spring Day are all about children. In the old times, school was out for the summer by early May in the countryside, but not for holiday: there was a lot of urgent work and all hands on deck on the farm. The older you became, the more responsibilities you got.

Nowadays May means that the long and busy school year is nearly over. Children have the right and even duty to rest in the summer. The Spring Day is when visitors can visit the farms of the museum and its new adventure trail, the Shepherd’s Trail, to see how children’s daily life changes throughout history alongside with their rights, duties, joys, and sorrows.

The fair of food and handicraft will be taking place on the main road of the museum.

Admission with the Museum Card and TallinnCard is free!

Buy an e-ticket

We recommend using public transport, walking, or riding a scooter or bicycle!

Public transport:

Buses number 21 and 21B stop at the museum's gate. Buses number 41 and 41b go from the museum to the city center. It's about a 15-minute walk along the seaside road from the Zoo stop.

By car:

Free parking is available at the museum's main gate, the Tehasemaja parking lot, and the rear parking lot (about 1 km towards Kakumäe from the main gates).

TICKET OFFICES ARE LOCATED:

At the museum's main gate and rear gate (about 1 km towards Kakumäe from the main gates).

Shepherd’s Trail 

The museum is opening its Shepherd’s Trail on 1 May. It will take the visitor on an adventure with a shepherd boy called Ants and his loyal friend, Muri the dog. The activity trail will take you through a day in a young shepherd’s life on the farms, in the woods, and on the shore, putting your knowledge, skills and wit to the test. There are enough things to do for several hours of games and fun. Just follow Ants and his dog Muri!

Sassi-Jaani farm – knowledge is better than riches

In the period of peasants’ serfdom, no one on Sassi-Jaani farm could even dream about choosing a school for their children. The following are invited: Waldorf schools, Montessori education, Democratic schools, Christian schools and kindergartens, as well as Kolahoov. These days, we have a number of schools to choose from. Take a closer look at the schools available to children today.

Köstriaseme farm – teenager’s first job and employment contract

Farmhands hired for the summer started working on farms on St. George’s Day. The family on Köstriaseme farm has also hired two youngsters who’ll have to prove their skills. The cunning farmer has concluded an agreement with young Anna in his favour, but is it also fair?

How to find your first ever job nowadays? We have invited smart adults to explain this to you. You need to know your rights and obligations to avoid being cheated.

 

From 11:00 to 16:00, CV Keskus will provide advice on choosing your first job, and from 12:00 to 14:00, SA Õpilasmalev will be present.

Pulga farm – work first, play later. 

Farm work and children’s games Kids on the farm started helping adults out at a very young age as boys were to become good farmers and girls, skilful farm wives. Children were involved in various tasks. They gathered fallen branches for firewood in the woods and stones in the fields, stacked firewood, ground flour using a hand mill, helped with laundry and cooking, digging, and spreading manure. The family on Pulga farm welcomes kids who want to help out. You can also practice carrying buckets on a yoke and peel logs! And, when the day’s work is done, it’s time to play in front of the barn-dwelling.

Härjapea farm – the life of toys in the first Estonian Republic. Making rag dolls

In the old times, children had many tasks and obligations. Personal toys, on the other hand, were very few, which made them especially loved and cherished. The exhibition on the farm shows toys that are about a century old. Will your toys look as good as they do now in a hundred years? Will they be of any interest to future generations?

This farm is also where you can find some fabric leftovers for a rag doll or make a small rag doll and take it with you.

The Kolu inn – Spring Fair Something fun would always be happening at any fair.
There would be jugglers and contortionist, musicians, and barrel organ players, and what wonderful things they could do! Circus studio Folie will perform at 12:00 and then teach tricks to those interested. At 13:15 Piibarid will perform and at 14:15 Kreete Viira and Jaagup Kippar will play music. There is also a historic merry-go-round next to the inn.

Lau shop – paradise for a sweet tooth
Children liked sweets as much as they do nowadays. Lau village shop sells several types of candy, and the shop assistant has prepared mixed bags of sweets today, so you can try all of the candies and choose your favourite. After you have done that, you can listen in the livingroom how the teeth were taken care of?

Barn-shed on Kolga farm – farm birds and animals. 

Kolga Farm Kid’s World in the yard of Kolga farm, you will find a true farm kid’s world, where you can try doing various farm works, for example, putting a horse to the cart or sorting potatoes.

In the barn section of the building, there is an exhibition ‘Every little step counts’, which will teach you a thing or two about environmentally friendly practices of our ancestors.

Guided tours in the shed to see farm birds and animals start every hour. The maximum group size is 20 people because the animals prefer it this way.

Kuie school – good children don’t need the rod

A schoolmaster would be strict or downright evil in the past, but today’s teachers are understanding and can solve any conflict with words. Let us see how the things that were not allowed to children or were expected from them changed with time. The lesson will be taught by a historic school master and modern teacher at the same time. Margit Sarv from the Office of the Chancellor of Justice, Department of Children and Youth Law will be our guest. There is a small display of means of punishment: birch twigs, dried peas, and a pointer. Classes take place at 11:00, 12:00, 13:00, 14:00 and 15:00.

While older kids are in school, younger ones are welcome to join a fun folk lesson taught by Kreete Viira on the 2nd floor of the school (starts at 11:30).

Kolkhoz apartment building: toys made of paper and candy wrappers that still smell nice 

In Soviet times, the toys all looked the same. Such little things like collecting candy wrappers brought joy: the wrappers would be sniffed, swapped and admired. Regular paper could be used for drawing the toys one was dreaming about. Children's magazines of the time offered an opportunity to make something out of paper.

See how good you are at drawing and make a doll of your dreams or a fun puzzle from paper! Or fold up the barn-house of the open-air museum!

There are collections of Soviet candy wrappers on display. In the kitchen, the housewife is making traditional desserts: chocolate salami and toffee puffcorn cake.

Sepa farm – young shepherd’ toys
Shepherds would often play house and farm life, pretending to have their own livestock. Cattle figurines had to be made of wood. You can also carve wooden cattle and other nice toys, as well as make a whirl to scare wolves away. Other types of toys in our workshop are whistles, boxes and pipes made from birch bark. Once you learn how to make them, the skills will stay forever! The price of the workshop is 5 and 10 euros.