Tom Tits i Södertälje - farmor Anna experimenterar

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Guest writer: Anna Nilsson Spets

The October sun shone from a bright blue sky, the wild wine crackled
in every shade of red on the colour chart that morning we arrived at
the pretzel town of Södertälje.

It was time for the secret autumn outing with grandchildren Alice, almost 7 and
Elsa just over 4 years old. Aunt Emma was there of course. One adult per child was perfect.

It was hard to come up with clues for this excursion, the grandchildren had been given ONE; "SOAP BUBBLES" which made it impossible to figure out where we were going.

Of course, we were going to the Tom Tits experimental museum.

The museum has been running since 1985 and strangely enough I have never been there so it was a bit exciting even for an old grandma.

Tom Tits is located in the old premises of Svenska Centrifugs on Storgatan, there is plenty of parking space and when we enter the old factory building we are warmly welcomed by young employees.

Four floors of nothing but experiments, good thing Aunt Emma was there! Alice and Elsa want to try everything!

How can we get through 500 experiments?

The different themes are physics, technology, maths, physical geography, biology, man and illusions, all divided into different floors. Each station has an informative sign about what it is and how to do it.

On the first floor, it's all about marbles and blocks and soap bubbles - imagine being able to make a whole soap bubble wall! Elsa thinks it's cool. Alice makes a mega-sized bubble.

We take our seats for the first show, which is about space and air pressure, the audience is as engaged as the guy doing the experiments.
What drive and commitment!

Sucking the air out of a coconut ball definitely gives me flashbacks to my physics lessons in secondary school.

We take a break in the bright and fresh dining room, standard dishes suitable for children and fresh super tasty sandwiches for us adults.

The grandchildren try the climbing wall, we try most of what there is to do.

It's time for the soap bubble show! We learn that square soap bubbles make round bubbles and that carbonated rice makes smoky bubbles.
The show ends with a giant super-duper big bubble. We applaud.

One floor is all about the human body, listening to the heart, testing sight and hearing, and looking at different types of bodily fluids and poop. Very exciting.

Tom Tits has something to suit most people, some things are of course difficult for young children to understand but then there are other things to see and do. In summer there is also an outdoor area with several activities.

Going through the entire museum takes several hours, you can probably easily spend a full day here at least with slightly older children. For us, four hours was enough and the little sweet grandchildren immediately pass out in the car home.

We make a coffee stop at Taxinge Castle with its fantastic cake buffet, what would life be without coffee ? And what would life be without children and grandchildren ... Very poor!

READ MORE: Junibacken in Stockholm - Aunt Anna goes to childhood
READ MORE: Astrid Lindgren's World - Grandma Anna's secret journey

Good to know about Tom Tit's Experiment

Location: Storgatan 33, Södertälje, about 35 kilometres southwest of Stockholm
Website: www.tomtit.se

Good to know about Taxinge Castle

Location: Nykvarn municipality, Södermanland county, about 60 kilometres southwest of Stockholm
Website: www.taxingeslott.se

Photo: Emma Karlström Spets / Anna Nilsson Spets

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Anna Nilsson Spets

60+ year old lady with a lifelong love for Africa. Emigrated to Flanders in Belgium and works with plants on a daily basis. Writes, takes photos and tries to inspire others to budget travel on their own. Blogs on "Anna's mix" about travelling, work, plants, writing and much more.