Bunnies and hedgehogs lead the way on a sculpture hunt and parkour adventure
The City of Tampere’s daycare centres and early childhood education services have drawn up ‘sustainable mobility adventure maps’ for various areas of Tampere. The children have marked their favourite local spots on the maps: playgrounds, nature spots, specific climbing rocks and fallen trees. The maps also feature fun and exciting tasks designed to encourage physical activity, with cute animal characters inspiring the children.
Daycare centres have already created maps of their local areas in at least Kaukajärvi, Härmälä, Irjala, Lielahti and the Tesoma neighbourhoods.
A free guide to creating adventure maps
The maps created by the daycare centres are available to everyone on a single summary page online. You can browse the maps there and use them for your daily adventures. More adventure maps are being created in the daycare centres, so it’s worth visiting the site to see if there are any new ones. With the help of the maps, you can set off from your own neighbourhood to explore interesting places, perhaps even on the other side of Tampere.
The same website features a guide to creating your own adventure map. You can download it free of charge for your own use and create an adventure map with its help. The website also includes a webinar recording that provides a step-by-step guide to using the guide.
Schools can also create adventure maps
Adventure maps are also ideal for schools. Creating adventure maps is a great way to increase student engagement and foster their sense of agency. Students can map their favorite spots in the local area and nature and work with their teacher to design appropriate activities for those locations. For teachers and other school staff, the maps highlight easy-to-reach and interesting locations in the school’s immediate surroundings where lessons can also be taught outdoors.
When creating the maps, it’s a good idea to consider distances so that all locations can be reached either by bike or on foot. The maps encourage more active movement and help students become more familiar with the area around their school and the nearby natural environment.
Adventure maps are also an excellent way to help families with children who have moved to the area, as well as new staff at daycare centers and schools, get to know their new neighborhood.
Adventure maps have also caught on in Ireland
Adventure maps have also been created outside Tampere. The city of Limerick in Ireland was so taken with adventure maps that it translated the adventure map guide into English and has incorporated adventure mapping into its objectives for promoting sustainable mobility.
Adventure maps have also been produced in various cities across Finland. For example, inspired by adventure maps, Espoo has developed excursion maps which are used to help train substitute early years educators. In Tampere, adventure maps are used not only in early years education but also in providing exercise advice to families.
Bringing fun and sustainable mobility into everyday life
The recent reform of the Basic education act requires early childhood education centres and schools to guide pupils towards a physically active lifestyle. This also calls for a new kind of cooperation between schools and homes, in which Adventure maps can play a supporting role.
The City of Tampere’s Carbon Neutral Actions development programme, in collaboration with early years education and early childhood education, developed a sustainable mobility adventure map to promote sustainable and active mobility among families with children during the programme’s run from 2024 to 2025. The Adventure Map guide was produced as part of the Carbon Neutral Actions development programme.
Journeys to nursery are often made by car, so the aim was to support and encourage families to travel more under their own steam. Sustainable mobility promotes wellbeing and health, and reduces emissions.
