Sat. 18: CHILDREN’S CARNIVAL. Piazza Ognissanti. 2 – 6 pm. Free admission. Children and parents alike, in costumes or masks, can spend a carefree afternoon enjoying entertainment and games. Fun activities, such as papier-mâché crafts, games, and face painting will be provided throughout the carnival. Sweets like cotton candy, peanut brittle, and brigidini (aniseed-flavored wafers), will be available for purchase. An electric train will take passengers on a scenic tour of Lungarno Vespucci. Families can listen [...]
Much like Santa, the elderly Italian witch, La Befana, who fills the stockings of children on the night of January 5, has the power of appearing simultaneously in different places. This is true in Florence on Epiphany, January 6, which is the feast both of the Three Kings and La Befana. She will continue her generosity to children all day in the city of the Renaissance. Here are her scheduled appearances: IN TOWN [...]
There are two Christmas activities this week planned for the whole family. All ages can get into the holiday spirit by joining the festive fun! Thursday, Dec. 15: CHRISTMAS WREATH MAKING WORKSHOP. St. Mark’s English Church, via Maggio 16. 8 pm. Open to all ages, participants only need to bring a wire coat hanger; fir branches and decorations will be supplied, which, along with refreshments, are included in the €10 fee. Reservations [...]
The countdown to the end of October is on, and a pre-Halloween Eve event is taking place in Florence! The Children’s Lending Library and Bee-lingual are hosting a pumpkin carving event and themed book reading in English on Sunday, October 23. This activity is wonderful at this time of year. It really brings forward the spirit of the harvest season. Halloween may not be as widely celebrated in Europe as it is [...]
May 13 – 15, 2022: FIRENZE DEI BAMBINI FESTIVAL – Give Me Your Hand. Organized by the Municipality of Florence and MUS.E. Children can engage in free, all in-person activities at Florence’s annual festival, Firenze dei Bambini. The 2022 edition is three days long, allowing children up to 12 years old to participate in various events throughout the city. While events are free, some require a reservation. This year’s festival is entitled “Qua [...]
With Easter just around the corner, many organizations are preparing for the holiday, including Florence’s Children’s Lending Library. Saturday, April 9: Children’s Lending Library’s Easter Party. Undercroft of the church of St. James, via Rucellai 9, Florence. 4 – 6 pm. Entrance: 1 child: €3. Families with 2 or more children: €5. Accompanying adults and children under the age of two are free of charge. All children must be accompanied by an adult. [...]
To celebrate International Mother Language Day, the Children’s Lending Library, together with Bee – Bilingual, is hosting a free event at the Giardino dell’Orticoltura (located on Via Vittorio Emanuele II n.4), on Sunday, February 20, starting at 10:30 am until 12:30 pm. In case of rain, the event will be postponed. The event is set up to promote linguistic/cultural diversity and multilingualism around the world. Mothers, who come from different countries and [...]
In a holiday season filled with gift giving, the toy stores of Florence want to provide a drop-off point for those wishing to help children of economically distressed families. The “Sospeso” Toy Project brings an opportunity for people in the city to donate gifts that they wish to give to the less fortunate, named after caffè sospeso tradition in Naples which involves paying for someone else’s coffee when they cannot buy one [...]
After a two year hiatus, the British Institute’s Storytime and Afternoon Tea is returning this month to the Library, Lungarno Guicciardini 9. Thursday, November 25: Elmer the Patchwork Elephant, followed by Afternoon Tea This event is in English and will take place in the Children’s Room of the Library, which is located on Lungarno Guicciardini 9. This program is designed for children aged 3 to 8, but all ages are welcome. Author David [...]
Now that all schools in Italy have been closed for several weeks and restrictions are tightening up even further, parents and children must be getting bored, losing patience, bickering, starting to tear their hair out and searching for things to do to remedy the situation. Last week playgrounds were a possibility, but now they are closed, and visits to grandparents are strongly ill advised. Italian families are not alone. In addition to schools [...]
