Sunday was B’s eighth birthday. It doesn’t mean an awful lot to her, but she definitely appreciated the cake (though less so the presents):

For her birthday treat we all went to the nearby town of Tielt-Winge where there is an activity centre for children with special needs called Het Balanske. The jewel in Het Balanske’s crown is a fantastic space for snoezelen.

Snoezelen is a calming multi-sensory environment developed by Dutch therapists over the years. It includes a room with rotating lights, a hammock, a water bed, and these lovely bubble columns (picture from Het Balanske as my own attempt to capture it didn’t work):

But that is not all. As well as the “classic” snoezelen space, there’s another room with musical instruments, and a corridor with a rotating floor and funny mirrors:

which B enjoyed:

…which ends in a space with a huge ball pit and a bouncy castle:

F and U enjoyed it too. But it was B’s day.