Here are presented the models that we offer for children, the youth and families. Aim for all the activities is to inspire children and youth about science and encourage them towards studying in University in the future. Aim is also to offer meaningful activities in the leisure time and to provide positive experiences. Most of our services are in Finnish or in Swedish at the moment.
Science clubs have been organized since 2003 as interdisciplinary and as focusing on an individual field of science. The clubs have usually some kind of theme around which the activities build a coherent entity. Our clubs get children excited about the sciences and provide them with positive experiences. Clubs are an opportunity for maintaining a long-term science hobby, and they have been meeting on a weekly basis. At the moment we are arranging clubs in maths and programming.
Organizing science camps has been a part of the operations since 2004. The camps have been very popular and arranged during school summer breaks, mostly in June. Some of our camps are discipline specific, and some are multidisciplinary theme camps.
Science camps take place during school holidays, typically in June. Camps are free of charge and aimed at primary and lower secondary school pupils. Themes range from mathematics and programming to natural sciences.
The computer science lab Linkki organises drop-in workshops and short workshop series at Kumpula Campus, exploring topics from visual programming to logic puzzles. Science birthday parties can be booked at the chemistry lab LUMAlab Gadolin, where a trained instructor guides participants through fun and safe experiments.
Upper secondary school students can complete University of Helsinki courses before entering higher education. Introductory courses (1–2 credits) offer a gentle first encounter with a field of science, while open basic courses (5 credits) provide deeper content. Many courses are available as free online MOOCs. Students can also participate in national and international science olympiads in mathematics, physics, chemistry, biology, computer science, geography and linguistics.