Play, games, excursions and sports – this is how you spend the autumn holiday in Helsinki

As usual, the autumn holiday week will be held from 13 to 19 October in Helsinki. Young people and families with children looking for things to do during the autumn holiday should head to playgrounds, youth centres, sports venues, libraries, cultural centres and museums. Most of the City's autumn holiday activities are free of charge. Check out the activity tips below!

The City's playgrounds are safe and free places for babies, pre-schoolers, schoolchildren and their families to spend the autumn holiday. Their activities can be joined in without pre-booking. 

The playgrounds open during the autumn holiday week offer outdoor activities, play, games and opportunities to enjoy the holiday together. The playgrounds also have activities for children under school age and families with babies. Some playgrounds organise excursions for schoolchildren, which require pre-booking. You can find the activities offered by each playground on the playgrounds’ on web pages.    

At playgrounds, children can play with other children and parents can meet other families with children. The City’s playgrounds have facilities for childcare and kitchens where you can heat up food and make coffee and tea.

During the autumn holiday week, playgrounds are open from Monday to Friday from 9:00 to 16:00. The City’s playgrounds are open for play even outside their operating hours.  

Activities offered by youth centres during the autumn holiday include excursions, tournaments, workshops, game nights and music events. Young people can also participate in laid-back, free of charge activities together, such as film nights and cooking as well as just hang out without pre-booking.  Young people  themselves also have the opportunity to influence the available activities. All youth centre activities are guided by youth work professionals.

Find something to do before someone else does(Link leads to external service)

Films, shows and workshops at cultural centres

The City's cultural centres offer a wide range of activities for schoolchildren during the autumn holiday week. From Saturday 11 October to Tuesday 14 October, Annantalo will serve as the venue for Bright Spots & Eye Catchers, a wordless performance combining music, visual arts and theatre by an Austrian theatre group. Tickets: €6, lippu.fi. The same group is also organising three workshops for primary school children on performance and clownery (€30). You can also immerse yourself in the magical world of films at Annantalo’s holiday cinema (Mon–Thu), and the week will culminate in the popular AnnanHouse Disco on Friday 17 October.

Cultural Centre Malmitalo’s Kino Helios will be showing three autumn holiday films from Tuesday to Thursday: Vaiana 2, The Wild Robot and Inside Out 2. The cultural centre will also be hosting workshops inspired by the films, in which participants will get to craft their own robots, oceanic jewellery and personality islands. Admission to both the films and the workshops is free of charge. On Thursday 16 October, the cultural centre will also serve as the venue for the performance Bright Spots & Eye Catchers. Tickets: €6, lippu.fi.

Cultural Centre Stoa’s free-of-charge soap workshop on Thursday 16 October offers participants a chance to make fragrant soaps and ecological sponges by using the Japanese tawashi technique.

Cultural Centre Vuotalo's free-of-charge workshops will take you on an adventure in the fairytale Dragon Valley from Monday 13 October to Friday 17 October. Each day will feature a different workshop, in which participants will get to build a dragon's lair and brew mystical potions, among other things. On Saturday 11 October, Skidit Hattifatteners Disco will take dancers on a musical journey into the mysterious mindscape of the strange Moomin characters, the Hattifatteners. Tickets: €6. The disco is free of charge for Helsinki residents between the ages of 7 and 19 with a Jässäri membership card to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the Helsinki City Council.

Create your own vehicle at the Helsinki Tram Museum

At the Helsinki Tram Museum, visitors will have the opportunity to create colourful vehicles out of ready-made cardboard bases. Join the crafting fun in the free-of-charge non-stop workshop for the whole family from Monday to Friday at 12:00–15:00. The Helsinki City Museum's Children's Town exhibition also offers fun things to do for the little ones on every day of the autumn holiday week.

Joy of reading and holiday fun at libraries

The autumn holiday is for reading! Go to your local library and get lost in stories. Library staff will be happy to provide tips on what to read during the holiday. In addition to a peaceful space to read, libraries also offer plenty of activities during the autumn break, such as games and workshops. More detailed information on activities during the autumn holiday can be found on libraries’ web pages.

On Sunday, 18 October, from 12:00 to 15:00, the whole family can enjoy word art and stage poetry together in the Family Open Mic event held in Kallio Library's Kupolisali. The event will feature a literary art workshop and crafts, poetry readings by writers Harri Hertell and Veera Salmi, and an open stage where both children and adults can perform. The day will culminate in a meet & greet with the performers.

The joy of physical activity

The City is organising free beginner swimming schools for young people between the ages of 12 and 22 during the autumn holiday. The courses are aimed at young people without swimming skills who want to learn the basics of swimming in a safe and relaxed way. During the three sessions, participants will practise getting used to the water, breathing techniques, floating and basic swimming strokes. The aim is to build up courage in the water and lay the foundation for the future learning of swimming skills.
Read more about swimming schools(Link leads to external service) (in Finnish)

Liikuntamylly in Myllypuro is organising a sports event for children during the autumn holiday on 13–15 October from 11:00 to 14:00. The event will offer fun physical activities for primary school children and their families. Participants will get to bounce in a bouncy castle and try different sports such as wall climbing, artistic gymnastics, ball sports and much more.
Read more about the Liikuntamylly event(Link leads to external service)