Free Activities for Kids in Helsinki

What free activities are available for kids in Helsinki? Where can children get in for free and how can you enjoy a city vacation on a small budget in Helsinki? This article on free activities in Helsinki offers ideas from a child's perspective.

The article's cover image is from the Winter Garden.

This article was first published in 2023.

Museums Where Under 18s Get In Free

Media Museum Merkki (formerly the Newspaper Museum) has free admission for everyone.
Helsinki City Museum and Children's City on the side of Senate Square always have free admission for all ages.
Tram Museum in Töölö has free admission for everyone.
Ruiskumestarin House in Kruununkala can be visited for free.
Seurasaari Open-Air Museum has free admission for under 18s. Seurasaari Open-Air Museum opens again on 15.5.2025. You can freely explore Seurasaari year-round for free; there is only an admission fee for the museum buildings. Also remember Pukkisaari, halfway across the Seurasaari bridge!
National Museum has free admission for under 18s. The museum is closed for major renovations.
HAM Helsinki in Kamppi, under 18s get in free.
Kiasma Contemporary Art Museum has free admission for under 18s.
Ateneum has free admission for under 18s.
Design Museum on Korkeavuorenkatu has free admission for under 18s.
Amos Rex in Lasipalatsio offers art experiences free of charge for under 18s.
Hotel and Restaurant Museum at Kaapelitehdas has free admission for under 18s.
Many home museums also have free admission. For example, Amos Anderson's Home Museum, ~~Mannerheim's Home~~ under renovation! (under 12s free) and Art House Kirpilä. Please note the different opening hours and other possible special arrangements.
Also remember museums' free admission days!

Please note that many museums are closed on Mondays! However, not the Helsinki City Museum, Tram Museum, Media Museum Merkki, TAHTO, or Amos Rex (closed on Tuesdays).

Free Activities in Helsinki

Linnanmäki Amusement Park has free admission and you can enjoy the hustle and bustle in the area and play in the playground (best suited for older children due to its difficulty level). Lintsillä also has six free amusement park rides suitable for small thrill-seekers during the 2025 season.

Haltiala Farm has free admission and in the farm yard during the summer season you can see cows, sheep, horses, chickens and pigs at least. Read more from the Animals in the City article!

Fallkullan Farm has free admission. The farm's opening hours vary by season. Read more from the Animals in the City article!

Helsinki has many nice playgrounds and play parks where you can play and explore. In play parks, supervised activities are organized during opening hours and play equipment and facilities such as toilets may be available, playgrounds are places designed for unstructured play.
Tips for Helsinki's best playgrounds and all of Little Helsinki's playground articles can be found at the link. Also remember the free summer dining in play parks!

The City of Helsinki's Winter Garden on the north side of Töölönlahti is open year-round and offers experiences in beautiful old greenhouses. You can also have a picnic here and enjoy your packed lunch under palm trees. In the Winter Garden's fountain, carp swim and the carnivorous plants in the display case are sure to raise many questions in your little explorer's mind. By late summer, the Winter Garden's rose garden is at its most beautiful. Opening hours vary by day of the week.

The Children's Traffic Town has no activities during the summer 2025 season and the new traffic town will open at the Rastila camping area only in autumn 2027. At least for now, in the old traffic town on Nordesjöldinkatu, you can freely maneuver on your own vehicles.
Children's Traffic Town will offer supervised activities in summer 2025 at play parks and at the Tattarsuon motor hall. Read more from Little Helsinki's theme article.

Skate Container at the Eläintarha skate park is open during the summer season.
Central Library Oodi between Helsinki Central Station and Töölönlahti is a place worth visiting with kids. Large children's own library section, play opportunities, a secret story room, plus Oodi's architecture in general and the central library's many possibilities offer activities for all ages. On the second floor of Oodi there are computers, gaming opportunities, various machines and equipment, and rentable spaces for your own work. You can get a free Helmet library card.
Helmet Libraries are open and free places for everyone. Almost every Helmet library has a children's department and in addition to children's books, often also toys, games and children's events and activities. Also remember Helmet's children's reading challenge! There are 37 libraries in Helsinki and two children's library buses.
The Nordic Library on Kaisaniemenkatu has books and other materials for all Nordic languages. The library also has its own children's and youth section and a comprehensive selection of children's books and for example films also in Finnish. You need your own Nordic Library card to use the library, which you can get for free with a valid ID. The library is open on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays from 12-19 (as of spring 2025), summer closure usually falls in July.

At Helsinki's outdoor pools at Swimming Stadium and Kumpula, children under 7 get in free, as do almost all of Helsinki's swimming halls. Pirkkola's summer swimming spot Plotti is always free for all ages.
Also remember Helsinki's numerous beaches and play park paddling pools.
Update! During the summer 2025 season, Helsinki's 7-19 year old children and teenagers can get into outdoor pools for free with a youth service membership card.
Uutela Kota in Vuosaari offers a different kind of picnic experience around a living fire. This rest stop, maintained by volunteer cottage buddies, is open mainly on Sundays, and also during the winter season during holidays. The kota's exact opening hours can be found on Uutela Kota's Facebook page.
On HSL public transport, children under 7 travel free. Adults traveling with strollers and children under 6 also get to travel free on public transport vehicles (including the Suomenlinna and Kruunvuorenranta ferries) for safety reasons.