Daycare centre and school visits at Kumpula School Garden
Kumpula School Garden will once again provide free-of-charge guided school visits for comprehensive school and upper secondary education groups in May and August–September. In autumn, schools and daycare centres can also visit the garden on their own.
Guided school visits in spring and autumn
Come visit us with your class to learn where food comes from. The duration of the free-of-charge school visit is roughly 2 h. The visit includes a guided tour of the garden and instructed gardening activities – time to touch grass and get some soil on your hands!
The registration period will start on Wednesday 13 August at 9.00. (Via Kultus, https://kultus.hel.fi/fi/event/kultus:agmjqb5pkq) The visits are intended for comprehensive and upper secondary school groups, provided free of charge. The maximum group size is 35. The guided visits provided in 2026 are primarily intended for school groups that did not have a guided visit at Kumpula School Garden in 2025. The visit lasts about 2 hours. You can choose your own arrival time between 9.00 and 9.30.
The visit will take place outdoors regardless of the weather and we will be doing some gardening, so please take this into account in your clothing choices (outdoor clothing and waterproof shoes that you do not mind getting a little dirty). In the garden, you can enjoy your own lunch under an outdoor canopy. We will send accepted participants a confirmation email, an information letter about the programme and a short advance exercise.
Please note that Kumpula School Garden is located near the intersection of Mäkelänkatu and Koskelantie, next to the Kumpula allotment garden (i.e. not Kumpula Botanic Garden, which is located next to the university campus).
The visits are organised in cooperation between the Gardening Association for Children and Youth and the City of Helsinki Youth Services. Kumpula School Garden is a certified LYKE activity centre of the Finnish Association of Nature and Environment Schools.
Independent school and daycare group visits in autumn
Kumpula School Garden is at its best in August and September, during which school and daycare groups can come visit the garden independently. The gates are generally open on weekdays from 9.00 to 15.00. Please read the instructions below before visiting. If necessary, you can contact us before an independent visit: outi.m.kankaanpaa[at]hel.fi
Instructions for visitors to Kumpula School Garden
1. You are allowed to walk on the lawns and sandy paths in the garden. You are not allowed to walk in the cultivation areas.
2. You are allowed to visit the small-side greenhouse, as well as the outhouses and the accessible toilet. You are not allowed to enter the large-side growing tunnel or other indoor facilities.
3. You are allowed to collect and eat apples that have fallen to the ground (put the cores in a waste bin). You are allowed to taste wild herbs in the garden, but only under the instruction of an adult – there are also poisonous plants in the area! You are not allowed to collect or damage other plants or animals in the garden.
4. You are allowed to eat your own food on the outdoor tables or at the small-side pavilion canopy. You are not allowed to litter in the garden – throw apple cores and other rubbish in the recycling bins.
5. You are allowed to listen to the sounds of nature, smell the scents of the garden and enjoy life!
Kumpula School Garden is located near the intersection of Mäkelänkatu and Koskelantie, next to the Kumpula allotment garden. Many people confuse Kumpula School Garden with Kumpula Botanic Garden (next to the university campus), so make sure that you head to the address Vähänkyröntie 3-6.
Until mid-September, there are also summer chickens in the area that you can visit and feed dandelion and clover leaves. Remember to wash your hands with soap after feeding the chickens.
In the autumn season, the garden features a gardening-themed exercise course, which groups can utilise during their visit. The instructor of the group should familiarise themself with the course before visiting. The course gives people of all ages an opportunity to independently learn and discover new things about gardening and food production. The course features checkpoints with information and exercises related to the themes, which are aimed separately at children and young people of 1) daycare, 2) primary school and 3) lower and upper secondary education age. The course is accessible. All 15 checkpoints of the course are available in the school garden, but we recommend choosing ones that best suit your particular group: https://puutarhakasvatus.fi/2017/05/02/puutarhakasvatuksen-rastirata-oppia-ja-oivalluksia-ruoantuotannosta/ (page in Finnish).
Kumpula School Garden is a 4.3-hectare area, divided into a small and a large side. The map shows the locations of the checkpoints in 2025. The map can also be found on the notice board on the large side near checkpoint 9. There are no maps available to borrow this year, but if you wish, you can print out the map below at your school or daycare centre to bring with you. For more information, please contact Youth Instructor Outi Kankaanpää (outi.m.kankaanpaa[at]hel.fi, +358 40 661 8816).
1. The waters of life
2. Feel the garden!
3. From seed to harvest
4. In crop rotation, plants tend the earth
5. In the warmth of the south
6. Looking untidy? There is a reason for that!
7. Urban farming is food production in the city
8. Our wild vegetables
9. What do we eat?
10. Yikes, microbes!
11. Whoever cultivates their land with care will receive more than a million blessings.
12. Protect!
13. Let’s compost!
14. Bugs, our friends
15. Signs of animals in the garden
Visiting address: Vähänkyröntie 3-6, 00610 Helsinki nuorten.hel.fi/kumpula
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