A free-of-charge museum for children in Tiima
The Museum and Science Centre Tiima includes the Children’s Museum, a brand-new place where you can learn history through play, experiments, and wonderment. And the Children’s Museum’s exhibitions are completely free of charge.
The Children’s Museum’s first exhibition, City Pathways, introduces Oulu from the perspective of children: forests, railway tracks, kiosks, snow castles, and various adventures. The exhibition’s themes are closely tied to Oulu. And you’re allowed to touch almost everything.
Museums are often considered places where you look at objects in glass boxes. The Children’s Museum came about from the idea of experiencing history through play and exploration. The exhibitions offer children and adults an opportunity to experience and participate – you might even find connections to the childhoods of previous generations and Oulu’s history.
“The participatory contents support children’s curiosity and feelings of belonging in museums. At the exhibitions, you will get to, for example, build a shed, dive under the water, and participate in snow fights”, explains Museum Lecturer Riina Veijo who was responsible for the exhibition’s design.
One of the museum’s most important principles is being free of charge.
“We want to make sure that coming to the Children’s Museum is as easy as possible. When entry is free of charge, the museum can be a part of regular everyday life and not just a special attraction. Also, you can always return over and over again and always find new things”, Veijo highlights.
Children’s Oulu comes alive
What kind of paths did children take through Oulu back in the day? Answers to this question have been collected together with citizens. The exhibition is based on wide participation work in which designers visited daycare centres and schools to hear children’s thoughts on play, the city, and interesting places. The memories of seniors have been collected from people who used to be children in Oulu.
According to Riina Veijo, this is what makes the exhibition special.
“We didn’t want to just discuss the city’s history but highlight what Oulu feels like from the perspective of children. Through wide participation, the exhibition’s contents were made into a cross-generational entirety where the experiences of the past and the present come together.”
Many situations at the exhibition might awaken memories in the visitors.
“Even though times change, there is a lot in childhood that connects generations. Friends, games, secret routes, and important places in the city are still recognizable”, reminds Veijo.
You are allowed to play at the Children’s Museum
At the Children’s Museum, play is not in a minor role: it is essential to the exhibition. The exhibition inspires children to play in many ways – the goal is to get children excited about history through activities and experiences.
You don’t have to know anything beforehand at the Museum. Just being curious is enough. Riina Veijo believes that the best museum memories are born in the middle of playing.
“Play is children’s way to understand the world. When you can explore history through play, it becomes personal and significant. Here, children get to build, explore, imagine, and come up with their own stories at their own pace, together with others”, Veijo explains.
The Children’s Museum brings a brand-new place into Oulu where history and imagination come together. Simultaneously, it offers children something special: their very own museum which you can visit over and over again, and completely free of charge.