Heureka Science center attraction in the Helsinki-Vantaa area of southern Finland.

Tourism around Helsinki of the scientific nature.

Overview of the Heureka science center on a clear sky in the summer.

We decided to go to here with our friends from the Helsinki area. They also have two kids, boys, 8- and 10- years old. We thought it would be interesting to spend a fun and educational day at the center.

I had been at the science center ten years earlier with a pre-school group of 1st and 2nd graders.

Getting there and parking

We followed the signs from Kehä 3 in Tikkurila, Vantaa. The signs guide us to the parking lot, which is free of charge. If you are driving, use a navigational device to get to the parking lot. Type in Kuninkaalantie 7, Vantaa.

Once at the parking place, there is a five minute walk to the entrance of the center. Just follow the walking path under the train tracks and you'll arrive at the right place. If you are traveling by train, the center is right next to the Tikkurila train station in Vantaa.

A photograph of the science center "a bird's eye view" near the train station in Tikkurila. For those interested in layout of building structures in big cities. This picture is for you.

On our way to the main building...we come across some rock art.

Attractions for kids.

Depending on the season, there are outside activities and attractions for children.

It's easy to...

...get this heavy ball to budge. Here, you try!

Inside the main building...

...there is the cafe Einstein, which is next to the entrance of the Heureka science center going in on the left. Snack on a croissants, a drink, or a cup of coffee. At cafe Einstein it is possible to have a lunch meal or just enjoy a drink with salad, sandwich or something sweet for at a reasonable price.

Lunch buffet with one warm course is 8 euros. Of course, if you want to get eat cheap, take a snack or lunch bag with you from home. Eat lunch while sitting on the benches in the large foyer.

When I was there with my students, we had lunch at the cafe Einstein and ate our snack taken from home later in the afternoon.

Buying the tickets for the Heureka science center.

Time to enter the Heureka Science Center. As we got there it was early afternoon, (1 pm). Our entrance ticket also included a film showing at the planetarium.

There are several options in ticket purchase: you can attend only the Heureka Science Center planetarium film or get a ticket for everything--exhibitions and three shows at the planetarium or something between these two options.

The planetarium.

How much time does one need to spend at the Heureka Science Center?

The minimum time recommended is 2.5 to 3 hours. Granted, you attend the exhibition and one other activity, like the planetarium, laboratory, science theater show or workshop.

We were there for four hours and checked out the exhibitions, went to see a movie at the planetarium and attended a 30 minutes show at the Minerva science theater.

To do see and do at the Heureka Science Center?

After buying the tickets you get information about the program of the day in you hand. Ask for information from anyone who is wearing a special Heureka Science Center jacket. They are there ready and able to assist you.

Exhibitions: Ongoing exhibitions and small ones which vary from time to time.

The main exhibition themes include: "Environment-friendly consumption", "intelligent traffic", "languages and cultures and the structure-of-life."

Kids get to experience the combination of science and technology, and educate themselves by 'hands-on', learning.

Our kids liked the earthquake the most, then they also enjoyed pulling the intestines out of a person. :)

The earthquake simulator.

Unfortunately we missed the basketball game played by the rats. We just missed the time while having fun somewhere else. I have seen it before and it is cool. You don't want to miss the show. In fact...

...it's a rat of a show.

Science on the sphere, It's a sphere projector, miniature globe of earth as seen from space--entertaining for adults too.

It is interesting to see how the winds are formed, how the seas look like at any particular hour of the day. The pictures on the sphere come from a satellite. There was a guided presentation we attended also. I got to see hurricane Katrina as well!

Other exhibitions in were the classics and move and play. The classics was a selection of the favorites taken from the past exhibitions from the Heureka Science Center and other science centers like...

...Magic smoke projection.

Or...

Compete with yourself or a friend. See how hard you can hit a ball.

Move on to the next activity...see how hard you can kick a ball.

Popular classics

A rope jumping machine. Hey, these guys are rockin'!

At the classics, we tried and experienced moonwalking and among other things, tried to lift a car up!

Move and play was the ultimate hit for the boys. There was a huge hall full of Nintendo games and other activities centered around movement.

Like...

...where kids and adults play tricks on each other, or walking the tight-rope.

...some real dare-devil kids got mom and dad to let them try this ride. Look how high Mom!!

There were wii -games as well and it was cool to play in front of the huge screen.

Laboratories.

The professionals who work at the Heureka Science Center lead kids through various activities in workshops and laboratories. If you want to attend a laboratory, where you get to do science in a real lab, you should sign up by the laboratory door right away when you enter the center.

Lab consists of 35 minute programs.

And...

Have your children get educated by building a robot.

Idea: Compete with other groups of children in a class to make 'building-a-robot' more exiting!

Rosa remembers the buried bones in this red box.

Other workshops are about geometry. Sign up for these at the door. They take 24 kids at a time.

Kids get to use their imagination work for them at the Bestiarum Construendum. A place where everyone could construct their own beast-like animal.

A boy constructing his weird creature. The beast-pieces are quite large and there are 36 of them. Families share in the fun of creating their own mystical fairytale creature.

The Planetarium. Both educational, plus entertaining at the same time.

Outside construction of the planetarium...

...inside they have three different films. Pick and choose the one that interests you most. Time permitting---watch all three.

The planetarium has a globe form screen and the sound radiates from all directions. We watched the animation about 'Life on a reef' and felt as if we were actually there, under water, looking around. Cool!

Minerva Science Theater. The day we visited,they had a show about gases. We sat on a small rising seats katsomo. As the lights went down and then up, we got a show about three different gases and what they are like: oxygen, nitrogen, hydrogen-dioxide.

Did you know, that you can fill a long balloon(no, not baboon) by blowing on top of it (outside) after a full balloon was dipped in boiling nitrogen? Why and how was this possible? Magic?! Go and see the show, and you'll find out!

Heureka shop - everyone loves shopping at Heureka.

The Heureka Science Center shop can be found in the Heureka center as well as in Kamppi, in the center of Helsinki. Address in Helsinki: Urho Kekkosenkatu 1, Helsinki. Buy science related gifts here, puzzles, etc. including tickets to the Vantaa Science Center.

At the Vantaa Heureka shop, purchase all kinds of stuff like, a book that actually catches fire when you read about oxygen and how you need oxygen for burning! Definitely not your typical science text books from school.

Need an idea for a rainy day in the summer time, or when adults want to go to a museums or shopping!

Attend summer time day camp at the Heureka Science Center. Day Camps are arranged during the weeks 23-28 and 31-32 for kids who are 7-12 years old. Camps are between 0-15 o'clock. You can reserve a place from www.heureka.fi.

Tip: If you are in Oulu and looking for a similar experience to the Heureka Science Center, try the Tietomaa Science Center.

Here you can see illusions that trick the brain. Watch wide-screen movie projected films. Visit a uniform and medallion museums,or a glass-blowing facility.

Driving directions to the Heureka Science Center by car using Michelins recommended route(Type your origin of travel into the box provided)

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