The purpose of the Finnish model for leisure activities is to increase the wellbeing of children and young people by allowing them to engage in fun and free hobbies during the school day. The choice of activities is based on the children and young people’s own preferences. The model will be planned, created and tested in collaboration with leisure activity providers.
Activities based on the Finnish model for leisure activities will be held in 258 municipalities in the 2024–2025 school year. Based on applications, the Ministry of Education and Culture has granted municipalities a total of EUR 14 million in special funding for the school year 2024–2025. The funding will make it possible to organize a total of more than 11,000 groups for various leisure activities over 2,000 schools. Nearly 150,000 children and young people are participating in the organized activities. The aim is to make the Finnish model for leisure activities a permanent practice in these municipalities.
More information on how to apply for funding, the terms of its use and reporting is provided on the website of the Regional State Administrative Agency. If necessary, prospective leisure activity organizers can contact an official at the Regional State Administrative Agency for their area. The contact details for these persons are given on the funding application website of the Regional State Administrative Agencies.
Find an organizer
The Finnish model covers all kinds of leisure activities: sports and physical education, arts and culture, youth activities, science, nature, crafts, and other areas that children and young people may be interested in. The activities can be organized by sports clubs, cultural institutions, youth organizations, the municipalities themselves, and other organizations with expertise in working with children and young people. Leisure activities may also involve self-motivated activities in a supervised environment.
A Finnish-language contact list of leisure activity organizers has been compiled to assist municipalities in implementing the model. This is intended to help municipalities find partners and professional instructors for leisure activities that children and young people have requested. Activity providers can add their contact details to the list using the registration form.
A guide to organizing leisure activities according to the Finnish model has been prepared for associations and other interested parties (‘Harrastuksia kouluihin’, available in Finnish). In addition to information on becoming an organizer, the guide explains what to take into account when planning, organizing, monitoring and evaluating leisure activities. The organizers of leisure activities in municipalities should be informed of the guide to organizing leisure activities according to the Finnish model (‘Harrastuksia kouluihin’).
Student’s preferred leisure activities
The information must be gathered on a school-specific basis. For the spring 2024 round of applications, prospective organizers could make use of the results of the 2022 school student survey or a similar source of information on the leisure-related interests of children and young people. The next nationwide school survey will be conducted in autumn 2024. More information on the school surveys is available in Finnish on the website of the Ministry of Education and Culture.