My Museum Buddy and I - at the museum with a three-year-old part 4

In the hallway, museum visitors are greeted by a large tarantula and poison spiders live in the building's structures. Now we're in a truly exciting place!

There is much to wonder about at the Museum of Natural History.

The University of Helsinki's Museum of Natural History in Etu-Töölö underwent a complete renovation a few years ago and is now an extremely impressive and interesting whole. Although the themes have remained largely the same, the new look presents the collection even better and more interestingly. The renovation has also brought additional functionality and children are well considered here. The Museum of Natural History operates together with other LUOMUS sites: the Kaisaniemi and Kumpula botanical gardens and the Museum of Natural History together form the Central Museum of Natural Sciences.

The museum is divided into different floors and you can move between floors by elevator. Note, however, that the elevator is relatively small and on busy days you may have to wait a moment.

On the mezzanine of the museum's fourth floor, the history of the museum building is told and the building's current, eight-legged tenants. Here you can also see museum classics, such as a two-headed calf or a lion. The mezzanine also offers a beautiful view of the large hall's History of Life exhibition.

View from the fourth floor to the History of Life exhibition.

On the third floor, you can explore the history of life and, for example, dinosaur bones up close and learn about the inhabitants of the underwater world. The third floor also has an exhibition featuring Finnish nature, whose fish section was especially my museum buddy's favorite.

History of Life exhibition on the third floor.

The second floor features the nature of the world. Here you can experience an African night and be startled by a crocodile peering under a bridge as well as see wonderful displays from around the world. If time is limited, I would first familiarize myself with this exhibition along with the Finnish nature section, as there is extremely much for children to wonder about here.

In the World Nature exhibition, you might encounter this fellow.
At the Museum of Natural History, it's worth peeking at the ceiling line too.

In another wing of the floor is the Change in the Air exhibition and the first floor's Bones Tell Stories exhibition, which we unfortunately didn't get to visit before my museum buddy got tired. So that's for next time!

At the Museum of Natural History, young museum visitors are well considered. Various small tasks, things to try and open abound, you can peek into nests under the snow by crawling through a snow tunnel and listen to fish talk on a telephone. Things you are not allowed to touch are clearly marked.

The Museum of Natural History has considered children well and many things can be tried and touched.

Overall, the museum tour with a three-and-a-half-year-old went well, although the dim spaces scared my museum buddy a bit. The most interesting things in his opinion were spotting animal droppings in the exhibition and peeping through peepholes... This is certainly one approach to the museum's exhibitions, but it offers much more of interest ;)
All of the museum's exhibitions are excellently executed and visually impressive. You should allow plenty of time for a visit or come here twice, as there seems to be really a lot to see for one visit.

Animal droppings can also be wondered at in the Finnish nature exhibition.

The Museum of Natural History has an accessible entrance through the inner courtyard. At the entrance there is a covered stroller parking, but strollers can also be taken to the exhibition or left in the museum lobby. Next to the coat racks on the ground floor are locked cabinets as well as restrooms and an accessible restroom, which includes a baby care room. The museum café and shop are located on the first floor and the café also serves soup lunch from Tuesday to Friday. A suitable space for eating your own food is available on the fourth floor landing.

An accessible entrance to the Museum of Natural History can be found in the museum's inner courtyard.

For more information about events held at the Museum of Natural History and other university museums, click here.

In the World Nature exhibition.

Museum of Natural History

Pohjoinen Rautatiekatu 1, Helsinki
More detailed opening hours for summer and winter seasons can be found here.
Admission fee 2025: €20 / €11 / €7. Under 7 years free.

You can find the other parts of the My Museum Buddy and I series here.

Do you dare to go to a museum with children? Share your opinion or share your own tip about museums with children in the comment field or on Little Helsinki's Facebook.