Play and Explore
The Idea Workshop for young inventors
The Idea Workshop where curious minds become innovative inventors!
Design, build, test, and improve! In the Idea Workshop (Ideaverstas) at Science Center, the boundary between play and serious engineering disappears. Build wind-powered gliders, construct gravity marble runs, and test towering structures against earthquake tremors.
Exhibition Highlights
- Vertical transparent wind tunnel for testing custom aerodynamic flying crafts
- Giant magnetic ball-run wall with hundreds of modular tracks, funnels, and loops
- Motorized earthquake shake table to test seismic structural engineering
- Mechanical interlocking gear train workbenches to explore torque and gear ratios
Hands-on Discovery Stations
Everything in this workshop is meant to be touched, built, disassembled, and tested:
Vertical Wind Tube
Construct lightweight paper-and-cardboard rotors, wings, and cones, then drop them into vertical air columns to balance hovering stability.
Seismic Shake Table
Build high-rise towers using modular blocks, then ramp up frequency and amplitude dials to see which structural designs survive the quake.
Gravity Marble Track
Attach magnetic curved rails, pendulum triggers, and bells to a massive steel wall to create an unbroken kinetic chain reaction.
Gear & Pulley Assembly
Interlock wooden cogwheels of different radii to understand mechanical advantage, speed multiplication, and rotational torque.
Scientific Principles & Phenomena
Emphasizes hands-on engineering principles: center of mass, structural resonance, kinetic and potential energy conservation, and rapid iterative prototyping.
By building and rebuilding, participants develop computational and spatial thinking. You directly encounter how friction limits speed, how counterbalancing stabilizes top-heavy towers, and how aerodynamic lift counteracts downward gravitational pull.
Did you know?
In science and engineering, there are no "failed" attempts. Every flying craft that tumbles or block tower that collapses provides vital feedback to improve the next iteration!
Exhibit Highlights & History
Rooted in the Maker Movement and Finnish design-based science education, the Idea Workshop invites visitors to learn through trial, failure, and creative problem-solving.
Other exhibitions at Science Center
NEW EXHIBITION
The Evolution of Dinosaurs
Meet dinosaurs from across the ages
Dinosaurs are part of the great story of evolution on Earth. The exhibition takes you on a fascinating adventure through the Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous periods.
PERMANENT EXHIBITION
Our Journey in Space
Explore the mysteries of our solar system and beyond
What is it like to be an astronaut? How does weightlessness feel, and what does Earth look like from lunar orbit? Discover human space exploration.
PERMANENT EXHIBITION
Science Center Classics
Beloved interactive science experiments
Ride a bicycle on a wire suspended in mid-air, step inside a giant soap bubble, and test your reaction speeds. Classic exhibits loved across generations.
PERMANENT EXHIBITION
Water – The Stream of Life
The journey and power of water on our planet
Explore hydroelectric dams, water currents, ocean ecosystems, and the importance of clean water for global biodiversity.
PERMANENT EXHIBITION
Main Exhibition Area
The vibrant core of discovery at Science Center
Over 200 interactive science installations spanning physics, biology, chemistry, mathematics, and human senses.
DAILY PRESENTATIONS
Science on a Sphere
NOAA animated global projection globe
A room-sized spherical projection system developed by NOAA that displays planetary data, atmospheric flows, ocean currents, and climate models.
PERMANENT EXHIBITION
Artificial Intelligence – Me, Myself & AI
Understand how algorithms think and create
How do neural networks learn? Can machines recognize your facial emotions or paint art? Explore the ethics and mechanics of artificial intelligence.
OUTDOOR PARK
Exhibitions Outdoors – Science Park Galilei
Science Park Galilei alongside Keravanjoki river
Experience outdoor physics, giant sound mirrors, water locks, and botanical rock gardens in the picturesque Science Park Galilei alongside Keravanjoki river.