Smart Work 2026: City Play

The pre-primary education group of Tarvasmäki’s early education and classes 1C and 2C at the Tarvasmäki unit of Kirkonkulma Comprehensive School started a joint city play activity in 2016. The aim was to develop flexible pre-primary and early primary education. We visited the Koulutupa at Puolimatka School in Hyvinkää, where one of the working methods used was the so-called city play.

Inspired by this, we developed our own version of city play. In our version, the children decide what the city contains and how it operates. Throughout the autumn, we prepare various city functions (such as a swimming centre, a hotel, and a restaurant) in small groups combining pre-primary and primary school pupils, making use of co-teaching. Through drama, both children and adults design a role for themselves as residents of the city.

Through city play, children practise everyday life skills and working together, among other things. The play also includes elements of entrepreneurship education, as children take on roles as workers and residents. Residents use the city’s own currency when doing business at the various locations.

Already while building the city, we practise skills such as handicrafts, reading, writing, mathematics, social interaction, reflection, citizenship skills, knowledge of the environment and nature, and thinking skills. This allows us to form broad-based learning entities while strengthening children’s participation and sense of community.

City play gives all of us a great opportunity to get to know the entire Tarvasmäki pre-primary and early education group. A shared project like this requires adults to be willing to let go, stay open-minded, and trust in children’s ability to come up with ideas. Building a shared world of play between adults and children opens up the possibility to adopt and develop new understanding.

The Tarvasmäki city play is a working method that combines children of different ages with content from both the pre-primary education curriculum and the basic education curriculum. The cooperation between Tarvasmäki’s pre-primary and early education includes activities related to various themes and phenomena. This is a great foundation to continue building on, after nearly ten years of collaboration.

– We have been involved in building these working methods and this way of working ourselves; we continue to develop it and take responsibility for it ourselves.

Developers

Satu Kallio, early childhood education teacher
Minna Söyring-Syrjä, early childhood education childcare worker
Jari Kauppinen, early childhood education teacher
Kati Kajanto, class teacher