In the municipality of Janakkala, the Finnish model for hobbies has been in operation for the second year, with the main goal of enabling every child and young person to have a preferred and free hobby during the school day. The Finnish model combines listening to children and young people about their hobby wishes, coordinating existing good practices and methods, and fostering cooperation between schools and hobby providers. The offering of hobbies has been tailored according to the interests expressed by children and young people in previously conducted surveys and/or interviews with the hobby coordinator.

The Janakkala hobby model is based on the idea that every child living in the municipality should have an equal opportunity to participate in hobbies. This means, among other things, that hobby activities are available in all municipal elementary schools, all hobbies are free of charge, and school transportation is arranged according to the needs of the hobby activities when a student participates in hobbies offered at their own school. The hobby coordinator can also help find new hobbies based on the child’s or young person’s interests or find solutions if challenges arise in participating in hobbies.

You can find hobby groups at the address uusi.kuntapalvelut.fi/janakkala/fi. Each school has its own hobby offerings. From the left menu on the page, you can select Tervakoski School to see the available hobbies. The pages now display all planned groups. To start a hobby group, there must be at least 6 registered participants for team sports and generally 3 for other hobbies.