Culture Call

Culture Call is an operating model that brings culture to early childhood education. All children from Espoo aged 3 to 5 can enjoy Culture Call in the city’s day-care centres.

Culture Call forms a part of early childhood education. Art and culture professionals visit day-care centres to perform or guide activities planned for children, some day-care centres will receive a circulating material package. Working with children before and after the visits is a key element of Culture Call. In addition, there are Culture Calls for educators, during which art and cultural actors encourage staff to utilise the opportunities provided by art in early childhood education in new ways.

The aims of Culture Call are to systematise the cooperation between early childhood education and culture and to increase mutual learning. High-quality artistic and pedagogical activities realise the objectives of the early childhood education plan. Culture Call promotes the involvement of children and their equal right to experience and create art and culture.

Culture Call covers all municipal day-care centres in Espoo with 3–5-year-old children. Each 3–5-year-old child will participate in Culture Call during the operating year. Furthermore, Culture Call for educators will be organised in each day-care centre. The methods for Culture Call are being adjusted to the coronavirus situation.  

The city has been divided into eight areas, each of which has its own annually changing theme. In the 2020–2021 school year, a total of 25 cultural and art actors will produce content for Culture Call.