Linda Liukas

Playgrounds

This project began with a question: could public space become a site for computer science learning? Ruoholahti is one answer, but just the first. Instead of screens or syntax, it invites exploration through wood, movement, and joy. I believe playgrounds can become spaces for learning by expanding the ways we enter it.

To learn more, send a message to playgrounds@helloruby.com.

Ruoholahti

Helsinki, Finland — 2023

A Computer You Can Climb

What if a playground could teach us about our digital lives? The Ruoholahti Computer Playground turns the invisible world of computing into physical play.

Ruoholahti Playground, aerial view. Picture by: Sakari Röyskö / Helsinki

The playground invites small bodies to explore big ideas—algorithms, conditionals, functions—without needing a screen or even knowing the words. It’s computing as storytelling, architecture, and play.

In an age where children spend more time on screens than under trees, we need places that bridge the digital and physical. The Ruoholahti Computer Playground is not a nostalgic retreat from technology—it’s a new kind of literacy space. One that says: play is not the opposite of learning. It is learning.

Ruoholahti Playground, aerial view. Picture by: Sakari Röyskö / Helsinki

As Seen On

“When the children are happy, everyone benefits.” Monocle
“The world's first coding playground.” BBC
“Helsinki dared to build a playground that isn’t only about safety.” Helsingin Sanomat

The Design

The entire space is an invitation—not just to play, but to think with your whole body.

The DNA of this project includes: Seymour Papert’s constructivism, John Maeda’s Human Powered Computer, Taeyoon Choi’s CPU Dumplings, Alexandra Lange’s playful urbanism, Florentijn Hofman’s large-scale creatures, the Reggio Emilia and Montessori traditions, and the quiet genius of Monstrum playgrounds themselves.

Ruoholahti Playground, aerial view. Picture by: Leena Karppinen / Helsinki

Playground Curriculum

What if computer science could be learned on trampolines, through sidewalk chalk, or by sliding down a data structure? Alongside the Ruoholahti Computer Playground, we developed a full curriculum that invites children to understand computing with their whole bodies.

The Ruoholahti playground is the hardware. This curriculum is the software.

Ruoholahti Playground, children playing with activity cards. Picture by: Sakari Röyskö / Helsinki

Developed together with educators from early childhood to primary school, the curriculum explores what computing might look like when it's physical, playful, and rooted in public space. We hosted a series of workshops where teachers tested ideas, iterated on activities, and helped shape the final materials through hands-on experimentation. Key elements like laminated activity cards, school posters, and a comprehensive Educator’s Guide were all born from this process.

At its core is a simple belief: children are imaginative, social, and embodied learners. They don’t need to sit still to understand computers.

The curriculum includes over 20 activities that map computing concepts onto movement and play. These activities are aligned with Finland's national curriculum across subjects like language, mathematics, ICT, and physical education, and connect with the City of Helsinki's digital goals.

  • Asphalt Code: Children design and walk out programs using jumps, turns, and steps on a giant grid.
  • Programmer Says: A logic game on trampolines introducing loops, conditionals, and debugging.
  • Computer Tower: A physical input/output simulation. Climb in as a data packet, slide out as output.
  • Virus Tag: A new kind of tag game inspired by cybersecurity concepts.

The curriculum also includes worksheets, coloring pages, open-ended maps, posters, and an audio story for older students that introduces the playground as a piece of public infrastructure.

You don’t need to visit Helsinki to use it. A piece of chalk and a patch of sidewalk is enough to begin. Draw a grid. Invent a rule. Walk it with a friend. Change the system.

Download the full curriculum (PDF, 23 MB)

Ruoholahti Playground, aerial view. Picture by: Leena Karppinen / Helsinki

Team

The project was created with the City of Helsinki, Landscape Architects Näkymä and Monstrum, designed with local educators. It’s part of a broader movement to rethink public space as a site for learning.

A Playground Worth a Thousand Programmes

A talk I gave for a programmer audience at beyond tellerand on how playgrounds ⫶ 2025 ⫶ 40 minutes

Project notes