Day care

A child can attend day care services in the beginning of the month in which they turn 9 months. The application for the day care placement has to be submitted no later than 4 months before the desired starting date. The child has a right to use day care services until they go to preschool at the age of six.

Day care in Kittilä consists of six municipal kindergartens. Out of these six units, two of them (Pikkumettä and Muksula) are located in Kittilä center and two (Oravanpesä and Mäntymaja) in Sirkka, near the ski resort Levi, 16km north from Kittilä. In addition, there is a kindergarten called Metsähiisi in Köngäs 15km north from Sirkka, and one in Raattama (75km northwest from Kittilä). In addition, few day care providers offer home-like environment for children, and in these places group sizes are smaller and the activities usually take place in the home setting – either in one of the children’s homes or in the day care provider’s home.

Most of the day care units are open during daytime – usually from early morning until late afternoon. However, some of the units offer extended opening hours and it benefits especially those who need day care services during evenings or nighttime as well. Pikkumettä day care in Kittilä center is open daily until 11 pm, and Oravanpesä in Sirkka is open 24 hours every day.

The size of kindergartens varies: the smallest one in Raattama has six children, while the biggest kindergarten Oravanpesä has almost 100 children during the peak season in winter.

Number of children in each day care center on 31.3.2023:

In total, the combined number of children attending both day care units and home-like day care services on 31.3.2023 was 341.

Levi is the biggest winter sports resort in Finland, and since it is located in Kittilä municipality, its impact can be seen also in day care as the population of Kittilä grows during the winter season (November-early May). Many seasonal workers arrive to Kittilä and Sirkka with their families, and these families need day care services as well. The number of children attending kindergarten increases in many units, especially in few of the bigger ones: