WEEKEND AND HOLIDAY PROGRAM
In 2025, several new activities were developed, including offerings for foreign tourists and several new in-house activities.
The winter holiday program offered varied activities such as Sphero Indi, Build your own globe, science show, coding art with programming and AI, northern lights tour, The Mission, Dampveivals, Lille-Klaus and Bilbanen. On the last weekend, you could learn about the secret life of cod and experience music with cod that grunt, moan, snap and drum.
The main attraction of Easter was an Easter mystery where visitors had to find out who had "stole" the robot harness Paro. Using clues in the museum and activities such as fingerprints, secret messages, sleeping powder tests and hair samples, the case was solved.
On May 25th and November 16th, it was time for family Sundays with the Friends Association again. The Norwegian Model and Steam Association ran the Ekeberg Railway and steam trains. Halvorsen's workshop, the Horten Railway and the Industrial Model were staffed all day, and visitors were given electronic challenges by the Norwegian Radio Relay League.
The summer program had a rich and diverse content with the regular items: science show, car race, model railway and Lille-Klaus, as well as northern lights tours in Norwegian and English every day. Through several alternating programs, visitors could experience an insect hotel, energy mission, vinyl printing, rocket workshop, lino printing/solar printing and robot lab. Several of the workshops were held outside on the terrace. Several independent activities were developed, including raft building with special construction kits outside Halvorsen's workshop.
Building an insect hotel was one of several activities this summer. Photo: Bård Gudim/ The Norwegian Museum of Science and Technology
In connection with the opening of the museum's new waterwheel on October 11, visitors were able to make their own waterwheel and try traditional crafts. In October, we also marked 150 years of public transport in Oslo with spot-on tours on the tram and a family trail with several exciting stops on public transport history.
The autumn holiday program continued the focus on robots, as in 2024. New this year were five days of robot drawing shows and robot drawing workshops with illustrator and cartoonist Flu Hartberg. The audience could help create a robot adventure, or they could get help drawing their own fantasy robot. The LEGO Spike, Indi and Sphero activities challenged visitors to program. In the tour Robots Are Coming , the audience got to see several of the museum's exhibited robots. The Paro robot harness was showcased as an example of how care technology can contribute to a better quality of life and emotional support for people with dementia. The autumn holiday was very well attended, and we have to go all the way back to 2018 to find a better week in terms of visitors.
In December, visitors could explore light, colors and patterns with Neon Pixelart, program a dancing LEGO Santa, 3D print gingerbread shapes and, last but not least, decorate gingerbread houses. Under the slogan Join us and create Oslo's funniest gingerbread town!, invited The Norwegian Museum of Science and Technology the public to build and decorate their own gingerbread house.
With over 100 contributions to Oslo's funniest gingerbread town, it was a great success. Photo: Petr Ngo/Åpent Bakeri
SCHOOL AND KINDERGARTEN
In 2025, school visits were 44,817 at the museum and 5,286 at venues outside the museum. In total, school visits ended at 50,103, which was 84 fewer than in 2024. Kindergarten visits ended at 7,684, which was an increase of 123 from 2024. In total, 40,005 students, teachers and kindergarten children received a learning offer under the auspices of the museum, an increase of 223 from 2024.
The school offer spans several subjects, such as science, social studies, arts and crafts, mathematics and health subjects. The most booked offers in 2025 were a tour of the Industrial Revolution, a science show and Super:bit – an introduction to programming. The most popular topic was programming. The museum was able to offer seven different offers within coding in 2025.
The new offerings in 2025 were Full of Energy (grades 1-4), Code Dance (grades 1-4), Explore: Data and Transport (grade 3-VGS/VO), Explore: Energy (grade 5-VGS/VO), The World of Insects (grades 5-7) and Free Coding (grade 8-VGS/VO). Of the new offerings, Explore : Energy had the most orders in 2025.
In addition, several offerings were developed in 2025. Health robot (8th grade-VGS/VO) was tested and will be offered in 2026. Repair and decoration of textiles (8th-10th grade) was tested, but needs changes before it is offered.
The Directorate of Health supported the development of a teaching program on sexual health (9th grade). In 2025, the museum has had workshops with contributions from Sex and Politics, Skeiv Ungdom, master's students and students from Media and Communication at Sørumsand VGS. The offer will be tested week 6 in 2026 and will be offered from April.
The museum has also renovated the Astroamphitheatre, a learning arena for astronomy, and organized teacher evenings in January and September. The teacher evenings were well received by teachers and will continue in 2026.
This year, the museum also organized a Research Square for students in collaboration with UiO. 682 students with teachers, from 6th grade to VGS, visited the museum on this day. New in 2025 was the collaboration with Tekna, where the museum organized Science Days for 5th-7th grade. 1,138 students and teachers participated. The Science Days will also be organized in 2026. Tekna has also supported Science on Wheels, where the museum held a science show at three schools, with a total of 250 students, in Akershus. The scheme continues in 2026. KulTurBus from Sparebankstiftelsen DNB gave 49 classes over six weeks the opportunity to travel to the museum for free. The Equinor-supported projects Lydlab – create music for video and Kodekraft – game design were completed in spring 2025.
The learning offer for kindergartens was Utvorkte strøm and Dragen Berta Mysterium. The dragon Berta was the offer with the most bookings, with 839 children in total, exactly the same number as in 2024. The museum has had an increase from kindergartens, a total of 1,320 children with adults participated in a learning offer, an increase of 205 from 2024.
The subscription scheme for Nordre Aker continued in 2025. The scheme gives the district's schools and kindergartens free admission all year round. 5,973 students and teachers took advantage of the offer, an increase of 1,124 from 2024. 2,063 kindergarten children with adults visited the museum in 2025 via the scheme, a decrease of 40 from last year.
Great engagement among the students who come to the museum. Photo: Gorm Gaare/ The Norwegian Museum of Science and Technology
Events
The event program aims to update the museum's exhibitions, research, collections and archives. During 2025, the following events were held, many in collaboration with others.
Exhibition openings
On December 4, the museum opened arbeidsfoto/fotoarbeid, a photo exhibition about work and photography. Many Oslo companies are represented in the exhibition and the City Council Secretary for Culture and Industry in Oslo, Kjersti Aastad, was in charge of the official opening. Visual artist Birgitte Sigmundstad and composer and musician Maja SK Ratkje contributed performative artistic works to the exhibition during the opening.
From the opening of the working photo/photo work with musician Maja SK Ratkje. Photo: Håkon Bergseth/The Norwegian Museum of Science and Technology
Girls and technology
TENK Tech Camp was held at the museum for the ninth time in August. It is a free two-day summer camp for girls aged 13–18, organized by TENK – the Tech Network for Women.
Girl Tech Fest was held at the museum for the fifth consecutive year in October. 150 girls from grade 5 participated in workshops led by women in the technology industry who gave them a taste of how they can help shape the technology of the future. Minister of Digitalization and Equality Karianne O. Tung and program director Selma Ibrahim visited the event. Girl Tech Fest is organized by the National Center for Science Recruitment.
Think Tech Camp 2025. Photo: Mohammed Sarmadawy
Women's Health Festival
Norway's first women's health festival was held at the museum on October 25 and 26, 2025. Health in specific life stages and how we navigate knowledge about women's health today were topics for panel discussions and conversation cafes, presentations and demonstrations, dance, activity squares, participatory workshops and performance. More than 20 organizations and 400 festival participants were involved in the program.
The National Medical Museum and the main partners Sanitetskvinnen and the National Center for Women's Health Research at Oslo University Hospital were behind the initiative.
Participants in the project group for Norway's first women's health festival. From left: Thanushiga Rajah, Torhild Skåtun, Kjersti Lind and Gro Ellefsen. Photo: Jill Bottolfsen/ The Norwegian Museum of Science and Technology
Research Days
As part of the Research Days, the museum is collaborating with the University of Oslo on a free research square where school students and the general public encounter current research through demonstrations, activities and meetings with researchers.
Five research groups from the Faculty of Medicine, in addition to researchers and students from the Department of Psychology and the Faculty of Dentistry, as well as the interdisciplinary international student project iGEM from the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, participated in the research forum this year.
Techno-Thursday
Technology History Thursday offers a series of lectures that provide current insights and historical views of technology development and its importance in work and everyday life. The topics include infrastructure, industry, research, medicine and health, natural sciences and engineering. The lecture series is a collaboration between The Norwegian Museum of Science and Technology, the Technology History Group at Tekna, NITO – Oslo branch and The Norwegian Museum of Science and Technology's Friends Association. This year's nine lectures reached an average of 70 participants, with the following topics:
Alf Bjercke's Paint Factory – About The Norwegian Museum of Science and Technology's archive use in painting research and conservation in cultural heritage protection, by researcher and painting conservator Barbro Wedvik at the Norwegian Institute for Cultural Heritage Research, librarian and archivist Anne Solberg and conservator Tone Rasch at The Norwegian Museum of Science and Technology.
Kongsberg - 400 years of technology – In connection with the 400th anniversary of Kongsberg, the 19th Tekna Bauta was given as a gift to the city and unveiled in October 2024. Lecture by Bjørn Ivar Berg, historian and retired researcher from the Norwegian Mining Museum in Kongsberg.
Norwegian broadcasting 100 years – In February 1925, the first official and regular broadcasts from Oslo Broadcasting Company began. Lecture by Vilde Schanke Sundet, associate professor at the Department of Journalism and Media Studies, OsloMet.
Industrial accidents and safety – Lessons from history – Safety advisor Ole Alexander Pihl Konstad showed how industrial and technological development also led to new types of accidents and safety challenges that had to be solved.
Nuclear energy for the future? – Jan Moberg and Odd Richard Valmot from Teknisk Ukeblad took as their starting point the fact that interest in utilizing nuclear power is growing rapidly. New concepts for utilizing and improving fission power technology and possible breakthroughs for fusion power were the topics of the lecture.
The cheese slicer 100 years old – and other Norwegian inventions – The anniversary was used as an opportunity to talk about the cheese slicer, about patents and innovation, and about other well-known and perhaps lesser-known examples of Norwegian inventions. Lecture by conservator Dag Andreassen, The Norwegian Museum of Science and Technology.
Vision Zero – When traffic safety was taken seriously – Lecture by M.Sc. Eng. and former road manager Sidsel Sandelien, who was hired by the Norwegian Public Roads Administration in 1970 as the first person to devote full attention to traffic safety. The topic was how traffic safety came on the agenda in the 1970s, and what fruits it has borne.
EXTERNAL ARENA
In addition to the number of visitors to the museum, 13,863 visitors have been registered at external venues.
The most important arenas in 2025:
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Oslo Maker Festival, by The Norwegian Museum of Science and Technology , was held on 25 and 26 October at Deichman, for the 9th year in a row. Over 18,000 visitors and 200 creators participated. The museum was responsible for the activities mini monsters and vibrating fantasy animals and soap bubble bonanza. The festival is organized by Deichman Bjørvika, Oslo Science Centre/The Norwegian Museum of Science and Technology and Norway Makers, and is financially supported by Sparebankstiftelsen DNB, Tekna and the municipality of Oslo. In collaboration with Deichman and OsloMet, the museum organized a fanzine workshop at Holmlia on 2 October.
- During the World's Coolest Day at Akershus Fortress on August 30, the museum contributed with soap bubbles and activities where children could make their own reflex or program a sand printer. The event was held in collaboration with the Sparebankstiftelsen DNB.
- We also held external soap bubble shows, including courses for employees and shows for school classes in Atlanterhavsparken in Ålesund on May 5 and 6. In addition, the museum participated with soap bubbles at the Asker Cultural Festival on June 24 and in connection with the event Id for alle at Hersleb VGS on June 7.
- Science on Wheels involves science showmen from Oslo Science Centre and the communication department traveling to schools in Akershus and holding science shows for the entire school. In 2025, around 250 students received this offer. The project is funded by Tekna and will continue in the spring of 2026.
- The Talent Centre in Science has three branches at Haugenstua School, Persbråten VGS and Hersleb VGS. The Oslo East project is funded by Sparebankstiftelsen DNB. In collaboration with FERD SE, The Talent Centre expanded its activities by establishing and operating two branches in Oslo: Bjerke VGS and Bjørnholt VGS. The Talent Centre has also had classes in Kongsberg, Lillestrøm and Larvik.
- Oslo Science Centre has held several teacher training courses outside the building, with a total of 1,516 participants. We have trained teachers, principals, social workers, PPT and special educators in the school system.
- The museum has, in collaboration with others, arranged several industrial history walks along the Akerselva River.
Many wonderful bubbles have been created, such as here at the Oslo Skaperfestival. Photo: Joachim Solum/The Norwegian Museum of Science and Technology