The focus of this article is on Finnish pre-school curricula from the early pioneering years to the start of the new millennium (1972-2000). Pre-school has been part of the Finnish education system for nearly 40 years. It has been undergoing a challenging reconstruction process and changes influenced significantly by the increasing call for pre-school education. From 2001, all Finnish municipalities have the obligation to offer and arrange free pre-school education for all six-year-old children a year before compulsory schooling. In this article, pre-school curricula are analysed by examining five written curricula between 1972 and 2000 using qualitative content analysis and discourse analysis. How are the curricula written and how are they changed? The results show that often implicit concepts of the child and childhood determine the content of pre-school curricula. The answers have implications for the development of pre-school education, as well as curricula-related research. (author abstract)