Children's playgroups in Cologne

To all you Mums out there: English playgroup for mums and children

• St. George's School,
• Raderthal Gurtel, Cologne
• Mondays and Wednesdays between 1.30 and 3pm
• Open to anyone with children who fancy a chat and a cuppa
• Cost is €4 per session

If you are interested then either come along to one of the sessions or telephone Sam on 0221 2580081.

4 Euros a session, thats more than I have ever paid to go a playgroup - English or German.

Hi, my wife co-runs that playgroup at the English School.

Regards the negative reply about the price... well, the group is very well run, at least according to the feedback from other Mums, and the support is very good. Your first visit to see what it's like is free. You would be very welcome.

Negative reply? I simply pointed out there are lots of playgroups around that don't cost this much.

Cologne Kids is another play and activity group for English-speaking children in Cologne aged 18 to 36 months. Only English is spoken at the group. Cologne Kids meets every Tuesday from 3pm to 5pm Please email me for more info.

Hallo everyone.

I'm married to a german and my daughter has practically no exposure to other english speaking people.
I'm a little worried that this will hurt her developement (not to mention her communication ... for eg. with my parents).
I've seen a few ads and what not for playgroups and such but my daughter is approaching 4 and doesn't seem to fit in anywhere. Does anyone have a hint for me. I'd be eternally grateful.

Thanx alot
Blud
Ps. I live just outside Cologne

We could have done with this 4 years ago (we were here too)!
Any chance of a 6-10s group?
How do you enforce language at these things - don't the kids just go off and argue with each other in German anyway?

Playgroups are usually for kids up to the age they start Kindergarten. You could try putting a notice up in the English shop with a view to forming a small group of 3 -5 year old english speaking kids. If you keep the group small it should be possible to meet at each others houses.

The best way to keep the conversation in English is to find other kids who speak English as their first language.

Sorry for the late reply but I am still figuring out how this forum system works.

Regarding other English-language playgroups, here are a few suggestions of whom to contact for information:

local church groups (many churches offer playgroups for various ages and even in different languages); other expat groups online; playgroup & educational listings from the U.S. and British Consulates closest to you; women's organizations; a site called kinder-koeln.de (though it's in German they have a spielgruppe section that includes groups for different ages and languages); and the local auslander children's office.

As for controlling the English at these groups, many (like Cologne Kids) sing, rhyme, read stories and craft only using English. In all the children's cases, at least one parent is a native speaker of English so the child is used to hearing some amount of English at home and if they have older siblings, these usually go to English-speaking schools so they have added opportunity to hear and learn the language.

Hope that helps.

4 euros for a session is a BARGAIN! I live in Munich and am moving back to Cologne soon. I have paid more than 10 Euros for a session here.

BTW- Blud, where do you live?

FYI: Cologne Kids is approximately 50 Euros per 6-month period. This includes the rental of the room, art supplies, tea for the parents each session, etc.

Just for the record, the American Women's Club Cologne has several free playgroups, when you are a member, yearly fee 40 euro.

Hi everybody! We have had such a long waiting list for our Tuesday Cologne Kids playgroup that a second Cologne Kids playgroup has been started on Thursday afternoons at the same location. Please contact me if you have any questions or visit our website at http://colognekids.tripod.com

Gaby Pinkner (gpinkner@ppverlag.com) and Marie Althaus (reecoad@yahoo.com) are the new co-organizers of Cologne Kids' Tuesday afternoon group. Please contact either one of them for more information.

Hi there,
I am looking for English-speaking playgroups or groups in Bonn or Cologne (we live in Bornheim, between Cologne and Bonn). I have two children, a boy of five years of age, and a girl, 20 months. We are a tri-lingual family, and English is one of the languages spoken in our family. We moved to this area some seven months ago, and are still looking for new contacts. I use to lead an English-speaking playgroup where we used to live before, and I also taught English at local Kindergartens, so forming a new playgroup here, in and for this area, would also be a possibility. If anyone knows of existing playgroups, please let me know. Alternatively, if you'd be interested in starting a new group, please contact me at the_smith_family@t-online.de. Seeing as my children are of various ages, this new group wouldn't need to be exclusively for small children - older children could join, too.
Thank you, and I hope to hear from you.