Playgroups and families north of Munich

Hi,

my family and I moved to Hallbergmoos from the UK towards the end of October and I'm wondering if there are any formal or informal gatherings of mums and kids outside of the city centre?

I have a 4 1/2 year old daughter, who is on a waiting list for a Kindergarten, so currently at home full time, and a 1 year old son, and I'd love to join any Parent and Toddler / playgroup in the area. I've found places like Sticky Fingers via this Forum, but I'd rather not always head into Munich.

I'm currently having German lessons, but most definitely not yet a German speaker!

Is there a Familiencenter in Halberg... We live in Unterschleissheim (not too far) and there's a good one here that we use to entertain our 1.5 year old a couple of mornings a week. My husband (who's doing the bulk of child care at present) has found it a good outlet in spite of the limited gender balance among the adults. :-) Great place to hear German as well and a pretty good smattering of people with English to help you navigate until you're fluent.

I should have added that we also have two older girls - almost 4 and almost 6 - who are in Kindergarten (so not around during the day), but would certainly welcome a northern play date on the weekend at some point. Perhaps there are others out there looking for the same? Meet at a park sometime? (before the snow hits?)

Have you tried Three Bears in Garching? Do a search, its on here somewhere.

Thanks for the info - I'll look into a Hallbergmoos Familiencenter and the Three Bears. Would also be interested in a weekend play date at a park sometime - currently feeling guilty about taking my daughter out of school, away from her friends and not getting her into Kindergarten yet!

(She is currently second on the waiting list for a Kindergarten near us - what do you all reckon the likelihood is of her getting in before the new academic year?!?)

We live in Freising and know of a English playgroup for your little one.Its on a Monday 10.30 and if your interested I can pass on some more details.Maybe a good place to go until your German improves and you can ask the ladies there lots of questions.

The group meets at the Centrum de Familia,Kammergasse next too the VHS there is some parking inbetween the two buildings, 10.30 2nd floor I think.Diane Clayton a fellow english lass organises everything.The group is aimed at 1 to 3 year olds and I think Diane also knows about an older group too.Hope you find it LOUI

Very glad to report that my daughter's Kindergarten rang yesterday to say she has a place as of January, so I'll be able to take my son along to the Freising playgroup after Christmas. Can I just turn up or should I contact Diane?

Hi,
There is also one in Haimhausen, near BIS, the International school north of Munich.
It's open to anyone with baby's and toddlers. Great place to meet other mums and dads.
Contact details are:


Hope this helps, should only take you 2o(ish) minutes from Halbergmoos.

Froggy

Perfect! My son and I will be heading over to Haimhausen in January.

Thanks to all for the info, and have a great Christmas!
Niamh

Hi

My husband has just received official confirmation of his job transfer to Munich from the UK... this is great news for us, and exactly what we want, but as I'm 14 weeks pregnant and have an 18 month old daughter there is loads I want to try to find out before I go, and I'd really love to know what kind of baby related social network I'll be able to build initially as my German is both basic and rusty at the moment!

Is there anyone reading this on the north side of Munich, or outside Munich in a town or village to the north? We are looking at Pfaffenhofen as a possible place to live - it's about half way between Munich and Ingolstadt, if that means anything to anyone? I have done a bit of research on this board and google etc. and have seen that there is an English speaking play centre and at least one toddlers group actually in Munich, which I can travel to if that's the nearest option, but as I'll have a big bump and then a newborn and a toddler travel into a city centre by train etc. won't be easy at first, I'd really love to find people and toddlers groups etc. nearer to (what will be) home... Of course I aim to learn German as quickly as possible, and I know there will be German speaking toddlers groups, but I have a lot on my plate at the moment and will when we first move too, so realistically I know I will most definitely want to meet some other English speaking mums (or carers) too!

I would love to hear about anything baby/ toddler related that goes on to the north of Munich, with an international or English speaking slant!

Additionally and on a separate note, would love to hear how the German pre and post natal care system works! I know the care will be good, but I am a little apprehensive about having my baby in a new county and not knowing the system - I will be moving out to Germany after my husband as I will stay to get the house here in the UK sold first if possible, so am a bit nervous about slotting into the system mid or late pregnancy - I may post a separate question about this though, as I guess it's 2 separate areas really!

Many thanks for reading, and I'm really looking forward to reading some replies!

Hilary

Topics merged by admin

Welcome to Toytown!
Weekends are usually rather quiet on the forum so your post won't be seen by many people just yet. In the meantime, you might like to explore the forum a little more since many of the issues you raise have been dealt with before. Here is the link to a thread on Having a baby in Munich (just click on one of the underlined words). Also, you can use the search function (upper right corner) to find out more about different neighbourhoods, playgroups, get-togethers, and so on. Hope this helps!

The Munich Mommies playgroup meets in Milbertshofen, on the north side of Munich. There's also an English-language playgroup at the Eltern-Kind Zentrum in Schwabing, which is a bit more central but still on the north side of town. I live in Moosach myself and have an almost-two year old and a four month old -- we may move if we can find a new apartment, but will still probably be on the north side of town, and I know a couple of other Toytown moms with toddlers in Moosach or Milbertshofen. Can't tell you anything about the suburbs but maybe others will pipe in on Monday morning!

And Kay is absolutely right that you'll find lots of relevant info in existing threads -- the moms-to-be and recent moms threads (there are a couple!) cover a lot of issues as well.

there should be lots of mummies with toddlers that side of Munich. The Bavarian International school is that side of town, in Haimhausen, I am sure you will find many other mothers with young children! Good Luck.

Hi Kay, Zard and Welshdragon

Many thanks for your replies, it's good to know there are some other English speakers on the North side of Munich... I have looked through some older threads (including the one this has been merged into) and it looks like there is some good information on toddlers groups etc. Once we've actually moved I'd be really interested in meeting up with some mums who post on here - it looks as if that's a fairly common thing, looking at older threads, so I hope some others will be interested! My daughter has been used to a very active "toddler social life" over here, so I really hope I can find her some new little friends (bother German and English speaking) so she doesn't miss her old friends too much! I'd also really love to think I'll be able to find some other mums to meet up with from time to time, especially in the early days when my German won't be up to much!

I'm off to do some research on giving birth and antenatal care in the area now - some of the threads mentioned have been interesting, but I think my particular concerns are too specific so I might be posting a new thread again soon!

Am also interested in exactly how Kindergartens work, and from what age children tend to attend - I was wondering about sending my daughter a couple of mornings a week to help her make friends and learn German, but wonder if she's too young, as she won't even be 2 when we move, and I don't even know if Kindergartens do that kind of very part time arrangement...

Hope people will continue to reply on here even though it's been merged with an older thread! It's so reassuring to hear from people!

Thanks again for the replies so far!

Hilary

Hi mums,

Please, help me: we will be soon living in the North East of Munich, in Deggendorf, and I'd love to know, if there are a mums and tots, playgoups or an English Speaking kindergarten nearby my location (I'm ready drive even an hour distance)? Anything round the airport area? Freising area?

We have 2 kids; 2,5 yrs old girl and 5 yrs old boy. We have lived 3 years in the Usa and Canada and the kids speak English and Finnish (we are from Finland). I was thinking to put the kids into the local Kindergarten in Deggendorf (is it wise??), but I would love to meet the other English speaking families at least once a week just to survive in Germany and making new friends.

Or if you are interested in starting a new playgroup in our direction, I'm happy to provide the facilities and you are warmly welcomed to bring your kids to play in my house in Deggendorf, while we're having coffee!

I thank you for any information you can share!

Maria

Topics merged by admin

There is a English group here... in Erding. It's on Thurs. we've been meeting 10-1130. The contatc person is Anna Toney-Brunotte, a Brit who has been living here for many years. There are only 2-3 English speakers, the rest of the group is German mothers interested in speaking English and or exposing their children to the English language. I enjoy meeting both the German and international moms. My 19 month old daughter has a lot of fun too. They have other (German) playgroups, fleamarkets, and babysitting. I am new here also and would love to make new friends. Send me a PM if and when we'd like to meet. I do not have access to a car at this time so I could meet in Erding or someplace on the S2 train course.

Best wishes.

Does anybody know whether this information about an english playgroup in Freising is still current (as of March14 2008)? I was a long time resident in Freising, but now live in Boston, MA. We are looking for a english drop-in playgroup in or around Freising where I or my American husband could drop in when we visit Freising with our 2 year old son.

Thank you very much for your help!

CME