German playgroup anywhere?

[Ulminpoika]

Hi all,

I just registered to this forum. I'm a German father in a family of four. My wife is Finnish, and our daughters are bilingual in Finnish and German. We just moved to Finland in March this year after living in Munich for quite some time.

After this pandemic situation will hopefully soon have come come to an end, I'd be interested in joining a German playgroup for my daughters (3 and 5 years old). We currently live at my wife's parent's home nearby Kotka, but anywhere between here and Helsinki would be possible. Does someone know of an existing group which meets up in parks or for a hike?

I really would like to keep their quite good German skills, and I think talking to other kids will help much with that. (Finding other parents to chat with is a great bonus. I'll annoy you with housing questions as we're currently looking for places).

Best, Sven

[FinlandGirl]

I'm a German father in a family of four. My wife is Finnish, and our daughters are bilingual in Finnish and German. We just moved to Finland in March this year after living in Munich for quite some time.

After this pandemic situation will hopefully soon have come come to an end, I'd be interested in joining a German playgroup for my daughters (3 and 5 years old). We currently live at my wife's parent's home nearby Kotka, but anywhere between here and Helsinki would be possible. Does someone know of an existing group which meets up in parks or for a hike?

I really would like to keep their quite good German skills, and I think talking to other kids will help much with that. (Finding other parents to chat with is a great bonus. I'll annoy you with housing questions as we're currently looking for places).

Helsinki has German Kindergarten/School/Library/Church/... with plenty of contact options, you should consider moving to the capital region if this is a priority for you.

In Kotka you can ask the people of the local Finnish-German association:
https://www.ssyl.fi/jasentoiminta/yhdis ... eystiedot/

[Ulminpoika]

Thank you for the link. I think that Finnish-German association was rather about cultural exchange but I sent them a quick mail anyway just because the local contact is actually from the village we currently live in.

I'm aware that most of the international life is going on in Helsinki, and I even worked at that German school for a year. I'm afraid though that buying a family home in the capital will not be affordable for us. Sipoo and Porvoo are better candidates.

I hoped someone in the forum participates in a kids sports group or joins certain trips like hiking etc. Some Finish people organized these things in Munich and it was fun for the girls. Might just be that I have to start a group myself .

[FinlandGirl]

I'm aware that most of the international life is going on in Helsinki, and I even worked at that German school for a year. I'm afraid though that buying a family home in the capital will not be affordable for us. Sipoo and Porvoo are better candidates.

Porvoo is 1 hour by bus to Kamppi, many people are doing that.

The planned extension of Helsinki Metro to Sipoo will come too late for your daughters, but places like Kerava or Järvenpää have only 30-40 minutes train commute to Helsinki centre.

Thank you for the link. I think that Finnish-German association was rather about cultural exchange

You are looking for someone who might know whether there are other German families with small children around Kotka.

I hoped someone in the forum participates in a kids sports group or joins certain trips like hiking etc. Some Finish people organized these things in Munich and it was fun for the girls. Might just be that I have to start a group myself .

Check whatever contacts you can find and ask.
Already searched for Facebook groups?
The German Church in Helsinki likely offers something, or can give contacts.

[Talouskaveri]

There's also a German soccer club offering soccer classes for children: http://www.fcgermania.fi