Munich Kids

The following post was contributed by a reader of Munich Kids:

Note: Bentia Ludwig will be on holiday from  November 10th, 2007 till January 19th , 2008.

No children’s party should be complete without a cake to reflect the child’s
favorite character or interest of the moment.

We will make your child’s birthday the talk of the town by trying to
create a dream cake as individual as he or she is.

All our cakes are made with only fresh ingredients.  Homemade
buttercream icing and careful attention to detail make your cake a
Special Occasion Cake.

Contact Benita Ludwig for more information.

Telephone: 089/ 61440931
E-mail:    t.ludwig@web.de

The Kultur & Speilraum (Culture and Play Room) of Munich sponsors dozens of cultural activities for children and teenagers in two locations in Munich - at Pasinger Fabrik near the Pasing train station and at the Seidlvilla in Schwabing. 

After a  quick perusal of their Spring and Summer catalogue (2007) you should find activites that will entertain and educate each of your children and satisfy their varied interests and hobbies.  Examples of upcoming events include: Art workshops at the Seidlvilla every Friday from 2:30 - 6:00 with different themes each session; Creative dance or Hip-Hop dance courses; Music workshops; Make your own music CD and learn how to be a soundchecker; Theater; Rhythm and drums; guided tours of museums for kids; Self-portrait painting; Film festival, and; a Children’s flea market!

Both locations have options for celebrating birthday parties.  Details are available on their web sites.

The fees for most events or courses are generally inexpensive.  Because each event is meant to be entertaining and meaningful for a specific age group, there are minimum and maximum age requirements listed for each event.  The majority of events are for children between the ages of 8 and 15, though you will find a few events for younger children, down to about age 4.

I have not yet visited the Pasinger Fabrik.  However, I have enjoyed the grounds of the Seidlvilla on multiple occasions.  The Seidlvilla is a lovely old villa in the heart of Schwabing (just off of Leopoldstrasse near the Giselastrasse U-bahn stop).  There is a courtyard with a garden and several picnic tables — a very peaceful place to sit and rest for a while or have a picnic lunch.   In addition to the Kultur & Spielraum program, the Seidlvilla also hosts a number of other programs for adults.  There are coffee cafe meetings, readings, lectures, and theater.    In June, they will sponsor a neighborhood-wide flea market.

All events and classes are conducted in German.  The websites are in German as well.

Seidlvilla

• Address: Nikolaiplatz 1b, 80802 Munich 
• Phone: 089/ 34 16 76
• Website: http://www.seidlvilla.de  and http://www.kulturundspielraum.de
• Email: info@kulturundspielraum.de
• Nearest Public Transportation:  U3/U6 Giselastrasse stop

Pasinger Fabrik

• Address:  August-Exter Strasse 1, 81245 Munich
• Phone: 089/ 888 88 06
• Website:  http://www.kulturundspeilraum.de
• Email: kjwpasing@kulturundspielraum.de
• Nearest Public Transportation: S4 - S8 Pasing Bahnhof, follow the Nordausgang

There are so many things for families and kids to do at the Olympic Park!  You could make an entire vacation out of a long weekend at the park.  I’ll hit some of the highlights, but check it out for yourself.  There is so much on offer, it’d be difficult to cover it all in one post.

The Olympic Park is the former site of the 1972 Summer Olympics.  One of the excellent benefits of hosting an Olympics, of course, is that all of the Olympic facilities remain once the games are over.  For example, there is the swim hall with 5 pools including a 50-meter long swimming pool with 7 springboards and a 10 meter high diving board.  The swim hall also holds a whirlpool, sauna, solarium, and trampoline center.  The leisure sports program is free to visitors to the swimming center.  This gives you access to two gyms, fitness training equipment, and the help of professional fitness trainers.  All of this for the price of a daily ticket (3,60 EUR for adults and 2,60 EUR for children ages 6-16, discounts for families, students, seniors, and persons with disabilities also available)!

Other sports facilities at the Olympic Park include tennis courts, a regatta course, mini-putt course, and an ice sport center.  Housed within the ice sport center is the Socca Five Arena.  There are four full-sized soccer courts and one smaller court for speed soccer.  The fields can be booked for an hour or more.  They also offer a special Kids Party for birthday parties or other special occasions.

Olympic Park is host to the former stadium of the FC Bayern Munich Soccer Team.  After the team moved to its beautiful new stadium at the Allianz Arena, the Park  has had to find creative new uses for the old stadium.  World class athletic competitions and concerts continue to be held  in the 57,000 seat stadium.

Numerous other events and concerts are held at the Olympic Park.  Additional venues besides the Olympic Stadium include the Olympic Hall, Small Olympic Hall, and Event Arena. Detailed information about upcoming events can be found on the website.

Also available on the grounds of the Olympic Park are the Sea Life Center, the Olympic Tower,  and the new BMW museum.  The Olympic Tower houses a rotating restaurant at the top, for a unique Munich dining experience.  Sea Life has been described in detail in another post on this website.  (Search under Sea Life from the home page) .   The new BMW Museum is scheduled to open at the beginning of 2008.

If you (or your kids) are thrill-seekers, try registering for a 2-hour roof climb of the Olympic Stadium, or go abseiling, i.e., hang by a harness and cable from the edge of the tent roof , 4o meters above the ground!

All of these attractions are really just the beginning, as the Olympic Park itself is beautiful.  The grounds cover 850,000 square meters. There is a lake you can stroll beside, while admiring the ducks and geese.  ( A note of caution though.  Geese can be very pushy if they think you are going to feed them, and they are about the size of a small todder.  So, keep your little ones out of their way!) The grounds have mulitple bike and walking paths.  There is also an observation point which can be reached after a short, uphill climb.   On a clear day, you can get a breathtaking view of Munich and the surrounding areas.

 Finally, in the Bavarian tradition, there is no lack of places to find something to eat.  The grounds include restaurants, biergartens, and numerous food stands where you can buy drinks and ice cream.

Address: Spiridon-Louis-Ring 21, D-80809 München

Telephone: 089/30 67-0

E-Mail: info@olympiapark-muenchen.de

Website: http://www.olympiapark-muenchen.de/index.php?id=start&L=1 (in English)

Nearest Public Transportation:  U3,  lympiazentrum; Tram 20, Olympiapark West or Tram 12, Olympiapark; MetroBus 51 and City Bus 173 und 174, Olympiazentrum

Have you been to the new Transportation Museum yet?  The engineers, race car drivers, and train fanatics in your family will love it.  The Transportation Museum, or Verkehrszentrum is a new branch of the Deutsches Museum which opened in the Fall of 2006.  It is the museum for “cars, trains, and everything that moves us”.

The museum is housed in three halls of the Alte Messe, or old exhibition hall.  The building itself is very pleasant to roam around in –giant open spaces with glass walls and roofs.  We were there on a clear day, and the crystal blue sky was a beautiful backdrop for the exhibits. 

Many of the exhibits are interactive.  You can play with the motors, step onto the trains, and pretend to drive a big delivery truck.  Most of the information placards are in English and German.

The highlight of the museum for my kids was the children’s play area.  An autobahn winds among the exhibits, and children can choose from dozens of “vehicles”, including Bobby cars, tricycles, and laufrads.  There are bins of construction materials to build your own transportation creation.  Numerous Mega Block cars and a series of sectional tables in the form of a race track amused my toddlers for a long, long time. The children’s area is in the main hall, with car exhibitions.

 Additional offerings for children, including a bicycle workshop can be found on their website.  From the main page, follow the link to “Information” and then “Kinder and Jugendliche”. 

A program for children’s birthdays is also available.

Address:  Theresienhöhe 14a, 80339 München

Telephone: 089/ 500 806 140

E-Mail:  verkehrszentrum@deutsches-museum.de

Website:  http://www.deutsches-museum.de/index.php?id=verkehrszentrum

Nearest Public Transportation:   U4 / U5 and Bus 134 to Schwanthalerhöhe

There are 4 indoor play parks in Munich and the surrounding areas:  1) Jogoli in Munich; 2) Lollihop in Aubing; 3) Coco Loco in Gruenwald, and; 4) Peppino in Forstern

I have only been to Jogolis.  There is a separate post about that play park on this site.  If other readers have been to the other play parks, please feel free to add a comment to this post, or send me an email at munich_kids@yahoo.com with your own text for a separate post about that play park. 

Each of the play parks have adventure playgrounds, with spaces for running, jumping, climbing, and playing.   Take a look at any of the websites and it will make you wish you were a kid again…or be glad you have kids, because they all look like so much fun!

Each park also has concession stands and birthday party options.

 Visit the individual websites for more information on prices, facilities, and locations.

Jogoli webiste: http://www.jogolis.de/

Lollihop website: http://www.lollihop.de

Coco Loco website: http://www.cocoloco-gruenwald.de/#

Peppino website: http://www.peppino-forstern.de/

In addition to the Hellabrunn Zoo in Munich, there is another animal park in the Munich area.  It is called the Berg Tierpark Blindham.  I have not visited it myself, yet, but is has been recommended by a reader of Munich Kids.  In addition to being able to see the animals, they have additional offers for children. These include a playground, bungy-trampoline, and guided tours for birthday parties.

The Berg Tier Park is open daily from 9:00 -20:00 during the Summer, and from 10:00 - 18:00 during the Winter. Entrance price is 4,30 EUR for adults and 2,90 EUR for children aged 3 -12.  Discounts are available for seniors, students, persons with disabilities, and groups.  A yearly pass is also available.

It looks somewhat difficult to get there by public transportation.  The nearest stop appears to be a bus stop that leaves you with a 1 km walk on foot.  More details are available on the web site.  From the home page, click on “Besucherinfo”.  Then click on “Anfahrt” to obtain transportation information.

Address:  Blindham 3, 85653 Aying

Phone:  (0) 8063 20 76 38

Website:  http://www.bergtierpark.de/

Nearest Public Transportation: From Aying with Busline 9582 Aying/Bad Aibling or Busline 9581 Aying/Bad Feilnbach to the Aschbach/Haus Hoheneck bus stop.  From there 1 km to the zoo by foot.
 

Sticky Fingers is an international play center that offers classes and play groups for infants, toddlers, and children up to age 6.  Sticky Fingers was started in 2003 by Lara Kroll, a British mother of two, who had recently moved to Munich with her husband and children.  From its original launch of about 30 members, Sticky Fingers has since grown into a thriving, international, English-speaking community with about 200 regular members.

There are multiple activities on offer, and all are led in English.  Sample activities include: music, dance, arts & crafts, play group, cooking, and baby yoga.  A parent or nanny attends each session with the child.  Sessions are very interactive and engaging.

The main area of the center is a large room  divided into 6 play zones.  These include the free play, music, adventure, creative, imagination, and quiet zones.  These different zones are based on the British educational philosophy for pre-school aged children.

I started attending Sticky Fingers with my oldest son in 2005.  Primarily, he attended the free play session. He loved having access to so many novel toys and stimulating activities.  As he outgrew the toddler sessions, my twins grew into them.  A new payment package devised by Lara allows us to attend numerous different sessions.  Music and Movement and Toddler Boogie are particular favorites.  Meanwhile, my older son has grown old enough for the junior classes - classes designed for children ages 3 to 6.  Children have more independence in these classes, but should still be accompanied by an adult.

Sticky Fingers offers daily sessions and activities hosted in English for babies and children aged 0-6 years to enjoy alongside their parents or care-givers. Sessions include Creative Ballet, Music 4 Kids, English for fun, Crafts and much more. To attend, parents purchase a 5 or 10 session card, giving them great flexibility to attend as and when they like!

If you would like to attend a free trial session please email Ann at ann@stickyfingers-munich.com or call Sticky Fingers on 089 864 66118.

Readers of the Munich Kids website can benefit from our ‘Spring Joining’ promotion:

Free registration until Feb 28th (normally 50 Euros per family). Email for details.

Birthday party packages are available with a variety of themes, including Thomas the Tank Engine, Bob the Builder, Princess, and Barbie.

Address: Erzgiesserei Strasse 30, Maxvorstadt, 80335 Munich

Phone:  089/ 864 66 118 

Website:  http://www.stickyfingers-munich.com/frames/frameset.htm

Email: info@stickyfingers-munich.com

Nearest Public Transportation:  Tram 21 or 22, Sand Strasse; U1 0r U7, Stiglmeier Platz