Munich Kids

The following post was provided by a reader of Munich Kids. 

Shows such as “Riverdance” and “Lord of the Dance” demonstrate that people around the world are fond of the style of Irish dancing. The Irish Step group in Grünwald offers dance training to children.  All children, aged 3 -18,  are welcome.  We have many performances, feis (international irish step competitions), excursions and – what is the most important to us – a lot of fun!

Training is held from 3:30-8:00 p.m. on Mondays in 5 different levels.  Cost is 165 Euros/year (October-June).  A free trial is always possible. Trainings are held in English and German.  

For more information, contact Veronika Körösi. 

Address: Pfarrsaal Schlossstraße 4, 82031 Grünwald

Email: Veronika.Koeroesi@gmx.de 

Phone:  +49(0)162/8904482 

Website:  http://www.gruenwalder-burgspatzen.de/41309/home.html

Nearest Public Transportation:  Tram 25, Derbolfingerplatz

Any football fans out there? And I do mean  football, not soccer.

Did you know that there is an American-style football league in Munich?  The Munich Cowboys offer football, fan clubs, cheerleading - even hot dogs and hamburgers at the stadium!  There are teams for men, women, and kids.  There are also 3 squads for cheerleaders - senior squad, junior squad, and peewee squad.  So, there are opportunities for kids and adults across a wide age range to get involved in football and cheerleading.

The men’s games are held in Dante Stadium, with a seating area of about 3,000. Tickets range from 4 EUR to 7 EUR per game or 17,50 EUR to 42,00 for a season pass.  Seems like the kind of family outing that is fun and affordable at the same time.   Children up to age 6 are free.

The website is in German and posts information about upcoming games for each league.  Contact information for the different leagues and cheerleading squads are listed separately on the web site. The next men’s home game is on July 22 (2007).

Address:  Dantestrasse 14, 80637, Munich

Website:  http://www.munich-cowboys.de/

Nearest Public Transportation:  U1, Tram 20, or Tram 21 to Westfriedhof.

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

Aqua & Soul is a wellness and health center offering a swimming pool, steam sauna, biosauna, color therapy room, infrared cabin, massage, and a gymnastic and dance room.  According to their brochure, their specialty is swimming courses for babies and small children up to age 4.

The center is recommended by a reader of Munich Kids.  She prefers it to other pools in the city, because the water is held at a higher temperature, making it more comfortable for the babies and children (not to mention parents!)

A full listing of prices and course schedules is listed on their website.  The website is in German only.

Address:  Maxhofstrasse 91, 81475 Munich, Fuerstenried-West

Telephone:  089/ 57 96 89 29 (office) and  089/ 74 50 01 04 (pool)

Email:  helga-korp-atem@gmx.de

Website:  http://www.aqua-soul.de

Nearest public transportation:  U3 Fuerstenried/West or Busline 56, 134, 166, 260, 261, 267, 936, and N41 to Fuerstenried/West

The Deutscher Cricket Bund offers training to children.  All children, ages 6 -12,  are welcome regardless of gender, race, or disability.  Coaches are England &Wales Cricket Board (ECB) Level One qualified.  Training is held from 10:00 -12:30 on Sundays.  Cost is 1 Euro per session.  Training can be done in English or German.  When training is conducted indoors, children should wear light-soled trainers.  For outdoor play, children should wear rubber-studded sports shoes.

Indoor: Sports Hall of the European School; Elise-Aulinger-Strasse 21, 81739, Munich

Nearest Public Transportation:  U5 Therese-Giehse-Alle, exit Putzbrunnerstrasse 

Outdoor:  Erasmus-Grasser Gymansium, Fuerstenriederstrasse 159, 81377 Munich (near the Rosengarten, Westpark)

For more information, contact Michael Kwan at mkwan@t-online.de

Want to throw the best outdoor party your kids have ever had?  Assuming you have the space for it, you can rent some pretty cool equipment from the city’s sports bureau.  Think of your daughter’s friends coming over for a birthday party to find a giant (3.6m x 3.6m x 3.0m) , inflatable castle that kids can jump, somersault, and fly around on! Then consider that you can rent it for the entire day for only 50 EUR.  Want to impress your teenage son with something he’ll really like?  Rent him his own, personal, mini-halfpipe and invite all his skater friends over for the day (150 EUR).  Tons of other, much lower cost items are available as well.  Rent all of the basketballs, footballs, soccer balls, etc., that you need for only 1 EUR each.  Maybe your toddler loves the giant parachute that they bring out at her gymnastics playgroup?  Rent one for only 1 EUR per day.  You can rent lawn games, wheeled devices, giant building blocks, free-standing basketball hoops, even stilts, for really low prices.  To see a copy of the brochure, go to the following link. 

http://www.sport.musin.de/sportamt/angebot/index.html.   Under “Sportamt”, click on “Freizeitsport”.  Follow the link to “Speilgerateverleih”.  Follow a second link to “Spielgerateverleih”.  Download the PDF file. 

A copy of the brochure can also be ordered by phone or email.

Phone:  089 65 11 56 59

Email:  freizeitsport@muenchen.de

Are you familiar yet with the Freizeit Programm (free time program) of the city’s sports bureau?  Munich offers more sports clubs, classes, and structured free time opportunities than you could possibly imagine!  The following websites provide a good overview of what is available, schedules, addresses, and age restrictions, if any.  Websites are in German, but can be easily translated using the Google Language tool.  A link to this tool can be found under “Useful Links” on the home page of Munich Kids.

1.  For a listing of the current program for Freetime Sport:  http://www.sport.musin.de/sportamt/angebot/index.html  Under “Sportamt” click on “Freizeitsport”. Follow the link to the current program.

2.  For a schedule of structured playground activities held throughout the year in parks throughout Munich: http://www.sport.musin.de/sportamt/angebot/index.html.   Under “Sportamt”, click on “Freizeitsport”.  Follow the link to “Spielaktion”.

3.  For a search engine of  all the sports offering for toddlers, children and teens in Munich:  http://www.msj.de/msj/sportangebote/sa_suchen2.php 

4.  To rent really cool play and sports equipment for great prices:  http://www.sport.musin.de/sportamt/angebot/index.html.   Under “Sportamt”, click on “Freizeitsport”.  Follow the link to “Spielgerateverleih”.