I needed some familiar turf to suss something out and thought I would steal some quiet time to do it.
The official mothersgroup stuff has ended and it has been left to us as a group yo organise meet ups. We have been offered a weekly time slot at a playgroup place long story short.
The fees (non concession) are $40 annual + $25 to playgroup vic + $4 per family per session.
its not so bad considering you have use of facilities BUT ... maybe its just me .... the weekly fee of $4 covers tea,coffee,sugar,drinks, paint,craft supplies etc ... which is finr WHEN you are using this stuff but I cannot justify spending $65 up front and $4 a week for Shae to lay on a floor for the next ?? months .... How long would it be before she is doing crafts anyway ..I doubt I would help myself to tea or coffee so AT THIS AGE it does seem like a waste of money ... Sure When she is older no worries but for a 6 month old??
Is it normal for babies under 12-18 months to be in a playgroup?
Our MG did this and from memory there were no upfront costs - everyone who attended just paid $2 each session. If you didn't go, you didn't pay. You were welcome to use tea/coffee and use the toys there.
fionas - we have the use of a community house, granted its just a room with no bells and whistles its a gold coin donation and I think this is far more age appropriate, I know the other mums are thinking long term which is fine but to me considering they are all babies still it seems a bit much ... but then I am also a tight bum
NaeNae, it does seem a bit daft to call it a "playgroup" at this stage as no, the kids aren't playing! it is a mothers group. Our mothers group evolved into a playgroup (but we always still called it mothers group). We rotated it at each others homes while they were in the rolling around the floor stage but once they got to the toddler stage we went to a community house, which like fiona we paid about $2 a week for.
NaeNae, we posted at the same time. Ours was 6 years ago so maybe community houses have to pay more these days???
FWIW, I also am tight (LOL) but think it is money well spent for your future sanity if you MG turn out to be supportive.
That sounds like alot to me, especially the paying $4 per session AFTER already paying all the other money???
We have a playgroup & luckily for me its held in the school hall of my daughters school so on the weeks I choose to go I drop DD off & just walk to the hall LOL. They have use of the hall + the playground. We also have tea, coffee & biscuits supplied. Ours is $12 per family per school term. This isnt just for parents at my daughters school, its open to everyone.
When DD was a baby & I went to Mothers group we mainly went to each others houses, bringing snacks for the kids or sometimes (like Melbourne Cup day, Christmas get together etc) we'd each bring a plate of food for everyone to share.
When they were real little we mainly met at cafes. When they got older alot of the times we went to the indoor play centres.... they're usually free for under 12 months old & the one we usually went to cost us $5 each child until they were about 3 yrs old. We'd usually bring snacks from home but would buy a yummy coffee & sometimes a bowl of hot chips for the kiddies to share.
If I were you I'd be looking around at the cost of other places, the kids arent playing at that age... I cant even remember how old they are when they actually notice the other babies are there to play with LOL
Our MG has just (as in the last 2 weeks!) evolved into a "playgroup" one of the mums found a local community house which has its own run "playgroups" but we just book it for wed afternoons.
It costs us $10 a term, paid upfront, was told this is just for insurance purposes.
they have a gold coin donation box for tea/coffee but we have brought a box with all our own supplies so not applicable to us.
we have full use of the house with changetables and portacots in the 2 bedrooms (all with baby monitors) and the play area and outdoors (all undercover and fake grass () )
all chocka block with toys, another room is full of craft supplies which we have been told to help ourselves to, but the kids arent yet at the "crafty" age/stage.
there is also baby mats with mobiles set up for the younger ones, kiddies tables and chairs, full kitchen facilities etc. lots of comfy cushions and couches and baby gates to keep the kids out the kitchen and the office area (where all the information and dvd player etc is)
like I said we have only just started doing this, the kids are all 15+ months now, so walking etc, before that we hired a local hall at $9 each a term. and that had nothing but basic amenities.
Both my mothers group and the prem playgroup I was in (that we continued externally once our littlies started walking and couldn't go to the hospital one any longer), looked into going through Playgroup SA and using their facilities.
We all found it expensive, and what we did was decide to meet at different locations, giving the little one's variation
In good weather we go to parks and playgrounds, we have sessions at the play ground int the middle of the WCH quite often as many of the prem bubs still have appointments etc to attend. And other weather those of us who have suitable houses will hold it at our homes.
There are also the options of play cafes, libraries (baby bounce and sing), swimming pool (if there is a heated on in the area).
But as our groups were already formed as such the inital one through our CYHN or your MHCN, so we had the people, just chose the location.
It does sound nice but we just felt it was too much money and decided we could spend it better
the playgroup that I go to is held at a local school, as part of their "Schools as Community Groups" movement. It's free, we're just supposed to bring a piece of fruit along for morning tea that gets cut up so all the kids can share. I guess the craft stuff for the older kids and all the toys are subsidised by the school/department of education, but I probably wouldn't go at all if we had to pay a weekly fee as we just sit there for a couple of hours then go home.
Are there any government/community grants you can apply for to make it cheaper for everyone to attend?
Playgroup costs - seems excessive at this stage
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