Playgroup costs - seems excessive at this stage

Hey all .... long time no post lol...

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?

Nae x x

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 :lol:

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

Good Luck :)

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 (:rolleyes:) )
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 :D

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?

We pay $28 per year to Playgroup WA for insurance etc, and then we pay $3 per session for hall rental, tea coffee etc- we use grants and fundraising to pay for toys, crafts etc

Nae I run 2 playgroups.

Both provide morning tea for kids.. adults and coffee/tea etc and a craft every time.

One is 30$ a term the other is 40$ a term.

I know the rent at one is 50$ a session.. so they need the costs covered.

I didnt join playgroup for that very reason. My mums group turned it into a playgroup at 12mths and I just found it silly for a couple of reasons.

1. The cost seems ridiculous for what it is. Similar to what you said and no tea, etc supplied. They take turns each week bringing it for everyone.
2. I still meet up with the people I want to out of playgroup.
3. DD gets alot of social interaction at activities at Daycare 2 days a week.
4. The time that they have it on is at DD's arvo sleep time.

Hi NaeNae

I go to playgroup with DD - 3 years and DS - 17 months - the one we go to won't take kids under 1 year of age, which is common sense as they do crafts, run around on the play equipment outside, sit down at a table and have fruit for morning tea, etc so for any littlies under 1 years it would be a waste of time. So now that DS is over one, he is enrolled as well and is enjoying participating, which is great. I have been going to this playgroup for two years now and have met some really lovely ladies who I have seen outside of the playgroup session. The cost would be about the same as yours, we have to pay for the term upfront to ensure we have a place.

Maybe just for now, keep going to each others houses/parks/cafes/playcentres until your littlies are a bit bigger.

Good luck with it all.
Laurin

I also dont go for the same reason.. Our playgroup is $25 upfront to playgroup vic, then $20 a term!! I only went once to suss it out, and there was no way I was paying that, especially when there are lots of free activities around town for DS.

the part of the fee structure you have that i dont understand is the $40...is this to the community house? it just seems excessive that they want the 40 on top of a weekly allowance of $4 (which BTW i also find a tad excessive!).

our MG became a 'playgroup' when our free sessions at the MACH centre also ran out. we had to for insurance purposes for any of the places that we wanted to use. for us currently (in a group of 10) the playgroup VIC fees are $25 p/a pp, and a $14 fee for the community house per term pp. i find the latter exxy as we used to just do a gold coin donation and meant that whatever week you couldnt make, you didnt have to pay for. also, the terms are following school terms and i just dont see the point of that...we used to be able to go all year round (big deal in brunswick where it is baby boom capital and space for kidlets etc to just play and hang out is a premium). BUT that said, the support and friendship and fun that DD has is worth it for us, especially as we do have a space for the kids to play rain, hail or shine. visiting eachothers homes is not practical when many of us live in narrow victorian terraces with no yard lol.

Odd, I am pretty sure the playgroup I am starting Tuesday is free. I asked the nominated lady on the phone about fees and all she said in reply is "just bring a piece of fruit for the share table". The facilities seem pretty nice too with an outside shaded area and inside nice plush rugs for the kids to play on.

I think 'playgroup' is a registered name and the fees are for joining a playgroup in the Playgroup Australia association which is why there is an annual fee and I have seen other playgroups that charge an annual fee and $4 per week per child or $10 for a family on top of it.

I think if you want less fees but still want to go along to one, look for groups with a variation on the name such as Playtime Group or just Playtime. I go to a playtime group and they charge $1 per week per family. Morning tea and craft are all included but we all go on a roster and take turns at doing different things like bringing morning tea, running craft, telling the story or doing the singing. I think it works well.

Most of these variation groups will be run by community centres, schools or church groups - places where insurance is already covered by the overarching organisation.

Hope that helps :)

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I think 'playgroup' is a registered name and the fees are for joining a playgroup in the Playgroup Australia association which is why there is an annual fee and I have seen other playgroups that charge an annual fee and $4 per week per child or $10 for a family on top of it.

Most of these variation groups will be run by community centres, schools or church groups - places where insurance is already covered by the overarching organisation.

Hope that helps :)

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yeah this is the difference i think with the fee structures. Playgroup is a registered association as JM mentioned. if you can find a community centre one then i reckon that's the way to go! the ones we tried to get into (but our original group was too big being the old MACH run group of 11 girls) had awesome playspaces and kitchenettes with great climbing toys and mats etc that grew with the children. so if you had a little baby that was fine, there were couches and coffee, tea facilities and a fridge to store food and microwaves. and then for the bigger toddlers etc there were the climbing frames and mats. man, how i wish we could of been able to do that!

Our playgroup costs $45 per year per family ( half going to the playgroup to cover tea, coffee, milk, paint etc, and hall hire, and half going to Playgroup Victoria). No on going costs at all.
I have been going since DS was 6 months old... more for me at the beginning to get to know people in my area.
All that money PLUS a weekly fee seems a tad overboard.

Yup seems expensive to me too. Another alternative is to look for church-run groups. The hall doesn't need to be hired out and sometimes there are even volunteers who set up crafts or organise morning teas for you so you can spend the whole time gasbagging... erm... looking after your kids. ;)