What was a playgroup and do they still exist?

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I know that when I was 2 I went to playgroup 3 mornings a week, for the year before I went to nursery school. As a mum now I’ve never heard of a playgroup. Does anyone know what they were and why they don’t appear to exist any more?

I went to lots of what you would call a playgroup now with DD - in church halls, surestarts. Minimal costs, but parents stayed, sometimes snacks. They are still about where we are.

I also went to the 70s style playgroups in a church hall. I have a very vague memory of going and the toy box they had. Probably totally unregulated and a chance for your mum to go shopping etc.

DS went to a playgroup at the local church hall 3 mornings a week until he was old enough to attend the nursery class at the local school. It was run by volunteers with a rota of parent helpers. We paid a small weekly fee. Son is now in his 30s.

I went to 'play school' in the early 80s, before I started school. It was held in the local community centre. I can't remember now whether my mum stayed or dropped me off.

I took my own child to 'toddler groups' in the 2010s - usually church halls where parents/carers/childminders stay.

My kids preschool was originally called 'playgroup' (14 years ago) and was a term time only provision for age 3 plus, shorter hours than school so not really for childcare but for getting used to being away from parents. This is more the style of 'playgroup' people are remembering, informal preschool.

Over the 6 years I had kids there it was brilliant and I told them they should change their name because playgroup sounded a lot less official when actually they were a lovely preschool setting. They changed a while after though still termtime only.

These days 'playgroup ' tends to refer to toddler groups where parents go to a church hall with their children for a couple of hours.

I am an 80s kid. My younger siblings went to playgroup. It was in a community hall type place, and just seemed like somewhere kids were dropped off and picked up later on.
I never went to it though. Apparently, I didn't get on with other kids.

Where I am playgroups got renamed preschools, there are loads of them in church or community halls, they generally run during school hours and you can use the FEE funding

I went to St Mark's Playgroup age 3, it's still there and now called St Mark's Preschool ❤️

They used to be very common when I had my first child and children usually went for 2.5 hours either morning or afternoon, we had one in our local village until a few years ago and then one in our neighbouring village shut last year. Very sad as they were lovely places, my little ones used to go to the private day nursery on my work days and then to playgroup on my days off so just gave me chance to do a bit of wfh/catch up on housework. I think a few still left in other villages but they are rapidly dwindling. Most mums are back at work now so need the day nurseries to cater for their hours. The numbers just stopped being viable at our local playgroup (changed their name to preschools a few years ago) coupled with them not usually charging top up fees (like the day nurseries) and no privately paid hours either as the funded hours covered their original opening times then they just weren’t financially sustainable unless they became full day nurseries

Playgroup is IMO where the parents are with their young child. Yes they still exist, often called toddler group.

No, Toddler Groups, or 'Stay and Plays' where each child has their adult stay with them, are a different thing from an old fashioned playgroup, where you left your dc and collected them at the end.

There is the odd one about now but mostly, OFSTED regulations made them too difficult to run. That, combined with more and more regulations about safeguarding and ratios, plus more people needing full daycare.

Then the Government funding creating 'free to parents' nursery sessions for all parents came in but could only be claimed by OFSTED registered settings, so not many parents were then going to pay for their dc to go to their local playgroup, when they could get 15 hours of free Nursery provision at a Nursery / business.

Juice and biscuits 😊

Town where I live have many playschools they go from 2 till start school, all my grandkids went 9-3 5 days a week they accept funded hours 30 but have to pay lunchtime supervision 12-12.30, they do all ofsted related stuff early years etc they are very good n well run

I loved playschool (as it was referred to where I come from). I went before I started primary school and I have some memories of it so must have been 4ish.

Child of the 80s so this would have been 1984-5, I remember it being a big hall full of different toys, we often went out into the small garden and had outside toys and activities. I know it was for several hours, probably half a day and parents did not stay. We had Xmas parties and different events too such as discos and fates.

Similar to nursery now, less formal of course, they didn’t have to align to EY guidelines and there was no “evidence” of what we were leaning or doing with our time. We just played and did 4 year old things. It definitely did not cost my parents 45£ for a half day session, so not that similar

My DS is now 22 and he went to a playgroup. It ran in the church hall and there were paid staff, but I can’t remember how it was funded. Parents did pay, but not nearly as much as it would have cost. There was a rota for parents, usually mothers, to take a turn at helping - usually making toast and cutting up fruit. When you weren’t on rota you left them. Children had to be 3 years old and toilet-trained.

There is one in my town. I wasn’t exactly sure what it was as by the time we moved here mine were too old for that. So I asked a mum who was dropping her little one there after school drop off what the deal was and she said it’s a place to leave your child for two or three hours every morning and it only costs a little bit. Ours is held at the local community centre so perhaps the council fund some of it.

Toddlergroup - babies and toddler groups with parent present.

Playgroup 2.5 years plus without parents.

We still have playgroups and children's centres too. Always taken my children to them.

I went to what you did too op. It was on the side of an athletics field and I went from 2 until school nursery
I looked for one for ds and the only thing I could think of doing was taking him to toddler classes every day. My old one closed a few years ago.
Due to developmental delays DS has a placement in the school nursery starting in April, he will be 2y 7mo (could have started in December but wasn't ready) and I think they can offer this at 2 if you pay for it. Similar to playgroup?

I keep meaning to ask my mum this as I now have a child (in the same town I grew up) and I’m questioning what playgroup was 🤣 I had assumed it was the toddlers but at the time I felt it was something a bit more formal and compulsory than just playing with some toys in the local community centre 🤷🏻‍♀️

Was this in the nursery they’d later go to or in a hall where the toddler group was held?

My kids did this age 2. There was a paid member of staff and then the mums helped on a rota. Twice a week for a couple of hours. It was a nice thing. I think it's still going. My dc have friends that they made in playgroup all those years ago(11)

I didn't go but my younger sister did because one opened in our local church hall. It was 3 mornings a week and the DC had to be 2 years old plus up to 4 years after that they went to school. They did things like dressing up, play kitchen, Duplo for the first hour, singing action songs, then a fruit snack and milk for the second hour then threading beads, tracing, drawing, painting etc for the last hour. They always finished with story time whilst one person read to the DC whilst another one or two play leaders cleared up. They were generally cheap and seemed to accommodate lots of DC.

They still exist here, I sent my eldest to one a couple of mornings a week when I was on mat leave with my youngest.

I went to a playgroup in the 90s, three mornings a week in a church hall aged 3 or so. Parents didn't stay and I'm sure it was run by volunteers.

In the 80s my aunt ran a playgroup she was paid, did crafts, supervised them. She had no childcare experience besides her own kids and prob wasn’t disclosure checked. Very different to nursery now with trained staff, a curriculum etc.

My earliest memories are of playgroup, I remember getting my wee tiny bottle of milk and clinking cheers with all my wee pals.

I’m 51, I remember going to playgroup. It was on a village hall, run by volunteers (my mum ended up running it). Basically parents could do there kids off for 3 hours or so, there do crafts / singing / outdoor play 2-3 mornings each week . Nothing formal at all. My mum was a primary teacher but she didn’t have to be to run this. I think I was 2-4 yrs old.

There are playgroups where I am. Called preschools now - in church halls and similar community buildings. The one my dcs went to had paid staff plus volunteers. Some parent helpers also.
When my kids went, they took kids from aged 2yrs 9 months to school age.
The early years curriculum varied from structured to less structured depending on the dictats of the day.

Toddler groups were a different thing - completely parent run.