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?

In the 90s I went to Twos Club and then to the related Playgroup which must have been from age 3. My mum was one of the leaders, but it was like a toddler group where parents didn't stay, so like preschool now I suppose. This was before all the more formalised safeguarding and educational goals for preschools really evolved. I think a lot of them which were church-hall based etc came to an end as regulations increased, but there are a few still around, including the one I went to - the website says it was established in 1972!

My dc goes to a Stay and Play session for 2 mornings a week at the community centre.They call it "playgroup" but it's a Stay and Play session for 2 hours, twice a week. They have circle time, songs, dance sessions, free play with kitchen/dolls/messy play/paint/cars, snack time with fruit/crackers/water.

From September (age 2) she will be dropped off for 5 mornings a week - they call that nursery. The year after she can attend for a full day (school hours). It's not cheap though and in an affluent part of London where most of the adults taking the kids to Stay and Play are nannies not the parents, and all the dcs go on to private schools.

I'm confused by this discussion! I take toddler to playgroup twice a week. Two different church halls, the parent stays and the toddler runs around playing with toys, we have a sing song and then the toddlers all sit at a big table for snack time. Free but donations welcome. Is this not a playgroup? It differs from stay and play which has no structure and no set start time.

This. The playgroup I went to in the 80s turned into the preschool that my own DD went to!

We had a playbus, a converted bus that would arrive to different housing estates in the 70s and 80s, with a little library area, toys in etc. On your day, you’d just turn up and drop the children off for the morning/ afternoon session for a tiny fee.

Yes, I went to an early 1980s playgroup. My mum helped set one up. They were in church halls (the same ones where we later went to Brownies) and I think staffed by the mums on a rota. Parents dropped off and left us there, unless it was their turn on rota. Two or three hours maybe? No idea what we did there - played I think. Lots of my good friends at primary school went to playgroup with me.

When my kids were little there were toddler groups or church hall playgroup type things, but you stayed with the children, and it wasn’t a rota system. More organised, and not drop off. The preschool my kids went to a few mornings a week looked visually exactly like my old playgroup - lots of toys from the same era! - and I suspect it would once have been a playgroup, but evolved into the more organised structured preschool with “proper” staff.

No that’s a parent and toddler group (or mother and baby/child/toddler as they used to be called) playgroups were where children were dropped off, either 9-11.30am or 12.30-3pm traditionally (when children used to receive 12.5 hours a week of pre school funding) in the early 2000s and most mothers of preschoolers wouldn’t be working. I remember the one my eldest went to accepted children from 2.5 but you used to have to pay for those sessions until they were 3, can’t remember how much but only £4 or so for the session. When my youngest went was about £4 an hour and they had extended from 9-3 most days

There were two kinds.
Mums and toddler groups where the mums stayed. They were in church halls or community centres and were really aimed at isolated and lonely mums. There were toys for the children to play with, but the purpose was to support mums.

Playgroups were staffed play activities for under fives and mums did not stay. They took 3 and 4 year olds, occasionally 2 year olds, but not younger. I worked in one as a 17 year old. They usually only offered morning or afternoon session, and children only attended morning or afternoon and sometimes just one day a week right up to 5 days a week. There was no early years curriculum then, but they offered a wide variety of free flow play activities, including arts and crafts, messy play and outdoor play. Their aim was to give children access to activities and socialisation they otherwise would not get. Some mums did use them for childcare for part-time work, but some were used by SAHMs. Some playgroups also took referrals from Social Services for families who were struggling and needed respite. The kind of SAHMs who put their children in a nursery part time for activities and socialisation also did the same with playgroups.

The playgroups tended to be very cheap. When OFSTED came in some could not meet the requirements, most often building requirements for number of toilets, requirements for the kitchen, and staff ratios, and so closed. Kitchens especially were often an issue as playgroups tended to give a snack but not a meal, but full childcare required a proper lunch and sometimes dinner. But others became full time childcare. Playgroups were often small and I know some closed because they did not have enough space to take in enough children to make childcare pay - economies of scale. Playgroups also lost the 4 year olds to school pre nurseries and this made them less economically viable.

Playgroups were basically like nurseries, but without the hours necessary for childcare.

West of Scotland 1970s

toddlers - mother stayed.

playgroup - run by mother committee (my Mum was the secretary for a bit) with a paid playleader & rota of parent helpers. Parents (Mums!) didn’t stay. Mostly free play. I did 2 years there. I think it was every weekday morning.

nursery - attached to a primary school, council funded, none in our town, was a 20minute drive away and a “new” innovation. You did a half day 5 days a week. There was some formal structure to the sessions I think. I didn’t get to go as my Mum couldn’t drive. This is what made her learn as she didn’t want us educationally disadvantaged.
My younger siblings both went to nursery after a year at playgroup.

friends kids have almost all gone to full time childcare type nursery.
there was a bit of toddlers/ library rhyme time too.

Thinking of the playgroup I worked in, I am sure parents paid about the equivalent now of £5 a session. They were cheap.

Called toddler group now. Usually a loose but still structured play, craft, biscuit /tea /songs and home

They are not toddler groups. Toddler groups parents stay. Playgroups were staffed, sometimes totally by paid staff, sometimes paid staff and a rota of parents. Much more like a nursery than a playgroup. And most did do a variety of free flow activities just as nurseries do now.

Oh I see, thanks! What's the difference between this and nursery? My toddler goes two mornings a week to nursery, from 9-12pm. I don't think they follow the EYFS in the toddler room, it's mainly playing, craft and snacks. Is the difference just the cost?

@PollyPeep.. What's the eyfs?.. Our toddler groups were all different but had.... Sandpit or outdoor play including gross motor skill work, balancing, buckets, mud kitchen and so on. Then that's put away and there was crafts with pencil and special scissors for fine motor skill work... Books and toys. Biscuit/snacks and then someone's read a story and everyone had singalongs with actions like... Wind the bobbin up, wind the bobbin up.. Clap cap slap...

@PollyPeep Nurseries are usually businesses set up to provide childcare.
Playgroups were usually tiny charities set up to provide activities and socialisation for toddlers, They did not take babies.
Nurseries are usually open 8am to 6pm.
Playgroups were usually open for 2.5 hours for a morning or afternoon session and closed for lunchtime.

We go to a playgroup once a week. It’s in a church and has free play, snack/cup of tea time, and a little singing session- I love it!

It’s run by retired volunteers and most of them used to work with children in some capacity (teachers, health visitors, a midwife). Parents stay and it’s all very gentle and relaxed. In some ways, it feels like stepping back in time. And it makes such a change from toddler classes and soft plays. I’ll genuinely be gutted when my DC age out.

Oh, just read the previous posts properly and noticed that this isn’t classed as a playgroup? It’s advertised as a playgroup and I’m not aware of anywhere near me that calls itself a playgroup and allows parents to drop off…

We just have nurseries, preschools, and childminders for childcare 🤷‍♀️

Plenty of playgroups around

I went to one. It was called a playschool. Run as a business, the woman who owned it employed mums as staff, they didn't do much except ensure nobody died, they mostly chatted to each other and were oblivious to any arguments between kids. It ran 9.30am to 1pm, 5 days a week. In the local church hall. Parents signed up at the start of term for however many mornings per week they wanted and paid weekly. Toys like balls, tricycles and dolls prams etc to start with and later we wore aprons for painting or some other cheap craft, then a snack and story time. When I stopped going there (aged 5 and off to primary school) my mum started working there. I think kids had to be toilet trained, I don't remember any potties or nappies around or anyone being too young to walk.

Were you left or did you stay?

Playgroups are play sessions that cater for 0-3's before they go to nursery. Family hubs/NHS run playgroups are often called things like toddle on two. Groups are also run in church halls either by parents/child care providers. These are usually 1-2 hours long and parents stay.

If you were left at the setting that would be pre school. When my dds were little the local playgroup did an under twos session twice a week where parents stayed. Then the other two mornings it was for 2-4 years and the children were left, this was a prep for school nursery starting at 3 or reception at 4. These still run although they tend to offer 15 or 30 hours now (to fit in with funding) They work in a similar way to a school nursery as they typically offer a morning and afternoon session starting around 9 until around 330. (Unlike private nursery which will open longer to fit with work hours)

When I went to a playgroup with my DD it was from aged 2 years 10 months to nursery age which was 4 at the time. I suspect they have died out since kids now get a place at school nurseries on the term following their third birthday so there isn't the same need for a space for kids that age.

This. My mum use to pay her “subs” to cover hall hire and materials. And she’d run errands (eg weekly shop) when she wasn’t on duty.

The playgroups that exist now the parents have to stay. Often referred to as toddler groups.

I think safeguarding was the reason they’ve died out.

I wonder if you and I live anywhere near each other, there are lots of playgroups near me too, I had no idea this was unusual.

My children went to our local playgroup from age 2 in the 90's ( they had to be toilet trained). It was held in the village hall which was stones throw from our cottage. I recall they went for 3 mornings a week and, in the year before they went to school, they were there 4 mornings a week as preparation for primary school. Playgroup was just that, lots of learning through play and in the last year they sat down a little more and did some more structured learning. It was perfect, 9.30-12 with a little drink and biscuit then home for lunch and then a nap. Parents had to help out once a term I think.
I didn't know a single child in our village who went to nursery although they obviously existed but there was one amazing local child minder who would do the playgroup pick up if parents got delayed. I still worked full time hours and DH and I worked around childcare with me working nights and weekends.

I have a 13 and 10y DC. Both went to playgroups when 1-3 y-olds. There were at least 3 to choose from within walking distance from our house in SE London then. All were £1-2 for couple of hours with light snack at the end.
Didn't realise they are no more 🥲