Infants
Early childhood is a crucial phase of your child's life.
Help your child discover the world and learn as much as possible.
Meet other parents with toddlers and get advice from professionals.
The children learn German through play and there are even offers in the children's mother tongue.
Your child develops very quickly in the first stage of life. This also comes with challenges. As parents and guardians, you will receive free advice in all situations.
The counsellors of the Mütter- und Väterberatung Service are experts in the following topics:
- General development of the child from 0 to 5 years old
- Breastfeeding
- Infant formula (Formula)
- Sleep
- Introduction to complementary foods
- General nutrition in children from 0 to 5 years of age
- Education / Health / Prevention
- Coping with conflicts in the family
- Networking with other families
Here you can find the counselling centre in your place of residence:
Directory of the Canton of St. Gallen
Counselling for mothers and fathers in a nutshell
A video from the MVB Ost department
- Information (tigrinya)
- Information (deutsch)
- Information (italienisch)
- Information (farsi)
- Information (russisch)
- Information (bosnisch)
- Information (portugiesisch)
- Information (spanisch)
- Information (tamil)
- Information (türkisch)
- Information (englisch)
- Information (französisch)
- Information (kurmandschi)
- Information (arabisch)
- Information (somalisch)
- Information (albanisch)
At the Familienzentrum you will meet other families. The children can play together and you will receive interesting tips for everyday family life.
Depending on the Familienzentrum , there are playgroups, parent education offers, childcare options or creative activities.
In some places, you will also find counselling services such as Mütter- und Väterberatung or parenting advice.
Here you can find all family centres in the Canton of St.Gallen:
- Meeting Centre ZentRuum Au-Heerbrugg new window
- Meeting Centre Dorfplatz 1 Diepoldsau new window
- BiB library with counselling and meeting services St.Margrethen new window
- Parents' Child Centre Gugelhuus St.Gallen new window
- Family and Meeting Centre Reburg in Altstätten new window
- Family get-together Buchs new window
- Family Centre Eggersriet new window
- Family Centre Gerbi4 Oberuzwil new window
- Grabs Family Centre new window
- Lichtensteig Family Centre new window
- Family Centre Rapperswil-Jona new window
- Family Centre Sarganserland new window
- Sevelen Family Centre new window
- Family Centre St.Gallenkappel new window
- Family Centre tiRumpel/Brache Lachen St.Gallen new window
- Family Center Uzwil new window
- Family get-together Wattwil new window
- Familienwerk Wittenbach new window
- Family Center MuKidi Weesen new window
- Generationenhaus Gommiswald new window
- Track 1 Oberriet new window
- Kafitreff Family Centre Gaiserwald new window
- Day Structure and Family Meeting Quarten new window
- Hit Egg Underwater new window
- Quartiertreff Lindenhof Wil new window
- Quartiertreff Rorschach new window
Family Centre: Meeting, Care, Education and Counselling
Example of a family centre: the Grabs Family Centre - a video from the Canton of St.Gallen
Playgrounds can be found in every place of residence, for example at schools, kindergartens or in public places.
The public playgrounds are mostly owned by the municipality. They are free and accessible to all.
Private playgrounds belong to a residential complex, a school or a shop: there are special rules about who is allowed to play there.
Ask your neighbours or other parents where there are playgrounds nearby.
In the Spielgruppe , the toddlers play, sing and do handicrafts together.
The children meet several times a week for 2-3 hours to play. A trained Spielgruppen teacher supervises the children. The Spielgruppe is voluntary and you pay a fee for each hour.
Ask at the municipal office or search for a Spielgruppe near you on the following website:
Directory
Playgroup in the Canton of St.Gallen
Example of a playgroup: SpiKi City of St.Gallen - a video of the Canton of St.Gallen
Read stories aloud at " "Schenk mir eine Geschichte"
Children can best develop their language skills if they have a good knowledge of their mother tongue.
In "Schenk mir eine Geschichte" a reading animator reads stories aloud and explains picture books in the children's native language.
Information on " "Schenk mir eine Geschichte" in your area can be obtained from the Regional Office for Integration.
Learning to Speak
Speak to your child as much as possible in your mother tongue: if the child speaks the mother tongue well, it will also be easier for him to learn German.
- ምሳይ ተዛረብሞ ንዓይ ድማ ስምዓኒ (tigrinya)
- Habla conmigo y escúchame (spanisch)
- Fala comigo e escuta-me (portugiesisch)
- Parle-moi et écoute-moi (französisch)
- Benimle Konuş ve Beni Dinle (türkisch)
- Parla con me e ascoltami (italienisch)
- تحدث معي واستمع إلي! (arabisch)
- Talk to Me and Listen to Me (englisch)
- Fol me mua dhe më dëgjo (albanisch)
- என்னிடம் பேசுங்கள், நான் சொல்வதைக் கேளுங்கள் (tamil)
- Sprich mit mir und hör mir zu (deutsch)
- Pričaj sa mnom i slušaj me (bosnisch kroatisch serbisch)
"Book Start" package in many languages
Each newborn child receives a "Book Start" package as a gift. Your child will be happy if you talk to him, tell stories and read aloud from books right from the start.
- Ailede Dil ve Okuma Teşviği (türkisch)
- Di nava malbatê de lipêşxistina xwendinê (kurmandji)
- Eveil au livre en famille (französisch)
- Fomento de la lectura en la familia (spanisch)
- Growing with stories (englisch)
- Incentivar a leitura em família (portugiesisch)
- Mit Geschichten wachsen (deutsch)
- Podsticanje/ Poticanje čitanja u porodici/ obitelji (kroatisch)
- Promozione della lettura in famiglia (italienisch)
- Të rritesh me përralla (albanisch)
- النمو مع القصص (arabisch)
- கதைகளுடன் வளர்ந்து வருகிறது (tamil)
- ብዛንታታት ምዕባይ (tigrinya)
As a parent, you have an important role to play in your child's educational development.
In the canton of St.Gallen, there are many services that help you as a parent to support your child. Ask for services at the Familienzentrum , at the Mütter- und Väterberatung service or at the municipal office.
Take advantage of offers and courses
When playing, children learn very quickly.
When children attend a Spielgruppe , a Kita or an early intervention course, they learn the German language there even before kindergarten.
There are many offers in your area. Ask at the Familienzentrum or the Municipal Office.
Guide for parents on how to promote their children's language and reading skills
- Podsticanje/Poticanje čitanja u porodici/obitelji (bosnisch kroatisch serbisch)
- Family Literacy (englisch)
- Eveil au livre en famille (französisch)
- Leseförderung in der Familie (deutsch)
- Di nava malbatê de lipêşxistina xwendinê (kurdisch)
- Ailede Dil ve Okuma Teşviği (türkisch)
- Promozione della lettura in famiglia (italienisch)
- குடும்பத்தில் வாசிப்பு (tamil)
- Incentivar a leitura em família (portugiesisch)
- ናይ ንባብን ትምርታዊን ምትሕብባር ኣብ ስድራ (tigrinya)
- Ndihmesa për leximin në familje (albanisch)
- القراءة في الأسرة (arabisch)
- Fomento de la lectura en la familia (spanisch)
«parentu» is an app that informs and supports you as a parent in 17 languages. You will find topics such as growing up, education and upbringing. In addition, you will receive ideas for organizing everyday family life as well as up-to-date information.
The app is available in: Albanian, Arabic, Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian, German, English, Farsi, French, Italian, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Tamil, Tigrinya, Turkish and Ukrainian.
You can download the parentu app free of charge from the App Store or Google Play Store .
In the brochure you will find tips for parents with babies and toddlers up to 4 years of age. As a mother or father, help your child to become emotionally strong:
- Así se fortalecerá mi niño emocionalmente (spanisch)
- Çocuğum bu şekilde ruhsal olarak güçlenir (türkisch)
- Così mio figlio cresce mentalmente forte (italienisch)
- É assim que meu filho se torna emocionalmente forte (portugiesisch)
- Helping my child become emotionally strong (englisch)
- Kjo është mënyra se si fëmija im bëhet mendërisht i fortë (albanisch)
- Na ovaj način moje dijete postaje mentalno jako (kroatisch)
- Ovako moje dete postaje mentalno jako (serbisch)
- So wird mein Kind seelisch stark (deutsch)
- Voici comment renforcer la santé mentale de mon enfant (französisch)
- تمتع طفلي بالقوة العقليةها هي طريقة (arabisch)
- በዚ መንገዲ ድማ ደቀይ ብኣተሓሳስብኦም ሓያላት ኽኾኑ ይኽእሉ (tigrinya)
Contact points
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