Experience Report – Uniküken Crèche

All business apprentices were allocated to different childcare centres for a one-week internship, which took place from 3rd to 7th June. The idea was for all of us to get an insight into what a regular day looks like in one of our childcare centres. I was allocated to the "Uniküken" crèche. I had already contacted the team beforehand to arrange the times for my planned internship. My first day in the Hadern crèche therefore started at 7:30 a.m. I was very warmly welcomed by the manager. She gave me a quick tour of all the rooms before the doorbell rang for the first time.

As I had already done an internship in a crèche several years ago, I roughly knew what would be expected of me. As soon as the children arrive, they say goodbye to their parents. Sometimes saying farewell works without any problems and sometimes there are a couple tears shed and big hugs given. The older children are usually more used to it and are often already looking forward to playing with all the toys; the younger ones tend to still be more attached to their mummies and daddies.

After saying bye, everyone goes into the group room where the children can play with all sorts of different toys. At roughly 9 o'clock all children get a cushion and come together for the morning gathering. One child is allowed to pick a morning song, which is then sung by all the children. Attendance is checked with pictures of all the children and another song is sung, which all children can dance and clap to.

Then the children have their breakfast, usually muesli with yoghurt or bread with spread on it, something like that. But before the children can start eating, they all get bibs to avoid a big mess. While the children are eating, we pour them small amounts of cold tea or water so that nothing gets spilled. As soon as someone's finished eating, their bowl and cup are put on the cart and one person takes the children to the bathroom to wash their hands and face. The older ones can already manage themselves, but the younger ones still need their teachers to help them. While the children are in the bathroom, I take care of "the little room". Clearing the table, wiping it down, filling in or emptying the dishwasher and sweeping the floor for the room to be prepared for the next meal.

If the weather is nice, we take the children out into the garden or for a walk in the park. Before we can set out, all children get sun cream on and a sun hat. If the weather is bad, we stay in the group room and go on playing with the bricks or dolls.

After the morning activities, the children are read a book in the reading corner. Then everyone once again heads to the little rooms to have their lunch, which gets delivered every day by an external catering company.

Once everyone is finished eating, they all go again to wash their hands and the children change to get ready for their midday nap. Each child's clothes are put into a box which is marked with a certain animal. Every child has their own animal that they know is theirs. Two of the teachers then take the children to the gym, which is already equipped with mats and blankets for the children's nap. The nap usually takes one and a half to two hours. During that time, I clear up the little room and turn on the dishwasher. Then I also have a break. Once the children wake up, their nappies are changed and they all get their clothes put back on. After that they all have something small to eat (e.g. fruit, yoghurt). Between 2:30 and 3 p.m., the children are already picked up again and we were always finished work for three o'clock.

For the most part, I really enjoyed the week. I made lots of little friends. I think my biggest success was that I even managed to get the shyest of all children to no longer cry when I was around and that in the end he even sat down beside me now and then. The three teachers were also very nice and it was really easy to get talking to them. I was even invited to the summer party; I'm already looking forward to going.