Pre-school and pre-school class

Day care activities

All children living in Denmark have access to day care centres and kindergartens. Crèches (vuggestuer) are for children aged 0-2 years, and kindergartens (børnehaver) for 3-6 year olds. 

The fee is DKK 29,000 per year in crèches, and DKK 16,300 per year in kindergartens. The staff - social educators - in crèches and kindergartens are trained and have completed a 3-4 year education programme.

Children may also be looked after by a childminder (dagplejer) who is employed by the municipality but working in their own home. Childminders normally only look after a small group of children.

How to enrol

Registration takes place at the municipality - the relevant department is often called Pladsanvisningen. In some districts there is a waiting list, and children have to be at least 9-12 months old to obtain a place.

In Denmark it is strongly recommended to let children of non-Danish origin go to kindergarten in order to learn the Danish language before starting school. 

Pre-school class

There is an optional pre-school class (børnehaveklasse) at the schools. Children start at the age of 5, and approx 97 per cent of all children are enrolled in this optional class. The staff in pre-school classes are social educators, not teachers. 

How to enrol

Enrolment in a pre-school class takes place at the municipality. Pree-school class activitites take place at schools.