Öppen förskola (open preschool) is a free drop-in meeting place for parents on parental leave and their children, with no enrolment and no queue. A preschool teacher leads singing sessions and activities, there is coffee and there are toys, and you stay with your child the whole time. Stockholm has öppna förskolor in almost every district, often in the same premises as BVC (the child health clinic every family is enrolled in).
The first parental leave is often lonelier than you expected. The öppen förskola is the municipality's answer to that: somewhere to go in the morning, where there are other adults, a preschool teacher who knows children, and a floor full of toys you don't have to tidy away. Most people who try it go back every week.
Tuesday, half past nine, in a flat in Farsta. The baby is four months old, has been fed, and the day is empty until three o'clock when your partner gets home. That is the situation the öppen förskola is built for. Twenty minutes later you are sitting on a cushion on the floor with a cup of coffee, the baby is lying on a blanket next to three other babies, and someone asks how the nights are going. That is the answer to the loneliness nobody warned you about.
How it works
- No registration. You come whenever you like during opening hours.
- No fee. Coffee and a bun sometimes cost 10 kr.
- You stay. It is not childcare; it is a place for you and your child together.
- Staff. A preschool teacher or childminder who leads the singing session, does crafts and answers questions.
- Often the same building as BVC. Family centres (familjecentraler) have öppen förskola, BVC and sometimes social counselling under one roof.
What a morning looks like
| Time | What happens |
|---|---|
| Opening | Free play, coffee, parents chatting |
| Mid-morning | Singing session in a circle, ten to fifteen minutes |
| Afterwards | Snacks, nappy changes, more play |
| Sometimes | Baby massage, a parents' group, a visit from the BVC nurse or the library |
Who goes there, and who should?
Those who go are parents on leave with children from a few weeks old up to preschool age, and in recent years more and more dads. Those who should go but don't are the ones who find it embarrassing to sit in a circle singing Björnen sover (a Swedish nursery song) with a baby who doesn't understand. It is embarrassing for five minutes. Then it is a morning that passed, with other adults, instead of a morning in the flat.
Öppen förskola is also the right place for anyone who has moved to Stockholm without a network, for anyone at home with their second child and missing adult conversation, and for anyone with a baby who only sleeps in the pram and needs somewhere to walk to. The staff are used to all three. Most öppna förskolor also have sessions where languages other than Swedish are spoken, or where an interpreter is available; ask at the one in your district.
Your first visit: how to do it
- Check the opening hours on the municipality's website that morning. They change with the terms and with staff planning days.
- Arrive half an hour after opening, not exactly when the door opens. Then there are people there, but the singing session hasn't started.
- Say hello to the staff at the door and that it is your first time. They will show you the hallway, the changing table and where the coffee is.
- Sit down on the floor. It sounds silly, but the ones standing by the wall with the pram don't talk to anyone.
- Stay for the singing session. It is the moment when everyone does the same thing, and that is when you start talking to the person sitting next to you.
Find your öppen förskola
The City of Stockholm lists its öppna förskolor on the city's website, by district. The surrounding municipalities, such as Järfälla, Sollentuna, Solna, Nacka and Huddinge, have their own. Many öppna förskolor also have a social media page where the week's programme is posted. Ask at BVC; they know which one is closest. Opening hours vary, so check the current times on the municipality's website before you go.
If you live near a familjecentral, that is the one to start with. There the öppen förskola is right next door to BVC, so you can go the same morning as a weigh-in, and the BVC nurse often drops by the singing session. It is also where the BVC parents' groups carry on meeting once the formal sessions have ended.
What the öppen förskola is not
| Öppen förskola | Förskola | A nanny at home | |
|---|---|---|---|
| You stay | Yes, the whole time | No | No |
| Cost | Free | Fee according to the capped rate (maxtaxa) | From 165 kr/hour after RUT, the Swedish tax deduction for household services |
| Registration or queue | None | A queue, often several months | A first meeting, start within a couple of weeks |
| Age | From a few weeks until förskola starts | From one year | 0 to 12 years |
| What it gives you | Company, singing, other parents | Childcare all day | Relief at home, the same person every time |
The öppen förskola is not a break. You are there the whole time, and that is the point. If you need someone to take your child for two hours so you can sleep, go to the dentist or just shower in peace, that is a different service, and it exists during Parental leave in Sweden too. Many of our families book a nanny one morning a week during the first year, and go to the öppen förskola on the others.
After parental leave
The öppen förskola ends when you go back to work. Many of the parents who met there keep seeing each other, and many of them need help with the afternoons once förskola has started. Several of our families have found us through each other in exactly that way: a recommendation over a cup of coffee at the öppen förskola.
How we do it with our families
One of our nannies likes to say that she recognises the children from the öppen förskola in Jakobsberg when she picks them up three years later. That is how small Stockholm is when you are at home with children. Doaa has a family in Barkarby where the mother is at home with a seven-month-old baby and big brother goes to förskola. Doaa comes on Thursdays at nine, takes the baby in the pram to the library or the park for two hours, and the mother sleeps. On Tuesdays the mother goes to the öppen förskola with the baby herself. Those two mornings are what hold the week together, she says, and it was another mum at the öppen förskola who told her about us.
Our nannies are out and about with children in Stockholm every week: parks, libraries, swimming pools and playgrounds. Would you like someone to take the afternoons? Book a free first meeting with the nanny at your home.
Read more: Preschool in Stockholm · Things to do with kids in Stockholm · Swedish lullabies · Prices
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between öppen förskola and förskola?
At öppen förskola an adult stays with the child the whole time, it costs nothing and you don't need a place. At ordinary förskola you drop your child off, for a fee, with enrolment and a queue. Öppen förskola gives no priority in the förskola queue and doesn't count as childcare. It is a meeting place for you and your child, not somewhere your child attends.
From what age can you go?
From the first weeks. Many öppna förskolor have special sessions for babies under one and other sessions for older children, so a newborn is spared the running three-year-olds. The upper limit is usually preschool age; in practice most people go until their child starts förskola. Siblings who are at home during school holidays are almost always welcome.
Do you need to register?
No, usually you just turn up during opening hours. Some activities, such as baby singing, baby massage or parents' groups, may require registration and sometimes have limited places. Check the öppen förskola's page or ring. The first time: say hello to the staff at the door, and they will show you where to hang your coats and where the coffee is.
Are there öppna förskolor for dads?
Several öppna förskolor in Stockholm have dads' groups or special sessions for dads on parental leave, often one morning a week. Dads are welcome at all sessions, but many find it easier to come the first time when they know they won't be the only one. Ask at your nearest öppen förskola or at BVC.
Does it cost anything?
No. Öppen förskola is free of charge and run by the municipality, sometimes by the Church of Sweden or an association. Coffee and a bun can cost 10 kr, and the odd course may have a fee, but the activity itself is free. Nor do you need to live in the district, or even in the municipality, to go, but most people choose the nearest one.