May holds a variety of activites for children in Munich.
Water – the element with which you can have the most fun. We love to bathe in it, dive into it and float on top of it. However, if you want to enjoy a day at the pool with your kids without worrying about them, their being able to swim is a prerequisite. Get your children off to a good start by enrolling them in swimming lessons. In baby swimming classes, the emphasis is not on learning the strokes, but on eliminating infants’ fear of water by acquainting them with its buoyancy. As Günther Meyer, retired baby-swimming teacher says, “Once babies have spent some time in a large body of water, they feel more comfortable in it. This might help prevent a shock situation, such as when a non-swimmer falls into water and inhales a great deal of it.” Meyer warns, however, that infants should be at least six to nine months old before beginning the courses. “The child must be able to coordinate its movements and to have the strength to hold its head above water for 45 minutes.” Most lessons offered by private instructors are held in facilities, such as senior citizens’ centers or rehabilitation centers, where the water is warmer than in public pools. Ask other parents in your neighborhood or even at the hospital where your child was born for courses near you. “Swim like a seahorse” – that’s the goal of pre-schoolers and beginning swimmers. To earn the Seepferdchen badge, the child must swim a distance of 25 meters, retrieve something from the bottom of the one-meter-deep end of the pool and be able to dive (to the best of his or her ability) from the edge of the pool. Lessons run between eight and twelve weeks, and are in 45-minute sessions. The average seahorse swimmer is four to six years old. Once they have mastered the basics, kids can progress through the Freischwimmer bronze, silver and gold certifications. Courses for all levels are offered at most indoor pools and cost approximately DM 150, including pool admission. Parents who accompany their children to swimming lessons do not get in free, although sometimes reduced admission is offered. Another option is a club, such as the Verein für Volkstümliches Schwimmen, (tel. 725 25 10). Kids can earn badges or simply practice their strokes. Club membership for children costs about DM 6.50 monthly. The emphasis here is on recreation and elementary skill, not competitive swimming. Weekday sessions are often held at school pools, beginning at either 17:00 or 18:00. Munich’s outdoor pools open for the season in May. they are: Schyrenbad (U1/ 2 Kolumbusplatz) on May 1, then Michaelibad (U2/5 Michaelibad) and Sommerbad West (tram 19 Gräfstraße) on May 8; Ungererbad (U6 Dietlindenstr.), Sommerbad Allach (bus 75 Sommerbad Allach), Georgenschweige-Bad (U2/3 Scheidplatz), Maria Einsiedel (bus 57 Bad Maria Einsiedel) and Dantebad (U1 Gern or Westfriedhof) on May 13. Munich’s tallest water slide can be found at Michaelibad. An all-day slide pass costs extra and is good for an unlimited number of rides. Several pools, such as Sommerbad West and Ungererbad, have been spruced up in the past few years and offer slides, sand play areas and sparklingly clean pools. Children up to age six have free admission, DM 2 for children 6 to 14 and adults DM 3.50. The purchase of a Streifenkarte brings the cost for adults down to DM 3. If you’re not up to a day at the pool but are looking for a cheap, wet way to entertain the children, take them to a water playground. There are several throughout the city, but the best are in Westpark. Lots of sand, rigging, rope bridges and a moat encourage swashbuckling play. Wooden houses, caves and climbing rocks are great for exploring on Spielplatzalm. A water labyrinth and pond await, as well as tire swings and a giant slide at Am Jackl behind the Rosengarten. Pumps and fountains at the playgrounds in the Ostpark, in Luitpoldpark (Pumukl-Brunnen) or on Münchener Freiheit provide a steady stream of water for kid-made moats, canals and lagoons. Activities for May: Father’s Day falls on May 13, as does the public holiday, Christi Himmelfahrt. If papa follows Bavarian tradition, he may head off on a bicycle ride with his cronies. But fathers’ organization Väteraufbruch für Kinder e.V. shuns convention, offering a Father’s Day Festival at Westpark, beginning at 11:00, which takes place near the Rosengarten. Woodworking and painting are highlights of the fun scheduled for kids and dads (moms welcome too). Mid-month is the time to head for the Hirschgarten (S Bahn Laim). That’s when the Spiellandschaftstadt festival officially opens its summer season. On May 16, from 14:00 to 18:00, organizers offer circus play, a climbing wall, family games and crafts stations. The public is invited and it’s all free-of-charge. Spiellandschaftstadt is an organization comprised of city youth programs. It offers creative play, projects and unusual events for the under-18 crowd. Month’s end brings the two-week school break for Pentecost (Pfingstferien), which begins on May 24. Hey, no homework! Looks like time to hit the water.