5 Great Places to go with Kids in Switzerland

Need a few ideas for what to do with your kids in Switzerland? Look no further. The Frau (and Toddler M) have done some investigating for you.

Technorama (Winterthur)

This Swiss science museum has something for everyone—even Toddler M enjoyed a full day there banging drums, watching electric trains, and making gigantic bubbles. Spread across many floors, The Frau was pleasantly surprised by its non-Swiss size.

Tip: When traveling by public transport, be sure to get the RailAway offer, which will save you 10% on both the entrance fee and the transport there. They also accept payment in REKA.

Paradisimo (Pfäffikon SZ)

BMW Bobby Car. Only in Switzerland.

This is possibly Switzerland’s most perfect indoor playground. Why? It’s inexpensive, it has separate play areas for babies versus older kids, and there is a cafe with Wi-Fi for parents. And oh, the Bobby Cars are BMWs. It wouldn’t be a Swiss experience otherwise.

Children’s Museum (Baden)

The perfect balance of toys and exhibit make this place a fun day out for more than just children. Think dollhouses from the last century, a room filled with puppet shows you can put on a play with, and an entire floor of wooden games to explore.

Tip: They accept REKA checks.

Transport Museum (Lucerne)

Climb on trams. Ride scooters. Watch cars from the decades go by. The Transport Museum is all about transporting you to, well, the world of transport.

Tip: RailAway will save you 10% off the admission and the train ride there.

Emmentaler Schaukäserei (Affoltern i.E.)

Emmentaler cheese (that’s Swiss cheese for all you Americans)—comes from here. At the Emmentaler Schaukäserei, you can visit the dairy, eat at the restaurant, shop for cheese, and let your kids play on the playground and admire the statues of cows. You can also combine a visit to the Schaukäserei with a beautiful stroller hike through the rolling hills. Start in Lueg and follow the signs from Lueg-Junkholz-Schnabel-Affoltern i.E. (3.5 km).

Anyone else have tips for having fun in Switzerland with kids?

Enjoy reading about Swiss life? Then you might enjoy The Frau’s new book, Swiss Life: 30 Things I Wish I’d Known. It even has a section on Mutterhood. Available at fine online retailers and on Zurich’s most famous shopping street too (Bahnhofstrasse 70).

There’s a two-year-old with a flaming stick, oh my!

The Swiss have a very different approach to danger than most English speakers. Instead of preventing a child from playing with fire by putting candles out of their reach, they hand a toddler a lantern with a flaming candle inside it and expect her to walk with it for five blocks.

The Frau speaks from experience. Because Baby M was supposed to do just that as an organized daycare activity. But after flinging her flaming lantern around for about thirty seconds, she decided to let The Frau carry it five blocks for her while she chilled out and ate pretzels in her stroller.

The Swiss version of personal responsibility at its finest:
The Fire Parade in Liestal

The Swiss childcare workers were not impressed with either The Frau or Baby M.

But The Frau can’t say she minded Baby M’s lack of interest in the lantern.

Let her tell you why not.

The Frau really likes the concept of personal responsibility. It’s ten times better than the concept of “blame someone else for my stupidity” that most Americans subscribe to—at least if they can afford a lawyer.

But unfortunately, culture kind of sticks to people like melted Raclette cheese sticks to a pan. So even if The Frau tries to scrape off her American paranoia during Swiss events that are supposed to teach personal responsibility to two-year-olds, sometimes her old-fashioned American fear still clings to her. 

Can you blame her? She comes from a country that, according to the American Pediatric Society’s book on raising children, says children can’t be reasoned with until they are at least age seven.  In the meantime, Swiss children have been walking to school by themselves for two years...

Anyone else have experiences with the Swiss version of teaching kids about personal responsibility?

Dear Frau: Swiss School or International School?

Welcome to another edition of Dear Frau. It’s kind of like Dear Abby, except with an international twist. Remember, if you’ve got a question about living in Switzerland or moving to Switzerland, don’t hesitate to contact The Frau. She’s not all knowing, but she likes to pretend to be.

Dear Frau,

We’re moving to Switzerland and I don’t know if I should put my kids in the local school system or at one of the international schools. What do you think? Thanks.

Sincerely,

Is Calculus Better in English or German

Dear Is Calculus Better in English or German,

Baby M, The Frau’s Swiss-born American baby, is just that, a baby. The way she says “I do” also sounds a lot like “Achtung.” Therefore, it is still too early to tell what language she’ll prefer her algebraic equations in.

But The Frau has considered the school issue many times since M was born and also discussed the problem with many mothers of school-aged kids. Here are some advantages and disadvantages of the Swiss school options. And please leave a comment below, fellow yodelers, if you have experience with any of these or disagree in any way. A big merci vielmal to all in advance!

Swiss School Advantages:

Cost

Assimilation

Language learning

Most likely close by/local

Swiss friends/less transient group of children

Swiss School Disadvantages:

English reading/writing skills will be lacking

Schedule (coming home for lunches/different starting and ending times depending on days of week, etc.)

May need to hire a Tagesmutter if both parents plan on working

If there is a Tageschule (day school) available, the cost is typically high (CHF 10,000)

Difficult to move to another country (or canton!) for the child after starting

Foreign parents may find it difficult to help their children with homework

International School Advantages:

Native English/International curriculum

Daylong schedules

Easy to change countries

International environment/mix with children from all around the globe

Higher comfort level for foreign parents

International School Disadvantages:

Cost (CHF 30,000 a year is typical—but look on the bright side, that’s how much an average full-time day care costs in Switzerland too...)

Assimilation (your child will stay in an expat bubble)

Local language learning (your child will miss out, although bi-lingual international schools are also an option in Switzerland)

Transient students AND teachers

May have to travel further to the school every day

Things to ask yourself when making a decision:

1. Are you going to be in Switzerland long-term or not?

2. Is your company paying for your child’s schooling?

3. How important is it to you that your children read and write in English to the level expected of a native speaker?

Anyone else want to chime in with their Swiss school experiences?

Dear Frau: Where are the Expat Families?

Welcome to the second edition of Dear Frau. It's kind of like Dear Abby, except with an international twist. If you have a question, be sure to contact the Frau and maybe it will be featured on next week's Dear Frau.

Dear Frau,

We’re moving from the U.S. to Baden, Switzerland. I am a stay-at-home mom and have two kids (ages 1 and 3). I am worried because it seems like most people that move to Switzerland are married with no kids. Do you see a lot of families in that area?

Danke,

Newcomer

The Frau knows it's hard to believe, but The Internet lies sometimes. It may seem as if most expats in Switzerland don't have kids, but that is because most Swiss expat bloggers are married with no kids. Most parents don't have time to keep up a frivolous thing like a blog. They're too busy trying to determine what the heck their child, who now speaks Swiss German, was saying.

But the Frau digresses. There are hundreds of Americans with children in Switzerland. Many of them never leave. If you don't believe her, check out The American Women’s Club of Zurich. This organization especially caters to American women and their children. The Frau found out the hard way by joining and then feeling left out because she was ohne Kinder.

Anyhow, Switzerland loves families and will probably grant you those coveted B-permits right away because you are a stay-at-home mom and that’s what this country desires all women to be. That first morning the Frau went out in Baden, she saw hundreds of women pushing baby carriages, sitting at cafes smoking, and buying groceries. Don’t people work here? She thought.

The answer is no. Many married women do not work in Switzerland, and this includes the foreigners. The thing is, Swiss society does all it can to keep it this way. They keep stores open only until 6 p.m. They send children home from school at lunchtime. And childcare isn’t readily available (or affordable) unless there are grandparents nearby.

That said, the Frau thinks Switzerland is a wonderful place to raise children if one of the parents is committed to staying at home. And your kids will love Switzerland because the big slide parks haven’t been taken down and replaced with boring plastic tubes in order to avoid lawsuits and therefore avoid fun.

But the Frau is no expert on kids so here are a few other websites to check out:

Mami Zeit is a website for international moms.

Swiss Family Mac is a great blog written by an American mother of two. You don't have to be a mom to love Mrs. Mac's sense of humor.

Now, the Frau has run out of ideas. Anyone else have some advice? What’s living in Switzerland like with kids (or family members that act like kids)? Any other resources or blogs to know about for our newcomer? If you've got a blog about being a mother abroad, please leave a link!

Sorry, You Can't Shop Here

Maybe you've seen them. Around 3.30 p.m. they storm the local grocery store, Denner, buying Cokes, candy, and cigarettes. They are the school kids. But they will shop there no more.

Yes, in towns across Switzerland, namely Lucerne and Buttikon (my personal favorite), school kids are being banned from the grocery store. Ouch.

Apparently, there has been a lot of shoplifting at Denner and so, because of a few bad seeds, all kids are banned and will now have to explore more expensive places to buy their Cokes.

All I can say is, wow. Can Swiss stores legally ban certain people from shopping? Isn't freedom of shopping protected under civil rights? I just can't see a store in the U.S. being allowed to ban certain customers post 1960s, but maybe I'm wrong.

Oh, Switzerland. I guess if you can ban the building of minarets, it's not a big deal to ban a few school kids from shopping. Is it?