Looking for a kindergarten in Copenhagen?

What the word means here

Danish childcare is a ladder with the ages written on the rungs. Where your child stands on it decides everything else - who you apply to, what it costs, and whether we are the right place.

1. 6 months to
   2 years 10 months
   vuggestue (or dagpleje, a childminder)

   Daycare for the youngest. A nursery or crèche to a British ear; a Kindergarten or kindy to a German or Australian one.

   Apply to the kommune, or directly to a private one such as ours.

2. 2 years 10 months
   to school
   børnehave

   What Denmark calls a kindergarten: the preschool years.

   Apply to Københavns Kommune, or directly to a private børnehave.

3. The August of the
   year they turn six
   0. klasse

   The first year of school - the year Americans call kindergarten.

   The school.

Ages as Københavns Kommune states them, checked September 2026. Most kommune institutions have both a vuggestue and a børnehave under one roof; a child moves between them at 2 years 10 months.

Under three? That is us

Kidz R Os is a small, privately run vuggestue for children aged 6 months to 3 years, at Lyshøjgårdsvej 45 in Valby. The working language is English; the staff also speak Danish, and Danish children are just as welcome as everyone else's. We are open on weekdays from 08:00 to 16:30, and every meal is included.

The fee is kr 12.700 a month with all meals included, and København Kommune pays kr 8.909 of it back to you, so most families pay about kr 3.791 a month. It is the kommune's own subsidy for private childcare, and the fees page shows how it is claimed.

Families come to us from Valby, Vesterbro, Sydhavn, Vanløse and Frederiksberg. The children leave us at three for a børnehave, on their own feet and with opinions.

Come and stand in the room What it costs About us

Three or older? You need a børnehave

We do not take children over three, and we would rather say so here than let you find out on a visit. From 2 years 10 months a child in Copenhagen goes to a børnehave, and there are three ways in:

• A kommune place. You put your child's name down with Københavns Kommune's Pladsanvisning - see Skriv op til børnehave on kk.dk. You and your child need CPR numbers before the child can go on the list; a family still on its way to the city can be written up early with a moving receipt from Borgerservice.
• A private børnehave. You apply to it directly; the kommune subsidy follows the child. The City keeps a list of private institutions in English.
• The international schools. Several run early-years classes in English for children from three. Ask each school for its starting age and its waiting list.

If you are not sure which of these suits your family, write to us. We have watched a great many children make exactly this move.

What the word means where you come from

Most families searching for a kindergarten are translating from home. Roughly:

Germany, Austria, Switzerland

A Kindergarten takes children from about three, and a Kita or Krippe before that. Here: a børnehave, and a vuggestue before it - which is us.

United States

Kindergarten is the first year of school, at five. Here: 0. klasse, the year a child turns six. What you would call daycare or preschool for the years before is a vuggestue, then a børnehave.

United Kingdom and Ireland

Nursery or crèche for the under-threes is a vuggestue; nursery school and reception are a børnehave and 0. klasse.

Australia and New Zealand

Kindy or preschool in the year or two before school is a børnehave; long day care for the little ones is a vuggestue.

India

Playschool and nursery for the youngest are a vuggestue; LKG and UKG are the børnehave years.

Whatever the word at home, the question in Copenhagen is only ever the age. Under three is our world; the same is true of preschool, which is the other word families arrive with.