Hi All!

My daughter will be starting KG in Zürich in August and I am wondering what are the "traditions" to be held?

i.e. special bags?

I know the German do the "tute" but that is for primary (according to German hubby)

So I just want to make sure I am not missing out on anything that I should prepare

Thanks for tips!
K

Hi kri,

I don't know about any traditions similar to the Tuete, but there are several important supplies your daughter will need.

She will need some Finken to wear inside her classroom. She will also need a Znünitäschli to carry her snack. And, a Turnsack for her gym clothes. The children wear gymnastic shoes for gym class.

Sometimes the class will have a 'Forest Day' (Waldtag) and the kids go out no matter the weather. You will need waterproof trousers, boots and jacket for your child (no umbrellas allowed!) When the kids go into the forest, they carry their snack in a little backpack, instead of in the Znünitäschli. They also need their drink to be in a resealable container (ie. Sigg).

Well, that is all I can remember from my daughter's kindergarten days! I hope you found this helpful. But as for the first day of kindergarten, I don't know of any special Tuete or traditions like that. We just all went in and took pictures of our kids in their new classroom!

Hi kri

There are no specific traditions herearound. Just take photos, smile and when the parents are kindly asked to leave - leave :-).

You'll probably receive a letter from the kindergarden teacher, telling you what to bring along. Our kids don't have a "Waldtag", that really depends on the teacher. Others will visit the library on a regular basis and so on.

Bringing a "Tüte" is a german tradition and definitely not swiss. Please don't bring one along when starting class 1, ok? (Or give one at home if your partner is german)

we didn't have a special Znünitäschli - just used a backpack, or whatever else my daughter felt like! But a lot of kids do have them...

If they have Waldtag, hiking-like shoes are essential, as is proper rain gear, as mentioned. The Swiss are quite fond that everyone is properly equipped - have learned this the "hard" way a coupld of times!

Thanks She goes to Wald already one day a week so we are ok on "technical" equipment

Noted for the tüte.... will need to convince hubby not to embarass her

K

My youngest is in the first year of kindergarten now. We were surprised when his teacher strongly suggested that for Christmas we should give him a Swiss Army knife for Waldtag--coming from the US where even plastic knives are forbidden at school this was VERY new to us! Apparently he was the only kid in class who didn't already have one

I can't help you personally, but I thought of this thread when I saw your question. The backpack question seems to be covered at length there.

But those backpacks are for school and totally unsuitable for someone of Kindergarten age who only needs one of those little shoulder bags (Znünitäschli) to carry an apple or some crackers.

Hi Kri

I would recommend to check with the specific kindergarden your daugther will be going to. We are in Zurich as well and the kids have been instructed not to take "Znüni" to kindergarten - of course after we got the Znüni bag & our offspring all excited. Instead, there is a weekly schedule in which individual families provide znüni for the entire kindergarten according to a given shopping list - with the amount of kids there this happens about twice in a school year to each family. I believe they are doing this to ensure healthy snacks are provided to all kids.

There has been a "come and see" day organised for the new kids before the kindergarten year has started - this should give your daughter an idea what she is getting into.

Good luck with the school start!

Maybe edit your first post or the title of this thread to be more specific about what it is that you'd like to know. It seems you are just interested in knowing what happens on the very first day of kindergarten. That is, will all the other kids have some special thing that is traditional to have for the first day of KG? Obviously you don't want your kid to be the only one who hasn't brought this 'special thing'.

Especially when you ask about a 'special bag' you will get answers about Znuenitaeschli, backpacks, Schultheks, etc.

As it is, it sounds like your daughter is well-prepared for KG, gear-wise, and it seems there probably aren't any traditions that you will be missing out on.

According to my mom, normally the school will give you a list of everything needed on the first day (or send it to you before).

I went to school in CH so as far as I remember I think you need some indoor shoes and some special gym shoes. Maybe some colors pen, little things like that but I think it's for primary school.

I don't know what a Znüni is (according to google it's a snack) and I don't remember having one in kindergarten... but was a long time ago