Hi all,
My family and I are here in Zug for the summer which may lead to a move here. I have a 7 year old and a 4 year old. We love the outside but i'm not confident on the train or bus system yet so we have only explored around the lake's edge. The kids love riding their scooters and playing on the playgrounds along the lake's edge. We need some help on several things, where to go to meet other english speaking kids and moms, how best to learn the train and bus system, where are the easy kid friendly restaurants? Any help is greatly appreciated!

Hello and welcome to the English Forum.

Welcome and you can be confident in the Swiss public transport system. Why don't you go to the main station in Zug. There is a service center, they speak English and I'm sure they will be ready to help you.

Thanks I will do that!

You could also plan a trip using the SBB website, www.sbb.ch which you can put into english. Then you put in your starting point, destination, date and approximate time and it will give you a choice of journeys. It will tell you which platform trains go from, and you can expand it to show all intermediate stops so that you can check you are on the right train! It also has all the buses on there too. Then you will know in advance what time trains leave (both there and back) and where to catch them from.
If you do move here you can buy a year travel pass, valid through the whole canton of Zug, including trains, buses and boats(I think). Its called a Zugerpass. Then you don't even have to ask for tickets if you are staying within Zug canton. If you go further you can buy extension tickets to cover the rest of the journey. Your 4 year old will travel free with you. Your 6 year old would need a ticket. (Here 6 is the magic birthday where you start paying for transport, entrance to attractions etc.).
Another thing, again if you move here (or even if you plan doing a lot of train travel over the summer) is you can buy a "Juniorcard" for your 6 year old which means all his/her train travel is free for a whole year throuhgout the whole of Switzerland if travelling with a parent. It costs 30chf for the year. We bought one for our daughter when she went on a trip up to the Jungfraujoch and it was cheaper to buy that than a normal one day return.
One good thing about travelling on public transport here is that everything is usually pretty much on time. Good Luck!

Thanks... My husband has a friend in Baar that purchased us a bus punch ticket. He also printed out all bus zones and train maps. Your info is a big help!

Take the bus up to schonegg one day to get the funicular (slanted train thing) up to Zugerberg. It's a huge park ontop of the hill behind and slightly south of Zug. Get views and just good for walking around outside.

That's bus 11 end of the line, if you want to give it a try (and it is quite nice up there).

Edit: additionally worth noting is the BBQ potential. They have fire pits along the path, with wood stacked nearby. As long as you tend the fire, you can use the wood free of charge - so bring some meat, matches and newspaper, and maybe a little aluminum foil grill rack, and you can have a nice little cookout with a gorgeous view.

If you look at the stickies in the various sections (the top posts in each sub-forum) you'll find useful information on a mass of subjects. Good luck in your searching and have fun.

I would also suggest taking the train down to Goldau and taking the kids to the Tier Park there. You can also take the train up to the top of the Rigi from Goldau for some stunning views. You should also discover Sattel Hockstuckli which is easier by car (30 mins from Zug) but can also be done by train and/or bus. At the top of the gondola there is a great bouncy area for kids in the summer and some really nice easy walk, a massive suspension bridge and some nice places to eat. Herrenboden Gasthaus is best! Have fun - summer is great here.

Wow! All of these things sound wonderful! We are going to try and do all of them. Thank you all so so much!