History
Since 2013, Kidzz has been the place in Barcelona and the surrounding area where children from 6 months to 5 years old are immersed daily in the Dutch and English language. We care for children of parents from all over the world, especially from international families where multilingualism plays an important role in daily life.
After seven years of working with great pleasure and dedication as a manager at Kidzz, current owner Else van der Tuin was faced with a unique opportunity when the founder put Kidzz up for sale in 2023. In a series of enthusiastic and inspiring conversations with entrepreneur Thijs Ingenhoven, a Dutch father of a former Kidzz child, they came to the conclusion that they would like to continue Kidzz together.
Else’s personal background perfectly aligns with the mission of Kidzz. Else has been together with her Uruguayan boyfriend Damián for 12 years, and together they have a daughter (2020) who speaks fluent Spanish, Dutch, English and Catalan. They form an international family, just like many of the other parents who have registered their child(ren) at Kidzz.
Thijs and Else are committed to maintaining a caring and warm place where children can grow and learn in a multilingual environment. Their passion for providing loving and educational childcare remains the core of everything they do at Kidzz.
Who are we?
Kidzz uniquely combines flexibility, atmosphere, and reliability in a bilingual childcare center. Our attractive educational program offers your child the opportunity to develop optimally in a safe and loving environment. You can rest assured that your child will not only develop socially, emotionally, physically, and mentally but will also have a lot of fun. Our program gives your child the tools they need to become a confident and self-aware person. Our enthusiastic and committed teachers continue to surprise your child with opportunities to play, discover, and develop.
Learning through play
Playing teaches children life skills, enriches their development and helps them understand the world around them. Learning through play at Kidzz includes sensory play, crafts, sand and water games, role playing, making music, reading, singing, dancing and outdoor play. We also regularly go on excursions together.
Our activities stimulate your child’s physical, social, emotional, cognitive, creative, communication and language skills. Under the guidance of our teachers, your child will discover the world of learning through play.
Our teachers encourage development by helping your child express themselves, solve problems, negotiate and acquire important social skills such as playing together and making friends.
Attachment
During the care of our children at Kidzz, secure attachment and your child’s self-development are central. We are convinced that only through a secure bond between your child and the teacher, your child can optimally develop. Your child needs trust, empathy and affection, and our teachers can make a major contribution to the development of these qualities. This way, your child will be able to enter into safe and lasting relationships later in life.
Positive correction
At Kidzz we correct unwanted behavior in a positive way, so that your child develops empathy. If your child is shown respect, he or she will retain his dignity, which will help him empathize with others later on.
It is important to compliment your child and not always point out what he or she is not doing well. For example, if your child does not want to put away the toys, we will sing a song together, tidy up together and your child will be complimented.
Language development
The preschool period is a period in which young children develop multilingualism with exceptional ease. Children from 6 months to 6 years old acquire a language with the greatest of ease, learn it in a completely natural way and speak the language fluently and without an accent in no time.
We stimulate spontaneous language development in babies by singing to them, talking to them and playing imitation and peek-a-boo games with sounds so that they become familiar with the sounds of the language.
For toddlers and preschoolers, language stimulation is more focused on themes that match your child’s experience. An example of such a theme is ‘body’. The teachers choose a number of words related to this theme, such as arms, legs, nose and mouth. By then playfully using and repeating these words, for example when eating, in songs or when reading books, we teach your child to understand these words and to use them themselves.
At Kidzz we stimulate language development by:
- singing songs;
- reading aloud;
- repeating a mispronounced word correctly;
- expressing what the child does;
- working with gestures;
- paying attention to our own language;
- using a lot of language ourself;
- learning to ask for certain things.
Parent contact
At Kidzz we attach great importance to contact with parents. During drop-off and pick-up, we take the time to talk to you about your child, how the day went and any special details. We work together to ensure the best care for your child.
We will also keep you informed throughout the day via the interactive Lillio app. You can choose to receive messages and updates immediately or all at once after picking up your child. In the app we share a report of the day, together with photos and videos. You can also read about the menu served for lunch, as well as the monthly program and the annual calendar.
Every month we invite parents to come and play for an hour. This parent freeplay event offers you the opportunity to experience the atmosphere in the group, to see which children your child plays with, and to get to know the teachers and other parents. We notice that these freeplay events with parents contribute to better understanding and meeting the needs of each child.
The development of your child is central to us. We believe it is important to keep you as a parent informed of the progress and milestones your child achieves at Kidzz. That is why you will receive a development report in December and July.
Kidzz Team
Meet Our Team
Else
My name is Else, a graduated Pedagogue (Hogeschool Rotterdam, 2004), and I have been associated with Kidzz since January 2017.
For love, I moved to Barcelona and after 12 years, I swapped my work with victims (parents and children aged 0-18) of domestic violence for working with young children and their families. I am a mother myself to a daughter (2020) who enjoyed 2 years at Kidzz. I am incredibly proud of her multilingualism.
Since October 2023, I have been the new owner of Kidzz, along with my business partner Thijs Ingenhoven.
Anouk
Hi! My name is Anouk.
I’m a spontaneous, kind and fun teacher from the Netherlands. I have a background in primary education, but I’ve been working in multiple daycare centers and I discovered that I like working with the young learners.
What fascinates me most is the way they grow into their own little personalities and discover the world at their own pace.
What I love about working at Kidzz is how international the playgroup is.
Valentina
Hello everyone! My name is Valentina but my friends call me Tina!
I come from Argentina, where I studied to become a teacher for children from 0 to 6 years old. Back home I worked as a teacher at a bilingual school. From 2021 to 2023 I lived in a small town near London where I worked as an au pair.
One of the things I love about my job is that I get to play with children and teach them at the same time. I am amazed at their ability to learn new things every day. I'm very happy to be part of the Kidzz team and I look forward to continuing to get to know our community.
Kidzz is a recognized internship training company
Every year we offer several internships for international students in pedagogical work, primary education teachers or psychology. We have a cooperation agreement with various international internship agencies. The students are usually in the 2nd, 3rd or final year of their study and have already gained practical experience during previous internships.
Before an intern is admitted, we conduct an online job interview in which we ask about knowledge and experience, learning objectives, school assignments and command of the Dutch and English language. Most interns are between 18 and 25 years old.
From 2021, we also offer an internship to a marketing student who is involved in our business operations and social media.
We take internships very seriously. Each intern is supervised by a permanent employee and evaluation interviews take place every 3 weeks in which performance, goals and assignments are discussed and planned. Depending on the study and school, evaluation interviews also take place with a teacher from the study.