Are Playgrounds BETTER in GERMANY than in the USA? 🇩🇪 Our American Kids LOVE Them!

[@MyMerryMessyGermanLife]

Hey guys! Did you make it to the part where Ella TOTALLY video bombs us? Also, we'd like to correct our mistake in the video. We called the snack stands sometimes found near playgrounds in German, Alms. That is a term that originally means, "seasonal mountain pasture." But it expanded when Alpine tourism became popular to where they began to serve food to hikers and visitors. A better name for it would be Imbiss or Kiosk, we've been told in the comments. (Thanks to Henning Rech for that great cultural lesson!)

[@Kivas_Fajo]

My niece is also an Ella. :D

[@regular_being]

You guys HAVE TO!!!! HAVE TO go to thuringia and try a Bratwurst from there. You will not regret it. Thuringia has the BEST Bratwurst.

[@Kivas_Fajo]

@@regular_being True.

[@RustyDust101]

That 'run in the rain' comment at 19:20 was such a perfect example of teaching self-reliance and understanding of your own limitations. Kudos and respect for that attitude. Love it.

[@sarahhonigkuchen1774]

I think there is a difference between a Biergarten with its own playground or a playground close to a Biergarten. ...And Bavaria is a different topic anyway, with beer. That's my opinion, moving from north to south German, above "Weißwurst-Äquator"

[@divanihsta]

Most German playgrounds would be a huge liability in America since everyone wants to sue everyone. In Germany there's more of a "this is public property if you risk getting injured its your own fault" attitude.

[@obornyi2407]

Kinda like it should be

[@KompassOhneNadel]

In germany playgrounds get safety proved. They get tested by Playground-testers (Spielplatztester. yes, thats the jobs name). For example of a child can get stuck somewhere or if its too dirty the playground gets closed down. So the playgrounds are pretty safe to use.

[@mg7094]

The big difference is that German judges expect people to have commen sense. If you put your baby on a ten foot pole and it falls down its your fault. If the swing breaks down because a screw was loose its the municipalities fault. Judges will sentence accordingly.

[@KompassOhneNadel]

@@mg7094 Thats true. In Kindergarten the workers would tell that they never help children climb something. because if they acnt do it themself its just too dangerous. thats commen sense.

[@mg7094]

@@KompassOhneNadel yep, and it's so much fun watching them try and try again until they finally make it all by themselves. The proud faces are a joy.

[@Stiv64_]

As a German, I thought these playgrounds were a world wide standard. Didn't know other playgrounds are this lame lol.

[@MyMerryMessyGermanLife]

If only they were!

[@happylittlevibe]

I can only talk about the UK and the Netherlands (as a German) but had the impression their playgrounds were similar too.

[@jinde75]

Netherlands has great playgrounds too.

[@nataliakorshunova5909]

here in Russia they are more or less like German. More complicated Panda-parks are supervised

[@margarita7682]

i live in england, i thought these types of playgrounds were normal.

[@GettingNervous]

The Americans: These playgrounds in Germany are so dangerous for kids. The Germans: Wait.........what?

[@kevinmcfall5285]

😁

[@akileaf4029]

Well, in my area (closer to Munich than them) they are rebuilding them to make sure that the playgrounds are safer. They’re also becoming more plastic and metal :(. I miss how the playgrounds were when I was younger

[@davarus]

@@akileaf4029 Me too. Here in Berlin they are still made of Wood luckly.

[@lilia3944]

@@akileaf4029 Here in Hamburg (or at least my part of it) they're luckily still from wood. My favorite playground as a kid is near the stable in the woods close to our house, and it's now the favorite of my little cousins when they come over.

[@Gaphalor]

Well american parents are a bunch of helicoptermoms. Broke my arm, finger and toe as a child. Had splinters, blue marks and open knees from doing stupid shit. One time i stepped into a wasp nest, my foot looked like a balloon for a week.... All this and i am still alive and well, a perfectly normal adult!

[@sisuguillam5109]

Klassische deutsche Eltern: "Arm noch dran? Müssen wir amputieren?" Funktioniert immer 😆

[@MyMerryMessyGermanLife]

Hahahah ja!!

[@sisuguillam5109]

@@MyMerryMessyGermanLife 😄 have a lovely evening and stay safe!

[@MyMerryMessyGermanLife]

@@sisuguillam5109 Thank you! In America, we say something similar. "Are you bleeding? No? Okay, then, you're fine!"

[@kiliipower355]

...oder!...wenn du jetzt (wegen nichts) heulst, gehen wir. :-)

[@sisuguillam5109]

@@kiliipower355 echt? Aua. Führt das nicht dazu, daß dann erst recht die Tränen rollen?

[@merle2104]

As a german, i now wanna know what the playgrounds in america look like

[@noobster4779]

imagine a safety room in a disabled peoples home where you can run against the wall at full speed and dont hurt yourself. It is basically the concept of a rubber cell as a playground. At least that was how I saw it visiting the US :D

[@brombeerhund]

@@noobster4779 wtf?! this ist so so sad.

[@HeyItsSarah30]

@@noobster4779 it is nottttt like that (at least not everywhere.) I actually recognize some of the things on this playground. We actually have a lot of this stuff at some playgrounds near me

[@DaroriDerEinzige]

@@HeyItsSarah30 I suppose it's also highly depending on the corner of the USA you're. People, US as Europeans, kinda tend to forget sometimes that the USA is a huge place with huge differences sometimes - only hold together through it own make up beliefs. Anyway, maybe the major difference is simple; it's more common here in Germany/Europe to go to those "Playgrounds"/Spielplätze, from some age forward even alone without your parents or simple with the parents of your friends. Also it's more common here that Children sometimes get "injured" and nobody press's charges against anybody because the general health care pays anyway so it's more important that the Child itself is alright and so on. I mean, I broke my arm once while football playin' at school and nobody even asked me "How could *thaaat* happen?", the only questions were "did you make the goal though?" and so on. It was just not "that big of a deal", the only concern of all grow ups around were a.) that I am overall alright and b.) that I wont miss too much school afterwards nor that I will be "afraid" of playin' football. But more and more people here in Germany kinda become like US Parents I think - Less "Let children play", less "Well, he's ~10 years old, he can go with his friends to the playground." and more "I've to take part in *everything* my child does.". I've a neighbour, around 11 years old, which isn't even allowed to go alone over a street. With 11 the only rule I had on weekends was "Be home before it's dark.".

[@marcomobson]

@@noobster4779 That's a convincing explanation why obviously many US-Americans do everything to get their own room again in a rubber cell...

[@grubbyga7601]

I as a kid grown up in Switzerland, my Parents told us after the Scool : Go outside and play with other kids. They calld us when it was time to eat dinner. I as kids walked in every House of my Classmates without knocking on the door. It was a wonderfull Childhood.

[@classicgalactica5879]

I grew up in the western United States and I was encouraged to do the same. During the summer months, we were told to go play with our friends and to be home before dark. It was a safer, more innocent time.

[@romanpfarrhofer]

@@classicgalactica5879 I do not think that the times got unsafer (despite of strongly increased traffic), but we got indoctrinated to be more protective and fear more. I think this is mainly because such kind of stories sell good in media.

[@Taladar2003]

@@romanpfarrhofer I think part of that change was the reporting of crimes in ever wider areas. You used to only hear of a child getting kidnapped or killed in your local area but now you basically hear some of these news even internationally.

[@Helena-me6mp]

like Pokemon, just walk into every single house and noone cares XD

[@snoppydog5534]

@Hartmut Liebknecht-Orlowski Nein, das war bevor die Medien so präsent waren und bevor rechte Hetzer unser Land vergiftet haben

[@perilblume]

I liked what a German TÜV Engineer said about playground safety: "a playground can and should to a degree be dangerous, kids need to be able to hurt themselves to understand that their actions have real world consequences and to train their decision making abilities. It is however our job to make sure that simple mistakes can not result in serious life changing injuries and that all hazards are obvious to a child. A fixture may be 3m tall and the wood could give you splinters but under no circumstances may the wood be rotten or a screw untight. A child can judge the risk of falling or getting a splinter but we can't expect them to judge structural integrity or state of maintenance" Paraphrased from an interview in KSTA in 2018

[@matthiasbohm2593]

@@helmutstodtmeisterjun.8335 That's probably way more info/details than they asked for, but maybe Kevin may read it as a "Bettlektüre". :-D

[@doloresmey]

@@matthiasbohm2593 😂

[@kevinmcfall5285]

Yes, well said!

[@hiwakoo]

When my kids were small I was involved in the planing of the School playcround. There are a ton of regulations and safety considerations you have to meet, bevore you can even start.

[@BrokenCurtain]

The TÜV deserves a spot on rhe World Heritage List.

[@FantasKanal]

There's 3 types of children. 1: Those that believe their parents that the Stove is hot. 2: Those that have to test their parents hypothesis. 3: Those that have to confirm their previous test results.

[@jojodroid31]

I once didn't believe the little red light indicating the plate was hot even though it was set to 0. Wasn't fun

[@FantasKanal]

​@@jojodroid31 Type 2 Kid.

[@HexenkoeniginVonAngmar]

@@jojodroid31 Sooooo 0 is hot? My stove has a scale of: Off, 1, 2,...,9 and P (power).

[@2000nerffreak]

@@HexenkoeniginVonAngmar 0 is off but many german homes dont have induction stoves they are still direct heat and the red light stays on until the stove falls below a certain temperature

[@HexenkoeniginVonAngmar]

@@2000nerffreak Ooohhh that's how you meant that. Nevermind then 😁

[@LittleWinterWitch]

I recommend a "Wasserspielplatz" (water playground) in the summer. It usually has water pumps, canals and floodgates and your children can play with water, build dams or let little boats float down the canal. I just don't know how active they are right now, because of Corona. Our local water playground only pumps a small amount of water, because standing waters are prohibited due to the pandemic.

[@schrodingerskatze4308]

That's what I would also recommend. I loved them when I was a child.

[@nakynie463]

I used to always visit them with friends and come back home drenched- good old times

[@nina1608]

Yes! My kids absolutely loved them!

[@stueyphone]

they where so cool but they are really cold sometimes.

[@evelinac2423]

Yes . At Poing, München they have one

[@ErklaerMirDieWelt]

The difference with the beer might be that drinking beer in American culture is mostly associated with partying and getting drunk (which is indeed inappropriate on a playground) while in German culture, beer is seen as a refreshing summer drink to enjoy with friends over a good conversation (which is totally appropriate on a playground).

[@MyMerryMessyGermanLife]

Yes you make an excellent point! The concept behind drinking alcohol is very different between Europe and America.

[@kevinmcfall5285]

Exactly!

[@jessicaely2521]

Only college students see beer this way. My friends and I drink beer, but its seen as a reward after spending all day on the river. We only go to microbreweries or craft breweries. I'm in Switzerland and I definitely do miss my delicious microbreweries and craft breweries.

[@jessicaely2521]

Beer isnt acceptable on the playground because the bottle is usually glass. Also people dont want their kids to see people drinking (which is their right). In the US there are other places where you can do that stuff. You don't have to do it right next a playground. Germans dont have the property that a lot of Americans do. My friends and I in college never ever felt the need to go to a stupid park to drink. We did it in my backyard where we didnt have to worry about encountering alligators (I lived in Florida) coming up on you. The property was 3 acres of just pure fun.

[@ErklaerMirDieWelt]

@@jessicaely2521 The glass bottles are a valid point. But in the playground Sarah showed, the seating area was off to the side, so no risk of glass in the sandbox. Most people are pretty cautious with glass bottles because there is a deposit, would be stupid to smash them. Of course you can also drink at home. But why not meet up with friends and let the kids have some fun together at the same time? Your point about property might be true in the big cities but Sarah and Kevin moved to a very rural area where almost everybody lives in a house or a farm and you are surrounded by nature. That's not the point of coming to a playgound. It's the aspect of community and meeting other families. Especially when alligators are not a problem ;)

[@Arntzraider]

The advantage that we have in Germany is that we have a very good health system, so that parents don't have to worry about being ruined by a doctor's expense if a child has an accident. If a child is injured while playing, the parents or other people present can call an ambulance to examine them in the hospital. Without that there are additional costs. Because of this, parents need to be less afraid for their children, out of fear that they will get hurt. The children can therefore test their limits and go beyond them.

[@schnittmagier5515]

That is a very good observation about a postiive side effect that puplic healthcare can have . In the Future I will take this as a prime example.

[@schnittmagier5515]

@@mr.haiwanand since you happily live in Germany with public healthcare (aka communism) for 12 Years, as you stated in another comment on this video, what are your thoughts about it?

[@IchMagDosenmais]

@@mr.haiwan Its like all in live, you have to get a heatlhy middle way. Both of it is fine, if you get a good balance

[@tero2444]

​@@schnittmagier5515 What's bad about it being communism? Modern medicine is one of the most important achievments of modern society. Keeping it behind a pay wall sounds like something a money hungry sociopath would do.

[@schnittmagier5515]

@@tero2444 have you been reading all of my comments? Because my point was not really to talk about communism, but to ask someone other, why he thinks healthcare is bad (because communism?) But it turned out to be a joke. And I was very happy to hear that. By the way. Like Lucio I believe that both systems (communism and capitalism) have great points and awful weaknesses (and I do not believe that those two systems are the only ways humanity can go.). I kind of like the socialistic approach in a lot of European countries like Austria (where I am from) that dare to take some good ideas that are, for some reason, considered taboo with some Americans only because the have roots in communism or socialism. But I am not saying that this is already the best possible system. Like you pointed out: The social aspect is still not great in europe. But now I am wondering! You are implying that capitalism alone is acting selfish. But China is still labeling itself as a communist country? Are they making their research free to access? I am not an expert on china but they seem to act as profit oriented like any other big player.

[@maacld.23]

When I was a child, we called these "Abenteuerspielplatz" (adventure playground). They were rather new and came with the unification. Before we had big sandboxes with a slide, seesaw and some gymnastics equiptment like bar and similar, all made of metal. Me and my older brother went alone to play outside since I was 3 and he was fully responsible of me being just two years older. When my younger brother was able to articulate and learned to walk, we took him with us. So our parents could rest. My favourite thing on a playground was the "Kletterspinne". Greetings.

[@Der_Bub299]

Omg ja der Abenteuerspielplatz. In meinem Dorf wo ich gewohnt habe als Kind hatten wir einen Riesigen Abenteuerspielplatz mir Drei sektion Die eine war Piraten die zweite Prinzessin und die dritte da bin ich mir nicht ganz sicher aber ich glaube das war ein Weltraum thema gewesen (es sind schon Achtzehn jahre her also bin ich mir nicht mehr ganz sicher)

[@datpsychoelische1018]

The Kletteraspinne was the best! I loved that thing.

[@KitsuneHB]

We had an "Abenteuerspielplatz" in the forest near my village and another one directly next to our graveyard. :D That was useful for my parents: "Come on, little Kitsune! We go to the graveyard!" And little Kitsune: "YEAAAAAAH!" Because of the playground right next to it. XD We had some kind of a wild west fort on that graveyard-playground. :D

[@skz__OT8]

@Maacl D oh yes! I was the oldest one and always took my little sister which is 3 years youngerthan me with me to our normal playground. One summer they built a Kletterturm with a newer slide and some extras and it was really fun! It was also a bit spooky for us kids (sometimes we walked to the playground at night and had the wildest ghost fantasies) cuz it's surrounded by bushes and every bush made a sound and it was next to the autobahn an the playground was kinda old. But we weren't too scared. There were many people living next and near to it and we knew nearly everyone cuz of Martinssingen. We also went often to our primary school playground cuz it was muuuuuch bigger and had so many nice things and you usually met other kids and some of the school friends there (not like at our spooky one 😂 there were only my siblings, me and sometimes two of my friends) 😄 but if those kids were mean or we didn't want to play with them or meet others, we went to our playground 😂 my mum and dad were always like: If you're bored, play outside, go to the playground, take your sister(s) with you 😂 such a nice childhood 😊

[@marcomobson]

🤔 The kind of "Abenteuerspielplatz" I learned to know when I was a child in Germany was with different wooden construction material on a "free" area where we could use saws, hammer, nails and so on and build our own stuff to play pirate or whatsoever with...

[@samu6874]

What I dont really know as a germam but might have a big influence on parenting is the fact that everyone has insurance. It seems like every American is just an accident away from being broke forever as a Trip to the emergency room or an ambulance ride is so expensive. The stakes of messing around at the playground are much higher considering these circumstances.

[@MyMerryMessyGermanLife]

That’s a good point!

[@christof4105]

That might be true. I am almost 40 now and I still remember one particular "spinning disk of death" to this day, when i once broke my arm on this thing :D Also, we have here a playground with a really fast zip line with an abrupt stop at the end. unimaginable in the us.

[@rebekkakhigson]

Yep, I fell and lost all my front teeth. Whoops. Good job they were my milk teeth, so all fine.

[@reinhard8053]

@@christof4105 We had a Zipline more than 40 years ago (in Germany). As there were too many kids on the platform trying to get a ride I fell off and broke my arm. Went home and when my parents were back we went to the hospital. No big deal. I don't know what they were thinking/feeling, but it didn't change anything about playtime.

[@QemeH]

A friend of mine from elementary school days who I occasionally keep in touch with is a _Spielplatzinspektor_ (playground inspector) by trade. When he told me I immediately assumed that his role was primarily to ensure the safety of the equipment and the surroundings, but there is so much more he has to take into account. There is actually a DIN norm (industrial standard) for playgrounds in germany - because, ofcourse there is, we ARE german after all - and it contains everything from noise shielding for houses nearby to age restrictions to the number of trash cans and the organisation of disposal to regulations about pets and much, much more. The list he once showed me for quality control contains stuff like accessibility, age appropriatness, value as relaxation spot for accompanying adults, number and educational value of devices, hygiene concept and actual hygiene, amount of open space for other activities, how close to nature the design is, etc. Long story short: Germans value teaching their kids about the outside and basic life skills.

[@MyMerryMessyGermanLife]

Love it!!

[@sarahr.1076]

One playground rule my sister had with her children: They don't help them up the playground stuff (especially climbing). This means you can't go further up than your own ability and this also makes the smaller children fall from smaller heights. Of course with small children you also stand right beside them and always have a hand ready to grab them. So far we didn't have any major accidents. Only a small laceration on the head, because my nephew did run behind a swing and got hit by it (and this could probably happen at any "safe" playground)

[@MyMerryMessyGermanLife]

That’s a great rule!

[@DenisHavlikVienna]

Exactly the way we handled this. I'm not an expert, but I believe the playgrounds are built in such a way that small kids simply cannot get very high on their own. And those that can probably have the necessary skills to stay safe up there ...

[@gene9230]

Actually, that is also how the playgrounds are designed, they are build in the way, that a kid can only access things which are save for its age.

[@millionsparks96]

About the swing thing: I was once at a playground in the states where the swings were seperately fenced in to prevent this from happening. Thought it was a bit of an overkill 😂

[@roonilwazlib5402]

Same here. I’m 24 now and grew up in a street that had a playground, so I spent a lot of time there. I was allowed to go alone from an early age on (I think I was 4 years old). The only „injury“ I ever had from a Klettergerüst was that I fell face first into the sand and had sand all over my tongue 🤷🏼‍♀️ I didn’t hurt myself, I was only crying because it was disgusting. The only real injuries I had were from sports like soccer or cheerleading, or when I ran, fell and hit my knee on stones, but not from playgrounds (and I did crazy stuff on playgrounds, like climbing to the roof and then jumping down over and over again)

[@derdiedaswarumweshalbwieso3366]

Playgrounds are great. Even as an adult you can have fun there. In my opinion, all adults should swing at least 15 minutes a day. ☺️ Then the world would certainly be a better one.

[@MyMerryMessyGermanLife]

I love that! All adults should swing at least 15 mins a day. I couldn’t agree more, it’s so much fun!

[@ilmatarkarvajalka3404]

I've seen adult-playgrounds in China and tbh I think 'playgrounds for adults' should become a thing (as an adult my butt is now sadly often too big for children-sized playthings, so I feel an age- and size-appropriate rendition of playgrounds is desperately needed)

[@ralfbonenkamp9297]

What I found very interesting and fascinating at the same time: it's not only self-reliance, it's also becoming resilient at the same time. I've seen this many many times: when kids ran around, stumble to the ground maybe getting a little hurt by a small scratch or bump, the stop and look around for mum or dad. If no one is in sight or getting an immediate response it takes only a few seconds before continue playing. BUT: on the same situation if an adult comes around and especially with a frighten face, crying almost heartbreaking starts immediately. So as a dad I quickly learned to anticipate when care is _really_ needed and when I simply need to wait a few sec before the incident clears by itself ;-)

[@MyMerryMessyGermanLife]

Very wise advice!

[@Delibro]

Well said, and this applies also to many other parts of beeing parents.

[@Joysiifly]

i was in a park once in a little cafe there and there was a toddler running around. The little girl fell, got up, dusted off her hands, looked around and the second she spotted her dad walking towards her she started crying like all hell broke loose xD it was rather funny to witness.

[@ilmatarkarvajalka3404]

my mum basically judged the severity of our accident by whether we did cry or not: a crash and then wailing - all is fine, still enough energy to get loud etc. But, a crash and then silence - now is time to get worried, fast

[@Balion1976]

haha, look at Kevins eyes, when he is telling about and explaning the playgrounds; I bet when the kids say, ok, two hrs is enough, Kevin says: oh, cmon kids, just five more minutes ;-))

[@MyMerryMessyGermanLife]

🤣🤣 yes! He’s a kid at heart!

[@mybile7464]

Abenteuerspielplaetze, meist am Stadtrand, sind eine gute Sache. Wurden so ab 1970 eingefuehrt.Spaeter folgten die Waldkindergaerten. Schade ist es, wenn diese Orte von Jugendlichen zum abendlichen Rumhaengen und Saufen missbraucht werden.

[@noahluppe]

@@mybile7464 Dabei steht doch immer das höchstalter von 14 Jahren am Eingang auf nem Schild smh

[@michelaushamburg6766]

"Zutritt für Erwachsene nur in Begleitung von Kindern" steht/stand (sinngemaß) am Spielplatz in den Wallanlagen in Hamburg.

[@FictionCat]

We called the big wheel you can walk on in 10:29 "Teufelsrad" (Devil' Wheel) when I was a child because it could be dangerous falling down from them in full speed. Naturally this was also the fun thing about them.

[@MyMerryMessyGermanLife]

Devil’s wheel! Haha love it!

[@tom-qj6uw]

I am 52 and have been on one of those just a few weeks ago - I went past one at time deserted playground and just had to ...

[@FFM0594]

I worked with a man from China who told me his biggest culture shock was seeing the children just running around doing their own thing in Germany.

[@RandomGuy9]

Wouldn't let my child do that in a big Chinese city.

[@kimchan382]

I remember back in the 80's in Hongkong, my father said to me, don't walk to close to the street, people with their cars can take you away. As someone who grone up in a German small City with around 25.000 Souls, my or our Childhood were very save. Now having Kids by my own and living in Finland, only dangerous thinks are cars.

[@pustekuchen]

You have to go to the "Kletterwald" . That is so much fun for the Kids.

[@MyMerryMessyGermanLife]

Oh cool! Where is it?

[@missis_jo]

@@outwardbound2241 They are fun indeed, but they have age restrictions. Ella is certainly not allowed there so it‘s more of an ‚we split the family and habe a nice time being separated‘ kind of activity.

[@MyMerryMessyGermanLife]

@@Opa_Andre oh wonderful! I have a ton of emails in my inbox, so I'm sorry I haven't responded yet. But I appreciate you sending it.

[@Lisa2206xP]

@@rosetoren3881 cool list, but I already see that it's missing a lot. In my hometown and the one right next to it alone 3 are not listed.

[@rosetoren3881]

@@Lisa2206xP I am shocked! If I had known that, I would never have published this list here, of course!

[@Henning_Rech]

Just a hint: "Alm" does not mean a snack stand, but it is a traditional mountain pasture including the farm buildings used for cattle only in the summer. They started to sell homemade dairy products to tourists when alpine tourism started, which later expanded to more products. The word is now also abused for some non-mountain sites, e g. if you want to characterize some place as "genuine Bavarian/Austrian/Swiss" in another part of Germany. Snack stand would be "Imbiss(bude)".

[@MyMerryMessyGermanLife]

Ahhh okay! Thanks for clearing that up. An Imbiss, yes, that makes sense.

[@juricarmichael2534]

Or "Büdchen" little of "Bude" / room, kind of shed or little shop. Or "Kiosk" from pavillon / tiny house.

[@martinv.352]

Yes, "Alm" is a cleared area of a mountain slope where the cows rest for the whole summer outside. All cleared slopes of the mountains are Alms. If the summer ends, the cows are going down to their winter residence which is a big event. kzbin.info?search_query=Almabtrieb On the Alm, often cheese is made ("Bergkäse" Mountain Cheese) because it is too far transporting the milk down to the valley (and it would turn to cream!). Tourists can often buy food and there are chairs and tables to rest. But the main subject is alpine farming, not to serve tourists.

[@roesi1985]

Fun fact: In Switzerland, the mountain pasture isn't called "Alm" but "Alp". Hence, Heidi never lived on an Alm and her granddad isn't called "Alm-Öhi", but "Alp-Öhi". The term "Alm" is only used in Germany and Austria. I think that's because the only alpine farming there is in Germany is in Bavaria, and the Bavarian dialect belongs to the same language group as the Austrian dialects.

[@juricarmichael2534]

@@roesi1985 Hi. No matter it's Alp- or Alm- öhi, we all understood and liked his: "Aber Vorsicht, it's cool man."😎 Oddher? 😉🙂 Me being half that cool at his age, would be nice. Ciao

[@philosophyandalltherestont3061]

When I was a kid, I genuinely saw some kids shooting for the sky when the spinning wheel of death taught them gravitation.

[@Ossey1976]

"Everything is new to us!" ... That´s the one thing I love about newly created channels of foreigners who just moved to Germany... Older channels sometimes tend to repeat themselves after some time, for example as it will get hotter in the next couple of weeks, I am waiting for the annual "It´s so hot, why doesnt Germany use air conditioning?"-video from a certain American Football player :-D

[@robbyh.8165]

I really wish we had more air conditioning in Germany though.

[@silvialittlewolf]

LOL! I follow that football player too, and you know what? I agree with him! Think back to the past two summers, and they were unbearably hot. Having an AC in our office, I can attest to its beneficial input in creating a pleasant work atmosphere for all. Aaaaah!

[@Ossey1976]

@@silvialittlewolf I have to agree, the heatwaves from the last 3 summers were pretty bad, even my ventilator didnt help at all to cool down my bed room. An AC would be nice.

[@petereggers7603]

That's summer 2021: Some people are desperately seeking for room drying machines... :/

[@nmarwitz]

They had mobile ACs at Lidle last week ;) might still have some left.

[@mulraf]

all in all: yes, there are some 'normal' playgrounds (mostly small ones scattered around the town) but thinking about it, there really are some cool places, yeah :D as a german you don't really think about it much but looking back at it - as a kid some of these apparatuses were sick. never seen a booth at the playgrounds here, but as you said - every playground is different.

[@zasou571]

When I was a child we had so many great playgrounds right in the neighborhood - it felt like one every 500 m ^^ and all had different implements made of wood and sometimes metal; you could walk from one to the other all day and have the time of your life ^^ The greatest playground I remember was a so-called "construction playground": as a child, you could build your own huts out of boards and all sorts of other materials with a hammer, saw, nails, etc. There were 2 supervisors who paid attention to safety and helped when needed - the kids did everything else themselves... and what did we build! Even two-story houses with connecting bridges, that was absolute madness... every few weeks the houses (or whatever else they built) had torn down and you could let your imagination run wild again. Sometimes there were parents there (mostly fathers) who volunteered to work around with the children and were there to help and advise - whether the children wanted it or not, hahaha.. . This was by far the greatest playground we children have ever had - and certainly the one where we learned the most to recognize our own limits. Minor injuries were completely normal, no one made a big deal about it - on the contrary, in the evening the scratches and wounds were proudly shown at home and you received praise and recognition for what a great job you had done ^^ It's a real shame that there don't seem to be any playgrounds like this anymore...

[@missis_jo]

Parent pro tip for a fun adult-kid-Wippe (seesaw)-experience: seat yourself closer to the middle, at one point you will have just the right balance to let your kid up and down without ruining your knees 😉.

[@MyMerryMessyGermanLife]

Why haven’t we thought of that before?! Haha!

[@missis_jo]

@@MyMerryMessyGermanLife Don‘t worry, took three kids to figure that one out 😅, and I‘m married to an engineer, too 😆.

[@DualerHeld]

Or three little kids vs. one parent. Then you can comfortable sit. Little kids not outside, so they can not fall behind and you can play some kind of harder and have fun yourself.

[@anoukanouk5595]

When I was at a very large playground with my granddaughter, I got stuck on a contraption where you have to walk across loosely connected wooden boards that are connected with ropes and hanging from chains. I couldn't move forward and didn't want to go backwards, so she walked in front of me and pushed one of the boards toward me at a time, I got on it and she pushed the next one toward me. When I thanked her she said that's ok, we always do that for the younger kids.

[@MyMerryMessyGermanLife]

Awe how sweet!

[@kevinmcfall5285]

Ha ha ha! For the younger kids and the clueless adults...

[@DenisHavlikVienna]

😂😂😂👍

[@KaiAquila]

I remember one of those ziplines on the playground I visited as a child. It went naturally downhill and since we usually also jumped up after a running start, you got pretty fast and would swing up quite violently and high at the end. It was eventually mitigated, by shortening the length of the slide, because you could've really hurt yourself falling down. After that, it was barely used anymore, as it was less exciting. But before they made that change, I remember, that every time I was on that playground, older kids would stand by at the end to catch anyone who had trouble. It was like an unspoken rule and I never saw anyone get hurt. Pretty great.

[@Henning_Rech]

Kevin's mechanical engineering background shines through his enthousiasm ;)

[@MyMerryMessyGermanLife]

Yes! So true!

[@swanpride]

There are actually studies regarding the topic. Basically, American Playgrounds are too safe and too boring. Children need to test out their boundaries and abilities, and they need games which encourage them to explore the world. It's not just playgrounds, btw, it's also things like games and TV shows. Germany has a number of excellent educational TV shows for children.

[@MyMerryMessyGermanLife]

Yes! Did you see later in the video, we actually featured your comment from our other video about playgrounds? 😍

[@ennykraft]

@@MyMerryMessyGermanLife there's a great video about this kzbin.info/www/bejne/oqvXdqF4e7NosLc

[@swanpride]

@@MyMerryMessyGermanLife Yeah, I noticed, I fired off my comment shortly before I got to this part, but I didn't feel like changing it, because it is worth mentioning as often as possible. Children need an envirenment which helps their social development. Maybe exactly those playgrounds are the starting point for the habit of Germans to "look out for each other".

[@jessicaely2521]

The playgrounds are so true. The US does an excellent job with educational TV shows and educational games. I found the US did better on the educational TV shows.

[@swanpride]

@@jessicaely2521 I am pretty familiar with US programming for children, and while at least some shows do reasonably well, I don't think that they have anything close to Die Sendung mit der Maus, Löwenzahn or even Logo (and that includes Sesame Street, it's good, but it is possible to do even better). In addition, the good shows they have tend to be swallowed up by what are basically toy commecials pretending to have a plot.

[@SimoneJaegerFrauPanPan]

As a kindergartenteacher, who workes in her own neighborhood, I somtimes found myself directing or helping one of my Kindergarten kids on the playground I initialy visited with my sons ;) . And this is absolutely fine for me! My sons are now 8 and 10 and go outside by themselfs, we only make sure they have their keys and mobiles with them.

[@calise8783]

Great video! I would love to see one on self reliance in children here. I’m am American raising two children here, now teens. When they were in kindy, I would send them into the bakery on their own. They learned quickly how to speak to adults, indicate what they wanted and learned to deal with money. And it just goes on and on from there. My teens call for all their own appointments now. Or call stores to see if items are in stock. I also always let them tell the doctor/dentist what is up. I only add something if they forgot a point but try to remain in the background. I also like that doctors, talk/explain directly to them and then to me. I feel they are well prepared for life and to represent/stand up for themselves in school, other activities and life.

[@MyMerryMessyGermanLife]

I loved reading about the different ways your teenagers are self-reliant! Sounds like we need to feature your comment!

[@jennyh4025]

I don’t have a choice about that with my German pediatrician, they greet first my child (now 4), then me. After that, I’m just audience and to „record“ the results/recommendations or give further details. It has been like this for two or three years now.

[@calise8783]

@@jennyh4025 Then with your support and guidance in the background, your child will learn to speak to authority figures without fear and be prepared for the future. Of course you are there to support/back up your child as their legal guardian. I appreciate this approach. At any time I can ask to speak to the pediatrician without my child present if needed. At age 13/14 my child had his first check up where I had to wait outside. My child first filled out an open ended questionnaire such as when my mom is upset with me I feel.... if I am nervous about something I can talk to.... school makes me feel.... I am proud that I .... Then, the pediatrician calls me in and we go over any concerns. At 16 the child can legally tell the doctor, I don’t want my parents in the room, and isn’t it better that we prepare our children for this. Now if your pedi leaves you feeling uncomfortable, find a new one. You as a parent should not be ignored.

[@jennyh4025]

@@calise8783 I don’t feel ignored, but they make sure, that the parents know, that they are not the main concern of the pediatricians (there are three working together in one office). I actually like this approach, because while the parents are there (as „backup“), the children learn, that these appointments are about and for them, they have to say when something is not right, be active in this situation and not depending on the parents to do everything. In these situations, I like being backup, not „main character“. I also think the doctors can find out a lot about the child’s mental health, when they interact mainly with the children and the parents are in the room. I know a friend of mine was taught to look into family interactions, when she was training to be a doctor and spent about half a year with a coroner’s office. I‘ve seen some teenagers in the waiting area, waiting for their annual check up all by themselves. That was a great experience for me. I know another pediatrician, where the parents are always asked and the doctor only talks to them, not the (eight or nine year old) child.

[@calise8783]

@@jennyh4025 Alles klar! I think I misunderstood before. I agree, I think they can and do find out quite a bit more by speaking directly to the children!

[@brigittestach-wolf1206]

Love that you love our playgrounds....

[@baileypaliolonga5620]

I remember when I was a kid on vacation in Germany, I absolutely LOVED the playgrounds!!! Still to this day, I think that Germany has the best playgrounds for kids!!!

[@christiankastorf1427]

Blindschleiche- blind-schlei-che. The lizzards that are mistaken for snakes. "schleichen" means to move silently.

[@roanwolf6389]

I love those. I picked one up in the forest once, took some nice video with it sitting in my hand watching me calmly.

[@HexenkoeniginVonAngmar]

It's pretty funny when someone doesn't know them and freaks out because there is a "snake" xD

[@wora1111]

Other people will look for your kids: There is this saying: "You need a village to raise a kid". I still remember how much feedback about my behaviour my mother got from the neighbours. I certainly did not always like that. But it improved my behaviour!

[@pouncepounce7417]

Yeah, your bad deeds made it home before you arrived there.

[@kleinerwiesenknopf6330]

Very joyful to watch this video and so nice, that you and your kids have so much fun on the playgrounds. It reminds me of my time as an Au-Pair in Maryland 14 years ago. One weekend I planned a trip to a park with several playgrounds. The two boys (5 and 9 years old at that time) were disappointed in the first place, because they've thought I would take them to a theme park. After arriving at first they thought it was boring and they didn't know, what they should actually do there. I played with them on the different playgrounds the whole day, we fed ducks and had a picnic for ourselves as well. It didn't take that long for the boys to understand my German concept of a weekend foray, they got really excited and we had the greatest time together. On our way home the two fell asleep within 5 minutes in the car because they were satisfied and exhausted from all that fresh air and activity :D Never before had they experienced something alike and I'm very glad, I could share this beautiful experience with them

[@HandsomeP3t3]

There is a law here in Germany that where playgrounds are located they can never demolished. There has to be a playground for all time to come. I think it’s nice so Kids will always be able to play

[@bluetickbeagles116]

I visited Germany and Switzerland two years ago and the playgrounds that mesmerized me. I was blown away at the quality and difference in activities. 👏👏

[@MyMerryMessyGermanLife]

Yeah! Aren’t they amazing?

[@TheRazerx7]

There are some amusement parks that are actually hughe playgrounds. Sottrum (Lower Saxony) does not have any attractions based on electric power (maybe except the big bouncy bag).And it has a petting zoo My favourits on playgroud were the ziplines(or how ever you call them) and the water bases stuff.

[@vanessaf.4341]

As a German citizen myself, it's very nice to see, how people from other countrys enjoy things that we grow up with :) Have a wonderful time in your new hometown and welcome :)

[@MyMerryMessyGermanLife]

Thank you so much!

[@sarahluciakarmann6133]

The self-reliance part is great. Especially in the holidays, our parents used to see us maybe three times - at breakfast, once they called us in for lunch and at dinner - or rather, “when the street lights turned on” because not all of us had a watch or carried a phone. Where we were and what we did they only knew if someone got hurt badly enough or if we came in only to ask to sleep over 😂

[@neophytealpha]

All for dads being able and encouraged to spend time with their kids.

[@MyMerryMessyGermanLife]

Yes!

[@chrisg.4934]

I remember going to the next town with a friend by bike when I was 5 years old. The reason: we have been to every playground in town and were bored ;). (Told my mom only 35 years later, where we went ;))

[@wmf831]

This is NOT boring. Your enthusiasm is very inspiring.

[@MyMerryMessyGermanLife]

Thank you 🙏🏻❤️

[@Joysiifly]

I can say with confidence that even me and my friends (all around 25-29) still have fond memories of the playgrounds here in germany and even play a little on them (mostly the swings and trampolines and such) when not a lot of children are around :3 SO FUN

[@spacefan36]

Omg, your Kids are gonna looove the playgrounds in the Leipziger Zoo. they are soo cool. if you talk in one little "Nest", another kid can hear this in another "Nest" and it's just soo much fun there.

[@MyMerryMessyGermanLife]

Sounds like fun!

[@Stoffmonster467]

Children's museums I can recommend: Blaubeuren, stone age, Ellwangen, Alemannenmuseum (with tiny houses for weaving or on piles for housing, very cute).

[@ShaheenKhan-xw3we]

I am so glad Kirsten introduced your vlog , l have subscribed and enjoying watching your vlogs . I love Germany 🇩🇪

[@MyMerryMessyGermanLife]

Glad to have you here! 💕

[@ewaskowronski376]

When I was younger I played so much on playgrounds, either public ones or in kindergarten. My pants where always dirty and my shoes torn up, but I had lot's of fun. It has also strenghten my immune system. I feel like I've never been sick since 4th grade in elementary (I'm in 9th grade now). So yeah, it's a great way to let your kids grow up healthy! :)

[@brigittestach-wolf1206]

Commenting while watching 🙈 When my daughter (12) was little, we went to the playground every day with her friends. We had swings, animals in spirals, a fort with 2 slides, Jungle Gym, small fenced football field, chestnut trees and a zip line. They always tried new things. One day, when they were 4/5 they found out, how to ride the zip line as a four-pack, and repeat.... It was awesome to watch, as it needed a lot of coordination and cooperation. I loved these times at the playground sooo much!

[@flowerdolphin5648]

I remember when I was a child, I would always test the playing equipment. Because while we went on great playground trips pretty much every week, the playground in our immediate neighborhood only had 1 slide and one swing. I got bored easily there so I would test different ways to use the equipment. I once figured out an entirely different way to get on the slide. The structure was built in such a way that if you placed your hands and feet in certain gaps and on certain bars you could get on the slide tower by climbing up the side of the structure, without having to use the ladder given to you. I really love this in hindsight, because it taught me that we don't always have to fit into a given template of rules and conventions and that there are different ways to reach your goals. Which is a really important lesson imo. Learning how to follow rules is of course important, but so is developing creativity, thinking outside the box. As everything in life you have to balance them.

[@MyMerryMessyGermanLife]

We so agree - it’s so important for children to have the freedom to make mistakes and test their own limits!

[@suveemi60]

As a Kid a loved these "Rope Pyramids" (Seilpyramide/Kletterpyramide). They have red ropes that go in all the different directions and ways and you really need to figure out how to get on and off there as a kid ! I loved it (still do)

[@user-ib4li7xs9y]

These are called "Kletterspinne" (Climbing spider)

[@ulrichwolforster1849]

Danke ! ich musste so lachen als eure Tochter die Sendung übernahm :-)

[@saphir7803]

This Video did break the 100.000 view marker. What a stunning number. Very nice to see and well deserved : )

[@MyMerryMessyGermanLife]

Thank you so much! ❤️

[@furzkram]

How to tell if a cat is german(ized): "Meow" -> still American "Miau" -> german(ized)

[@gerhardhettler8521]

Cats conversate each other not with miau or Muh cats speak each other with pantmime/ her ears, her "Schwanz" and other "Gesten". Miau is onla for persons why they dont know Cats Pantomime/ Gebärdensprache

[@furzkram]

@@gerhardhettler8521 Schwanz = tail, Gebärdensprache = sign language. Anyway, you missed my point, I'm afraid.

[@MyMerryMessyGermanLife]

🤣🤣😹😹

[@kevinmcfall5285]

We will have to record Peanut to see how her language skills are progressing.

[@gerhardhettler8521]

@@furzkram Thanks my scool english is 40 Years ago so i schoud refresh my vocabulary.

[@IIIOOOUS]

The playgrounds in Berlin was one of the first things that cached my eyes when I moved to Berlin from South Germany. They look really cool, mostly ship themed parkours with completely sandy ground, just like the lakes which als have also sandy beaches. Also interesting for me was that sometimes here the summers are hotter than in Bavaria, even though it is more northern.

[@scottevil4531]

Well concrete heats more than fields. So big cities in general are hotter. XD But thats what the over 200 parks here are for XD

[@Karuzo131]

We have a playground here in our town that sounds exactly like you described it. And I live in Bavaria. I think it really depends on the location.

[@peterlustig6888]

Why would you move from beautiful bavaria to the degenerated Berlin

[@sippycupdoll]

I think I know about one in rudow. We always went there when my siblings were younger.

[@cucublueberry8078]

Here in Amberg we have the "Piratenspielplatz", pirate's playground. It has among other things a big knee deep pond with small fish that has a stranded Pirate's ship in it and a pretty massive stone built fortress on the other side. My kids love it!

[@YeahButCanISniffUrPantsFist]

OMG I REMEMBER IT!! I lived in Amberg for a year when i was young.. I remember that ship!!

[@HenryDorset]

I see, the heavy rain has moved to Bavaria now. I hope you and your loved ones are safe!

[@MyMerryMessyGermanLife]

Thanks for thinking of us! We did have some flooding in our basement, but it wasn’t too bad. We are 60 meters above our town, so that helps a lot.

[@Henning_Rech]

@@MyMerryMessyGermanLife Wish you good luck for tomorrow, then it should be over. And I promise, normally summers have better weather!

[@Osti67]

Your excitement explaining the different installations on the playgrounds is priceless :D thx for another great video about differences we would maybe not even realize without you sharing your perspective....

[@markneis9610]

I'm a German and I never ever had such a view on our local playgrounds. This is really interesting, so thanks a lot for this video! I will have a different look in the future, I think.

[@MyMerryMessyGermanLife]

That’s the coolest part of living abroad - we all see our own countries in a different way and can bring the best parts of the other country to our own countries, truly making the world a better place.

[@spencer020785]

In Heidelberg, they build a playground with the themes ICE (it's a German high speed train) and one with firefighter. There you can also play with water. My son liked it very much when we visited Heidelberg

[@elmaskazanc]

Wo genau in Heidelberg ist der denn? Klingt ja echt toll

[@spencer020785]

Camebridgestraße, Heidelberg

[@MyMerryMessyGermanLife]

Awe that sounds like fun!

[@barbarascheuhuber2435]

Omg! 😂Ella is so fun to watch. Just a happy kid! Love it. ❤❤❤

[@danilopapais1464]

Greetings from Hamburg, Germany. First of all: The bits of footage i like about the most are those where the boys play together with Ella. I really love seeing great brother/sister relationships, especially at their age. When I was young (i think i am about your age or maybe older), we had different kinds of playgrounds, some with rather sparse equipment and some (mostly in forested areas) with a lot of different "stations". Those was what we called (over 30 years ago, when i was a child) "Abenteurspielplatz" (Adventure Playground), those were the coolest. I am not as informed about playgrounds nowadays because I am old and have no kids (so i would feel creepy checking out playgrounds, lol) but after Covid gets better controlled I'd love to go with my nephew, who is now around 18 months old. Also, the mentioning of the old video reinforces the image of Kevin having got a haircut.

[@MyMerryMessyGermanLife]

I agree, it’s so sweet to see siblings playing together and taking care of each other. And how fun that you’ll be able to take your nephew!

[@0binnamadeit808]

the only time i got hurt at playgrounds was when i overestimated my jumping abilities or misjudged the distance i was like yup gotta run faster

[@oceanstaiga5928]

that 'spinning wheel of death' used to be my favorite. I was really proud that i was the fastest of our friend group on it. We would sit some kids in the middle and then have one kid run on the outside, once you get fast enough you will run on the same spot like a treadmill and because of the forces the kids in the middle will slwoly slide of (or if they're good they hold on for ages whlie getting dizzy haha) so the runner has to keep the speed up to win by getting all those in the middle to slide off and dodge them while they slide by haha.. yeah thinking back i'm not sure either how nobody ever got hurt but it always worked out and we did that for aaaaages as kids. We were always mad if people put sand on top of it since that would make you slip more easily as the runner had to be straight up sprinting some times. Edit: The speed was too much to stop it from the top btw so either you had to jump off or have another kid stop it from the side. Also once you figure out how to use the disk like a hamster wheel where you walk on the same spot like a treadmill that's just awesome as a kid.

[@smilingcoastforte643]

Haha.....yes thats exactly how it worked !! We had the best time in life . Even if we were dizzy and almost vomit !

[@Sk4lli]

A lot of great comments here. One thing to add: "Risky" playgrounds actually reduce risk of injuries. A study has shown, that kids who are allowed trees by their parents are actually less likely to injure themselves by climbing trees than kids that are not allowed. The reason is simple: The kids who are allowed often start out with parental supervision, they learn which branches can hold their weight, learn to stay safe and their own limits. Kids who are not allowed will still try at some point, without supervision and then it's likely they will grab a branch that's too weak to support their weight or simply slip and fall, often from an unsafe height and break bones. As mentioned by others, the playground here are build around that principle, make it harder to sustain dangerous injuries but enable kids to learn to be self reliant, safe and know their limits. And with young kids they are supervised by their parents and other kids parents. And heck, it was so much fun as a kid. :D

[@thepurplesmurf]

Why am i under the impression that the person who had most fun on the playgrounds was Kevin?! 😂👍

[@MyMerryMessyGermanLife]

🤣🤣 he is one of the kids! I have 5 kids, not 4!

[@matthiasbohm2593]

@@MyMerryMessyGermanLife ... and a cat !!!

[@Henning_Rech]

@@matthiasbohm2593 You'll hear, next week: an American familiy of 6, with 5 kids ... and a cat!

[@wora1111]

@@MyMerryMessyGermanLife Exactly my thought!

[@RaveKev]

👍

[@maxAnonymousname]

Great video! Speaking of museums: you should bring your kids to the Deutsches Museum in München one day. There is a mine under the museum which is really close to a real mine. It's so well made that I wanted to go at least once a year as a kid. There are many other cool things for kids (and adults of course) there too but the Bergwerk was the most impressive, my dad loved it as well.

[@YvaneCiece]

just stumbled over the video, i dont know how, but im happy you like our playgrounds :D I like the wholesomeness of your video, gave me a big smile, keep it up! Stay safe!

[@chkoha6462]

It must be Sunday again!Hope you are safe and sound after all the torrential rain in Bavaria

[@MyMerryMessyGermanLife]

Hahaha it’s Sunday! We are lucky - the floods are 6 hours away from us. Are you safe and sound? But our hearts are with all of those who are suffering. 🙏🏻

[@chkoha6462]

@@MyMerryMessyGermanLife we have a clear blue sky and sunshine here in Hessen.But the area around Berchtesgaden and the Königssee saw a lot of flooding last night

[@gi0nbecell]

As a German (and, in fact, Bavarian), I really appreciate your mindset. To the point of Self-reliance, I have a Little Story: I live in a town of about 20k people, but one of the outmost houses. There is a small playground (not remotely as fancy as yours) only about 600 meters away, just across one a little busier street. There are swings (duh) and a wooden castle-like structure (I think they upgraded to a wooden pirate ship of sorts later, but that was after my time), with some natural slopes and trees around it. It is located on a hill, completely surrounded by houses (so you can‘t just run on the street, even though this one is not busy, you have to take one of two or three paths between the houses). Anyway, its‘s small, it‘s rather safe. One of the first skill I remember learning was crossing that one busier road safely (there are no signs or lights to cross). After that, and with some of my kindergarten friends (later school friends) living in the same neighbourhood, I was allowed over there alone from a rather young age. My parents just trusted me to 1. cross the road safely, 2. not to try any stupid stunts (I was a cautious, yet not anxious kid) and 3. to come home on time (if not, they would just come over, like I said, about 600m). This was, at least back then, not uncommon. Mind you, it‘s been nearly 30 years, and things have changed a bit, but still. I ripped some clothes, I got some bruises and several scratches, I got dirty, but I had fun, explored my small part of the world on my own (or with friends). Happy times. I think this correlates with your perception of not always hovering over your child, but let them explore and play on their own. Which is a great way to have kids learn basic social skills as well as self awareness, at least in my opinion.

[@96vicki]

As a kid, my parents would often take me to a great playground that was kinda build like a pyramid. There were different ways to climb on the top and several slides in different heights for children of all ages. We had to take te train for like 30, 40 minutes and it was so worth it. There is a huge park there so you can have picnics, you would spend the whole day there.

[@lordofnumbers9317]

Ella - your little princess. So activ and full of joie de vivre. Well done.

[@jeffhands7097]

I hope you‘re safe, and spared any problems with the rain and floodwaters. I enjoyed your video this morning. 😄

[@kevinmcfall5285]

Luckily, Yes we are safe!

[@MyMerryMessyGermanLife]

Thank you! Yes we are safe! Lots of rain but no floods here. We are lucky. 🙏🏻

[@regular_being]

@@MyMerryMessyGermanLife Good to hear. Greetings from Hesse, nice to see youre happy here.

[@ramona146]

You mentioned kids being involved by planning playgrounds. I'm a nursery school teacher who worked with older kids and youth for some time. We went to playgrounds to test them and then the kids gave advice to the politicians and the people who planned the playgrounds what to change or to improve and then the playgrounds were rebuilt. Every year we tested the playgrounds of another district of our town. And the kids really liked it =)

[@elmarwinkler6335]

Hi, the kid discover physics without being told, and as you said, the learn to think for themselves. Instead of easy consuming, you, as a kid, try to figure out how to use the things. Stay save and healthy, Greetings from Swabia (Schwabenland). GRIN

[@merylsilverburgh8081]

I love how his eyes sparkle while describing the stuff on the playgrounds...as if his inner child is falling in love with the concept of playgrounds all over again. So wholesome. 🤭 You two are so kind and truly enrich our country 🥰 Love to you and the whole bunch 💖

[@MyMerryMessyGermanLife]

Thank you, Meryl! ❤️

[@cailwi9]

On your way to Burg Eltz, I can recommend the Technikmuseum Speyer. It is right off of the A61, which you are likely to take to get there. Speyer generally is a nice stop-over, it is an old city with a small, walkable downtown area and an awe-inspiring cathedral that you can visit either for a short moment or a longer time, depending on your kids needs, there are hotels, restaurants, Eisdielen, and anything else you could need. The technical museum is a few blocks away from downtown, but close, and has so much to see and do, you probably will only get a taste of it, if you plan to drive through in one day. Their website is in English too, so you can get all your info there about tickets, hours, covid situation, etc.

[@HansMaurer.]

Also the partner museum in Sinsheim (with the Condorde and the Tupolev Tu-144 on the roof). Heidelberg is also close to both sites.

[@MyMerryMessyGermanLife]

We really want to see Heidelberg!

[@cailwi9]

@@MyMerryMessyGermanLife I see, well I hope you will enjoy it there. Probably would not have picked that myself for my kids at that age, but it is possible to make a good day of it. The castle is quite a climb up, but there is a funicular, if you choose. Downtown is nice, but it is not Rothenburg or such. Heidelberg is of much interest as it has the oldest university of Germany, but that is not for 4 - 10 year olds. If you are looking around the area, Schwetzingen (7 miles away) has a gorgeous Palais with a beautiful flower garden. Also, the Hockenheimring is there, but I have no idea whether they have tours or anything you can visit for that matter. Enjoy your trip, wherever it will take you.

[@marlajacques6947]

@@MyMerryMessyGermanLife If in Heidelberg, Ella might be interested in Marchenparadies, not sure about the boys though

[@td9250]

This brings back memories from kindergarten and elementary school in Romania.

[@silvialittlewolf]

Thank you for this very interesting video. I am German but have no kids, and the playgrounds when I was young (one or two years ago - or 50 😆 ) were a little simpler. Your video was quite educational for me too! 😃

[@suserockle7332]

Best part of the video is when your daughter, I guess, was screaming out of joy to get out in the rain to play. It really made me laugh. I've flown to Atlanta once and I was shocked as I was flying over the the suburbs on how many pools there were back in the 90s. First I thought this must have been a wealthy neighborhood but it didn't stop. It was just incredible.

[@HBB1337]

Montessori education is based on the combination of intellectual growth and practical activity. It proceeds "from grasping to grasping", from the concrete to the abstract. In this way, the children learn very deeply and permanently.

[@goblingoddessgaming608]

Sadly, I see more and more playgrounds that got rid of any equipment of "dangerous" falling height and replaced it with super safe stuff for very small children. Happened to the playground I used to go to a lot. It had like a 5m tall tire tower you could climb by going up the tires from the inside. You could then slide down a metal pole. I loved it! It's gone. Now there's some boring low equipment with zero falling danger. Different playground close by I loved as a kid had a similar but bigger wooden tower with swinging rings 2-3 meters off the ground you could try and reach the end of, which was very exhausting and I never made it all the way. I would then just let myself drop onto the sand. No problem. Also gone. Now there's a small pirate ship that looks nice but it has zero exercise value. Made me sad. My theory is that current parents are not as attentive anymore, always looking at their phones. So they need safe playgrounds where they know their kids won't get hurt. And maybe also parents expect total safety and if that's not provided they might feel like sueing the town for any injury their kids might get. We have a castle ruin in my town with a pond. Just because one child someplace else sadly drowned in a pond recently, our town decided we need to make our pond safer. Now there's a barricade around it until planted bushes grow tall enough to become a natural barrier. Looks so ugly Fatal accidents do happen. It's terrible. But we can't keep kids 100% safe. I hate this modern idea that we need to eliminate all potential dangers from our lives. Maybe I'm wrong. But why else would all the cool equipment be disappearing? Most parents I see at playgrounds here are sitting on the bench with their phones... You're so lucky in beautiful Bavaria! Nothing so cool in my town. We had to drive to real adventure playgrounds inside zoos and stuff for really cool equipment. Like trampolines. Also, we don't have tall mountains here in Hessen. There ARE nice places in a one hour radius but we have to drive 5-7h to Bavaria or Austria once a year for proper hiking. I noticed how awesome playgrounds are over there. Jealous!

[@moomah5929]

I still remember my Kindergarten time 35+ years ago and how we had a climbing frame where we were climbing to the top, letting us drop from the top bar. One day this bar got sawn off so we couldn't do this anymore even though it was fun and nobody ever got hurt... Still to this very day I'm pissed about it. xD

[@jensgoerke3819]

When you're on the coast I'd recommend buying unpeeled shrimp (Krabben) as a snack as well as an exercise in dexterity and fine motor skills. They're much cheaper than peeled shrimp and really tasty on their own.

[@m00h6]

I grew up in Germany and for me all this is completely normal but to see that you and your kids had so much fun in Germany makes me very happy 😊😅😂 one think I wanted to say about German playground were I grew up a play ground was directly behind my garden and all other houses surrounded the play ground so all the kids of the neighbourhood could look outside there window and see if there friend are outside and could directly ran outside

[@jonashotger4456]

I realised am interesting trend in playground optics: Those really natural looking ones with all crooked bars and bare wood and stuff came along about 10 years ago where I'm from. Before that, most playgrounds were also wood, but painted and with straight bars. Railings would be orange, roofs and arches connecting things red. Metal poles were blue. This style has gone out of fashion and by now almost every play set like it has been replaced by these diy looking things. Whenever I see one of the old ones I get really nostalgic.

[@MyMerryMessyGermanLife]

Okay others have said the same thing as you. Good to know! So they’ve made the new look old.

[@Ansgar72]

I remember that in my childhood everything was a playground. A construction site with excavators? Playground as soon as the workers were gone. The forest around our village. Devinitive playground. There was also a demolished sawmill in our village, oh man that was one of the best places ever for us children :D I have to say that my childhood was in the 70s and 80s. Back then, playgrounds were nothing more than a sandpit and a swing. In the absence of that, we children just had to improvise ^^

[@kevinmcfall5285]

So cool! Sounds like fun as a kid in your childhood.

[@magmalin]

Playground weren't always like that in Germany. When I was a very small child there was no more than a sand box for kids where I lived. We used to go the American housing area across the street which had just been build for the soldier's dependants. The playgrounds there had at least a swing and a slide not just a sand box. Funny how things have changed.

[@michelaushamburg6766]

When I was young, we only had a sandbox (and a lawn) closeby. When I was about 10 years old, a new playground was built close to my grandma's place with a wooden fort, long, long, bumby slides (down a slope) and a discarded harbour ship and a discarded helicopter nearby. Very exiting to climb through this stuff. I think, these metal objects would not fulfil modern playground-standards. Zip-lines were installed later. In the last 40 years, there has been improvement in playground-design in Germany.

[@avEPalanthe]

Neugebaute Gebiete, also in dem Fall Häuser von Armeeangehörigen, bekommen prozentuale Spielfläche dazugebaut, das ist kommunal geregelt per Bauverordnung. Wenn man also gute, neue Spielplätze entdecken möchte: schaut, wo Neubaugebiete sind 😊

[@magmalin]

@@avEPalanthe Neubaugebiete für Armeeangehörige sind in meiner Großstadt keine Thema mehr. Die US Army ist schon seit geraumer Zeit abgezogen. Die Gebäude in den ehemaligen housing areas werden schon sehr lange von Einheimischen bewohnt und auf den ehemaligen Kasernengeländen entstehen nach und nach Neubaugebiete. Sicherlich gibt es für diese bestimmte Bauverordnungen bezüglich Spielplätze, aber ich sprach ja von ferneren Zeiten, nicht von heute.

[@robertzander9723]

Good morning Sara and Kevin ☕🥐🍇 enjoying my breakfast with your video is just perfect 🙂 It's always nice to watch you having so much fun in Germany and the enthusiasm hearing you talking about it, it's so adorable!! Having the opportunity to spend some time with our kid's is so important, we could see how fast everything could go on a weird way with everything is closed. And what is better than explore and discover all these things together and let the kid's find things out on their own, how it goes and which way could be the best, when just watching them for sure and of course let them make mistakes, they will learn so much more and it makes them a lot more independent and gives them enough self-confidence for future. I hope you and in your aera is everything just fine. It seems Ella has a lot of energy and needs her parents for playing, so take your time.

[@MyMerryMessyGermanLife]

Guten Morgen, Stefan! Yes Ella has so much energy! Hope you’re enjoying your Frühstück!

[@robertzander9723]

@@MyMerryMessyGermanLife Vielen lieben Dank!! Thank you so much, i definitely have! But didn't know, who is Stefan?

[@ralfk5202]

Beer or cigarettes are not forbidden on the playground. However, you have to expect other parents to abuse you. I once lived in Canada. When I was in Germany with my son in the public swimming pool, someone drank a beer and I went to the pool supervisor. He just said "plastic bottle is okay". I had forgotten that it is allowed in Germany.

[@MrBenedictus25]

I think lots of Parents will say something about the Cigarettes. The beer is okay. Its just beer.

[@jennyh4025]

At least in Cologne, cigarettes are forbidden on public playgrounds.

[@woxyroxme]

When I was a kid growing up as an army brat I always wanted to go to the spielplatz or the wasserspielplatz or play mini golf. This was in the small town of Ilvesheim Germany which was a wonderful little town, best years of my childhood.

[@TyrHymirson]

9:56 Dad has lot of fun 😂. Sometimes adults have more fun than children 😂😂😂. I like you all.

[@MyMerryMessyGermanLife]

I think those are the best kinds of adults. The ones that still have fun!

[@Stelli89]

oh yes I like to remember my childhood. We had a playground not far from us, there was an airplane that looked like a propeller plane, made entirely of metal rods. climbing around there was always a great experience

[@witty2u]

Parents help kids to watch out for their own limits, they also tell them what they aren't allowed to do, because they are too small still. They totally have an eye on their kids, ready to jump in for "rescue" still, but they let their children make their own experiences. Kids learn to be careful and what to watch out for. So education and playing goes hand in hand, and what you also pointed out, interacting with other children is learned. - Moms and dads let their kids argue about stuff with other kids, while monitoring that no one gets hurt.... They take the mediator role mostly. That way kids learn social skills from young age as well. Learning to play, and making their own experiences within their age rage, starting from a very young age already, and encouraging to give it a try again, is so important. German play grounds also get inspected on a regular basis to make sure that there aren't any lose screws or ropes that should be replaced and so on, to maintain safety. :)

[@solokom]

I grew up in Berlin in the late 80s and early 90s. I grew up in Berlin. There were several playgrounds nearby. The closest was just across our small side street like they are common in Berlin and about 100 m through a park. When I was just 4 years old, my mother let me go to the playground on my own for the first time. Even crossing the street alone. But of course, we trained how to cross a street beforehand, and I wasn't allowed to cross bigger streets. She still remembers how nervous she was when she stood on the sidewalk watching me crossing a street on my own for the very first time. But in the end, this gave me a huge boost in self-esteem. I felt bigger, more “adult” and was super proud of being able to do it. And in the long run, this way of raising me made me become independent really early on. Later, when I was about 8 years all the children in the neighbourhood met in the park or in the small streets to play "Räuber und Gendarm" or to have big water pistol fights with up to 20 something kids. Every day I came home exhausted, dirty, sometimes scratched but always happy. There has always been just one important rule: "When the streetlights go on, you come home"

[@neophytealpha]

I remember playing minigolf at Kelsterbach Park, along with having some Currywurst and Fanta Zitrone.

[@Insatiable.Curiosity]

That Trampoline Seesaw deal!!! We totally had one at an old out of the way playground near my home in Minnesota!! I love that. Perhaps there was a german community who brought that idea to Minnesota long ago. Very cool.