kinderinsel

Looking for a daycare center?! We have places available for children born in 10/2022 and later.
Open House: Come visit Kinderinsel on Sat, March 29. 2025, from 10-12.

Open House on Sat., March 29., from 10-12

Our Kita

In the neighborhood of the Nordbahnhof in the heart of Berlin, the colorful adventure world of Kinderinsel is anchored in a renovated old building.

We offer a familiar and loving education and care for 27 children aged twelve months to six years.

Despite its central location, our daycare center is situated in a quiet side street directly next to the water playground “Plansche” and a large children’s playground where we can be found almost every day.

Thanks to the S-Bahn connection, we also have the opportunity to use the nearby Humboldthain for forest and meadow excursions.

As colorful as our neighborhood is, so are we:
Our children and our team come from the most different corners of this world. We live diversity – linguistically and culturally. Every child is welcome here.

Our Philosophy

Explain to me and I forget.
Show me and I remember.
Let me do it and I understand.

Confucian Wisdom

In the Kinderinsel we see the child as an active learner who brings his or her own questions and interests in exploring the world. These questions and interests are based on the different age and developmental levels of the respective environment and the people moving in it, but can also be culturally conditioned.

For the Kinderinsel team, it is important that children’s education means giving them an active part in their learning and development processes. We want to provide the children with different spaces of experience in which they can try out and pursue their interests.

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Experience

Since we care for children of different ages, the team works in two groups – the Crocodile group (up to 3 years) and the Fish group (from 3 to 6 years). This allows us to respond individually to the needs of the different age groups.

This is also reflected in our daily routine which, in addition to group-specific fixed rituals and a structured process, conveys a sense of security and safety to all the big and small Kinderinsel children.

Through rituals, events become predictable for children and they can adjust to them. However, there are also many opportunities for both groups to meet throughout the day, as we are convinced that commonalities and differences can be discovered in mixed-age encounters and play partnerships.

Nutrition
All meals such as breakfast, snack and lunch are freshly prepared by our cook in the daycare center. We make sure to use organic food. From time to time, we involve the older children in cooking situations in which they learn the processes involved in preparing meals: writing a shopping list, going to the supermarket to buy ingredients, preparing them in the kitchen and finally preparing the meal.

Exercise and Health
Children have a natural need for movement. We regularly integrate diverse forms of movement into our daily daycare routine – be it gross or fine motor processes, e.g. by building movement landscapes for gymnastics, romping, climbing and sliding, daily visits to the playground or a park, finger games, singing and movement games, as well as offering materials for kneading, grasping or touching. In our care room we have our own space for romping – with a climbing wall, climbing holds, gymnastic mat, trampoline and much more.

Music
Music is omnipresent in our everyday life at Kinderinsel. We work closely with the Fanny Hensel Music School. Every Tuesday, our children make music with music teacher Antje. They sing, try out instruments and learn basic rhythmic skills. On Thursdays, our older children dance with dance teacher Bettina.

Our Opening Hours

The Kinderinsel is open Monday to Friday from 8:00 to 17:00.

The closing times of Kinderinsel will be announced in time for the start of the new kindergarten year and can be up to 25 days per year.

The team has two (closing) days per year at its disposal for internal training, spatial redesign, team-building measures, etc. These days are also announced in good time so that other care can be organized.

Pictures from Daycare Life

Our Team

The staff of the Kinderinsel consists of six pedagogical specialists and one housekeeper. A good supervision ratio, especially when working with our U3 children, is part of the philosophy of our facility in order to provide good educational and care work and to respond individually to the children.

In addition to our core team, we have a core of temporary staff who support us in times of vacation or illness. It is important to us in our pedagogical work that we can offer the children a good care ratio.

An appreciative and respectful team culture and cooperation are important to us.

In weekly team meetings we reflect on the group events and our pedagogical work, we design weekly plans, plan new projects and festivities.

Continuous training and further education are an integral part of our work, as this is the only way to further develop our staff’s areas of competence and to gather new scientific knowledge that can be incorporated into our pedagogical work.

We see ourselves as a training center for school interns and are happy to support suitable applicants in getting to know the profession of “educator”. 

Meet the Team

Anja (Educator)

I'm part of the Kinderinsel team since February 2024 and was born in Berlin. My background is in the hotel industry. The fact that I wanted to spend more time with my daughter and my family prompted me to take a new career path and train as an educator. I think it's important to focus on children's needs and to work with their strengths. This is 100% the case at Kinderinsel and is just one of the many reasons why I love working here. Appreciation, respect and communication at eye level characterize the working day and the way we work together.

Anna (Educator)

I am originally from Augsburg in Bavaria and completed my training as an educator there in August last year. After that I moved to Berlin and since November 2022 I am part of the Kinderinsel team. The respectful interaction with each other and the family atmosphere make Kinderinsel a special place and make me want to come back every day.

Elodie (Educator)

I joined the Kroko group as an educator in November 2020. I did my master's degree in child and adolescent psychology in France and have been in Berlin since 2019. Mainly I have worked with children from 0 to 5 years old and also with migrants, especially mothers. I like to be at Kinderinsel because it is a small daycare center with great colleagues, with an open and appreciative atmosphere.

Jacqueline (Educator)

Kathrin (Management)

Maika (Educator)

I have been part of the Kinderinsel team since May 2022 and am an educator in the Kroko group. I grew up in a small village in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and came to Berlin a few years ago. My heart always beat for working with children, so the path to educator training was not far. "Children don't do what we say, they do what we do" (Jesper Juul) - being an authentic role model, meeting children at eye level and accompanying them in their independent actions are just some of the many things that are close to my heart as an educator. I find my work absolutely fulfilling and have great fun discovering the world together with the children.

Pidi (Educator)

Before I came to Kinderinsel, I worked in the restaurant business, trained as a dressmaker, attended an acting and dance school and worked on film and theater projects. By a nice coincidence, I ended up at Kinderinsel. I like children very much, so I stayed and I am very happy about it until today.... About working at Kinderinsel I can say that I am very happy and grateful to work with such loving, qualified and dedicated educators. But what is absolutely unbeatable are the children!

Ahmet (Cleaning Staff)

I have been working as a cleaner since 2004. I am in the Kinderinsel team since 2019.

Meme (Cook)

Anika (Board Finances)

Our son has been part of this wonderful community since 2022 and we greatly appreciate the loving care provided by the dedicated team of nursery teachers. I work as a chartered accountant and am delighted to be able to contribute my expertise here. I particularly appreciate the fact that my involvement in the nursery gives me the opportunity to play an active part in the day-to-day life of our children and to make Kinderinsel even more enjoyable for everyone.

Britta (Board Communication)

Caspar (Board Organization)

Since November 2022 we cannot imagine our life without the Kinderinsel. The many committed parents, our daughter's close friendships, the excellent educational work of the team and the good childcare ratio are just some of the reasons why I am very happy to be a voluntary member of the Kinderinsel board since March 2024.

Jonathan (Board HR)

We have been taking our two children to Kinderinsel since the summer of 2023. We feel very comfortable in the nursery and with the other parents and educators. Kinderinsel is a special place and we appreciate the sense of community, the dedication and the great educational care provided by the educators. Our team plays a big part in what makes Kinderinsel so special, and as HR Director, I am happy to be actively involved and support their work.

Stefanie (Board Communication)

The Parent Initiative

T he Kinderinsel e.V. Inselnest has been a parent initiative since 2017 and is run by the parents on their own responsibility. 

We are looking for families who want and are motivated to help shape the place where their children spend the day. The board work in our association is taken over by three to four parents every year.

Smaller repairs and handicrafts in our daycare center the organization of parties and excursions or the recruitment of new families we take over on our own.

There are no limits to the design possibilities in our daycare center.

Application Form