ESC volunteering at Kindergruppe Butterbrot

What is Kindergruppe Butterbrot? 

It is a kindergarten with 14 children between the age of two and six, and 3 to 4 educators. The kindergarten is run by parents. We are located in the 9^th Viennese district. Our educators come from Guatemala, Spain, Austria and Germany, so our main languages are German and Spanish.

We, the parents, meet regularly and share our functions in the kindergarten (e.g. cooking). Our aim is to create a protective environment for the children to convey joy of life, courage and self-assurance to them. Our pedagogy is anti-authoritarian, which means that children stand in a democratic contact with the educators – they participate in the decisions about what and how to play. Because of our two Spanish speaking educators, children also learn Spanish.  

To get a better impression, you check our social media sites: Instagram and Facebook and watch some of our videos on Youtube:  

Proposed activities 

The Kindergruppe Butterbrot is opened from Monday until Friday from 8:00 to 16:00.  

A typical day could look like this: 

8:00 The kindergarten opens, the children start playing. One educator is present. At 9:30 the second educator starts working.  

10:00 Breakfast. Then the children do handcrafts, play or go to the playground with the educators. 

12:00 Lunch time. After lunch the children will repose or sleep. Some are picked up by their parents.  

14:00 One of the educators finishes work. In the afternoon children will be playing, reading books or doing handicrafts. At 15:00 there is a little meal, between 15:30 and 16:30 the parents come to pick up the children. 

We also have different themes each day of the week, focusing on different aspects of development, including for example motility and exercise (yoga day), language (Spanish day), creativity (handcraft day), exploration and curiosity (excursion day). 

As a volunteer, you will learn:  

• how to interact with 14 active children without getting authoritarian, rude or impatient; 

• to watch rather than to direct the children’s play; 

• how to motivate a group of children without commanding them, 

• how to help them solving their problems in a reasonable, non-violent way; 

• learn about the ways of democratic communication and planning by a non-profit organisation 

We want to cultivate an international look into the world and are interested in the culture of the volunteer. As measured by your interests and knowledge, you can work relatively independently in the kindergarten. Some of your activities could be: 

• do handicrafts with the children: paint, play, sing or read 

• plan own activities (with the support of the team) 

• prepare meals 

• go for excursions or to the playground (together with the educators) 

We offer three meals a day where you will eat together with the children. During your volunteering, you will work about 30 hours a week, maximum 38 hours per week.  

Volunteer profile and recruitment process 

We are looking for a person who really likes to spend time and work with children. It would be nice if you are creative and willing to bring your own ideas, and able to show initiative. You should also be motivated to learn German.

This European Solidarity Corps (ESC) project in Vienna is coordinated by the association Grenzenlos within the MELANGE program. If you want to apply for this project, please fill in the Melange application form and send it together with your CV (curriculum vitae) and motivation letter to application@melange.wien  

Please state the name of the ESC project (Kindergruppe Butterbrot) in the subject of your e-mail. Grenzenlos will forward your documents to the hosting project, where the selection will be made.  

Important! Your application will only be accepted if it is complete and if you already have a supporting (sending) organisation. 

All ESC placements coordinated by Grenzenlos are generally available to everyone between the age of 18 and 30 who is residing in an ESC program or partner country. However, in the selection procedure, a preference is shown for candidates with fewer opportunities. You will be informed about the outcome of the recruitment process a few weeks after the application deadline. For more information, please visit www.melange.wien.