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A pre-school playgroup, in everyday usage just a playgroup, is an organised group providing care and socialisation for children under five. The term is widely used in the United Kingdom. Playgroups are less formal than nursery schools and do not provide full time care, operating for only a few hours a day during school term time, often in the mornings only. They are staffed by nursery nurses or volunteers, not by nursery teachers, and are run by private individuals or charities, rather than by the state or companies.

In the United Kingdom, since around the 1980s, the traditionally territory of the playgroup has been encroached on by the expansion of more formal nursery education, and playgroups often now cater only for two and three year olds before they move onto a nursery school. Over the same period there has been an increase in the state supervision of playgroups.

In the United States, a playgroup is a loose-knit organization of parents with the expressed intent to have the children come together and play. There are playgroups that cater to a group of Stay at home dad (s) and/or Stay At Home Mothers or both. These can be part of local or even national playgroups. There is not usually an upper age limit, sometimes older children come along with their younger siblings.

In Holland, international or expatriate parents form small groups, local to their area, for the purpose of providing a play space for babies and toddlers up to the age of 4-5, as well as offering a support network for the parents themselves. Meetings are usually held weekly in a hall or other public venue, and the groups usually organise other social activities such as Ladies Nights Out, visits to local parks and zoos, summer BBQs, etc. In Maastricht, for example, the Maastricht International Playgroup (www.maastrichtinternationalplaygroup.org) was established more than 5 years ago as a way to cater to the needs of expatriate families living in and around the area.

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