Bundesportal | Registration of a child in the nursery, kindergarten or day care

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Publisher

Bremen, Stadt

Last update or date of publication

April 30, 2026

Contact

The government service telephone number 115 – your point of contact for questions related to the federal, state and local.

Monday through Friday from 8:00 to 18:00 (and beyond these times in some regions).

Call 115 now

Government service telephone number calls are charged at local rates.

Child day care includes the care and support of your child in a child day care facility (crèche, kindergarten, after-school care) or a child day care center.

In order to register your child for child day care, you need a child ID. You will automatically receive this by post in November before your child's 1st birthday.

If you do not have the ID number, you can apply for it at the Parent Service of the Senator for Children and Education (see contact person).

Children's day care includes the care and support of your child in a children's day care facility or a children's day care center.

The day care facilities have the following tasks:

They promote the child's development into a self-determined, independent and socially competent personality.
They support and supplement upbringing and education in the family.
They help parents to better reconcile work, child rearing and family care.

The support mandate encompasses the upbringing, education and care of the child. It relates to the child's social, emotional, physical and mental development. It includes the teaching of guiding values and rules.

The support should be based on the following characteristics of the children:

Age
level of development
Linguistic and other abilities
life situation
interests and needs
ethnic origin

The placement of a childcare place in a child daycare facility takes place in cooperation with the responsible local youth welfare organization.

Label

Preconditions

A child who is 1 year old or older is entitled to early childhood education in a daycare facility or in a daycare center until his or her 3rd birthday.

If both parents are unable to care for their child themselves, children under 1 year of age may already be entitled to early childhood support. This is the case, for example, if both parents work.

From the child's 3rd birthday until he or she starts school, the child is entitled to support in a daycare facility.

Hints

If the institution of your choice does not participate in the online registration via the Kitaportal Bremen, please contact the respective institution in person and ask about the individual procedures for registration and allocation of a childcare place.

If your child is already registered, he or she can generally keep the place in his or her Kita in the following kindergarten years. However, if you require an extended period of care, you must register this anew each year and prove your need annually.

The kindergarten year always begins on 01.08 and ends on 31.07 of the following year. The child can also enter and leave the daycare center during the course of the kindergarten year.

Early childhood education at the kindergarten enables children to play together with other children and offers them a variety of learning opportunities. Parents receive tips on their children's development and can exchange ideas with other parents. The quality of the offerings is monitored by the Bremen State Youth Welfare Office (operating license for daycare facilities). Regular further training of the specialists takes place.

The framework plan for education and upbringing in the elementary sector describes the quality standards for early childhood education that apply to kindergartens in Bremen and Bremerhaven.

The amount of the parents' contributions can be found in the Local Law on Contributions for Kindergartens and After-School Care Centers of the Municipality of Bremen. In addition, there is a further description of this, see "Further information".

Basis for legal action

Bremisches Gesetz zur Förderung von Kindern in Tageseinrichtungen und in Tagespflege-Bremisches Tageseinrichtungs- und Kindertagespflegegesetz - BremKTG

Ortsgesetz zur Aufnahme von Kindern in Tageseinrichtungen und in Kindertagespflege der Stadtgemeinde Bremen (Aufnahmeortsgesetz – BremAOG)

§ 23 Sozialgesetzbuch Achtes Buch (SGB VIII)

§ 24 Sozialgesetzbuch Achtes Buch (SGB VIII)

§ 90 Sozialgesetzbuch Achtes Buch (SGB VIII)

Legal Remedies

Please enquire about your legal remedies at the responsible office.

Procedure

Find out online at any time about childcare options in the municipality of Bremen. Parents should find out in good time whether there are any childcare places available.

Use the Kita-Portal for your search.

Personal contact and getting to know each other is useful and usually possible. Many facilities offer an introduction to their facility before you register. Find out more on site.

Select the facilities for your application. You can specify a maximum of 2 alternatives to your preferred facility.

After registration, the available places will be allocated according to the local rules.

You will be informed if a place is confirmed.

Deadlines

The registration period for available places in the next kindergarten year is in January and is announced publicly. The kindergarten year starts annually on 01.08. Parents who need a place for their child outside of these times should register the child at a Kita at least 3 months before the desired admission date. You can register your child at any time.