Well I'm finally in the position to be able to publish this post, having found and secured a venue for the two English playgroups. Apologies it has taken me so long but I hope it'll be worth the wait.
Bologna's central public library, the Biblioteca Sala Borsa in Piazza Nettuno, have very kindly agreed to host Babies in Bologna in their children's library (biblioteca dei ragazzi). The baby group, (Little Bo-Peep) will take place in the new Sala Bebè while the older group (Ready, Steady, Bo!) will take place in the Sala Bambini in the main children's library area.
Little Bo-Peep is aimed at babies and young toddlers, roughly from 8 months to 2 years old. Essentially it is a mother and baby group, in which I plan to conduct simple singing and actions in a cosy and soft environment. It will take place on a Wednesday morning at 10 o'clock, probably for not longer than 45 minutes or so.
Ready, Steady, Bo! is aimed at children in the 3-6 year old bracket. Again the presence of a parent (or nanny/grandparent etc) is essential and activities will be mainly singing and corresponding actions, with perhaps a story, game or craft activity in between. It will take place of an afternoon to allow for people to make it after school at around 17.15 for an hour. At the moment the choice of day is yet to be confirmed but may have to be on a Friday due to lack of availability on other days.
The two playgroups are of course being set up with the view to create English-speaking environments within which the children can play, sing, have fun and get to know other children who speak English in Bologna. Obviously the accompanying parent/carer is expected to be an English-speaker in order to be able to participate and encourage their child to do so too. Having said that let's see how it goes...
If you are interested in taking part please sign up by posting a comment to this post just in case I get deluged by participants and have to choose on a first-come, first-served basis. Please leave your name, your child's name and age, and the group you are interested in joining (though it may be apparent by age alone, please confirm). The rooms aren't huge so I think we might have to have an upper limit so do sign up as soon as you can if you are very keen.
The start date of Little Bo-Peep is scheduled for Wednesday 25 February. Ready, Steady, Bo! will hopefully get going in the same week though as I have said this is yet to be confirmed.
Many thanks for all the feedback so far and I look forward to meeting you!
