Welcome to The Playhouse

Come try our Summer Camp!

Try our new afternoon program!!

Little England

What We Offer

After School Club

Join us for after school fun! Activities change daily

Saturday Morning English Club

Let’s learn English through play!

Workshops

Stay tuned for upcoming seasonal workshops

Join us at The After School Club!

The After School Club 16:00-18:00

Come join us for a fun morning in English

Saturday Morning Play & Activity Club 11:00-13:00

Our Philosophy

A positive first experience in group activities can help children feel confident, comfortable, and socially connected. The Playhouse follows a child-cantered, play-based approach focused on creativity, comfort, and social interaction, in which the child’s first experience of being outside the family and home can be positive, enriching, fun and rewarding for the child and his/her family. We believe that acceptance, love, approval, and security are vital to the emotional and social development of young children. We aim to create an environment that supports creativity, confidence, exploration, and social interaction , while valuing the rich diversity of culture and experience each child brings with them. In this age range, play is the child's right and is an essential part of the learning process. Play is the child’s work, and at The Playhouse this is taken very seriously. Our play-based approach is child-centered rather than subject-centered, and we believe children benefit from creative play, exploration, and shared experiences. The children are given unlimited opportunities for free play with large and small toys, for climbing, jumping, rolling, balancing and swinging, building with blocks and lego, playing in the sand-pit and symbolic play (dressing up, home corner, kitchen corner, dolls etc.), but will also be invited to join in adult-led activities such as singing, drawing, cooking, painting, chalking, cutting and sticking, making collages, modelling with clay and plasticine, doing puzzles etc. They will explore nature through observing the weather, planting flowers, and participating in outdoor activities. At these ages children enjoy discovering the world around them through community experiences and social interaction. Children enjoy exploring their local environment through supervised outings and community activities, to the local park, library, market and stores; they also enjoy specially organised one-off visits to local places of interest.  We offer monthly themed creative activities and workshops for children. Our annual projects are: sensory month, oceans and sea creatures, recycling and junk modelling, spring garden planting (including vegetables), horses (to coincide with the Festa de Sant Medir horse festival in Gràcia in March), Easter, cars and construction vehicles, dinosaurs, Christmas, my body, water play and water science, food, and many others related to books and stories, as well as anything the children may show us they are interested in. We bring these themes to life through songs, arts and crafts, stories, and creative activities, based around the theme of the month.

Our Amazing Team

Cristina Reid

Cristina is a Spanish-American visual artist from the US. She has ten years of experience conducting English art workshops for children. She is currently pursuing her Masters in Visual Arts at the University of Barcelona. She has worked with children in a variety of settings, including schools, museums, art studios, and the outdoors. She believes in learning through play, creativity, and discovery!

Elisa Radicchi

Elisa grew up in Rome, Italy and from a very young age she knew that working with children was her true calling. Caring, patient and creative, she has always been passionate about supporting children in their early years and helping them discover the world around them. After completing her Bachelor’s degree in Education at the University... Read More

Charlotte Nordgren Sewell

Charlotte is a British-Swedish visual artist and arts educator with over eight years of experience creating and facilitating artistic workshops for both children and adults across the UK and Catalonia. She has a Bachelors degree in English Literature and Art History from Leeds University and a Masters in Art and Politics from... Read More

All members of staff have been selected for their personal qualities of patience, kindness, and their genuine love for children.   We ask our staff to offer us a long-term commitment because high staff turnover is destabilizing for children of this age, due to the strong bond of trust and affection that grows between child and those that work here at Playhouse. 

Reviews

Signe Green

If you're searching for an outstanding English play centre that encourages creativity, exploration, and independence, look no further than The Playhouse! I was anxious about finding somewhere that could meet all of my son's needs while still allowing him to be a kid. Thankfully, The Playhouse exceeded all my expectations. The staff are incredibly caring and genuinely prioritize each child's individual needs. I highly recommend The Playhouse to any parent seeking a nurturing and enriching environment for their child's development. Sheryl you’re the best, thank you so much!

Rebeca Calvo Quintero

Couldn't have been happier with our choice! We had a very dramatic experience before the playhouse where our little one was quite unhappy and never adapted, and then we discovered this wonderful place! He's been at the playhouse for over a month now, and he is happy when we drop him every morning. Every day they organise different activities and all the children are amazingly taken care of in an atmosphere full of fun and love. We have seen him develop so positively since he joined the playhouse! Couldn't recommend it enough!

Katie Ales

My daughter has been going to The Playhouse for two years at the Center on Calle Rizal and we couldn’t be happier with the care they provide. The staff absolutely love the children and they are encouraged to explore, play and develop as an individual. We chose it initially for the low ratio- which is almost impossible to find in Barcelona, but quickly discovered that they have so many other benefits. The setting is amazing, they have a wonderful garden where the children play outdoors each day, they have varied topics and activities which the children can choose to take part in or not and they have a strong focus on books and stories each day which my daughter... Read More

Camilla Roth

We have chosen the Playhouse for our son, because of its values and philosophy. It a wonderful and caring place for our child. With highly skilled and trained professional English-speakers. They always see the unique in each child and willing to go the extra mile for each individual child and its development. Our son loves the Playhouse, where the sessions are full of all kind of activities; singing, storytelling, playing and many creative projects. During the year the children are introduced to relevant themes and cultural activities for understanding their friend’s different cultural background. It's quite unique and very interesting learning for us as parents. We highly recommend the Playhouse, that we believe is Barcelona’s best international kid's space!

Amalie Frigaard Kristensen

We are very lucky and grateful to have our 20 months old daughter going to Playhouse. Before choosing the right place we visited many “English” speaking spaces in central Barcelona and nothing could compare to the warmth we felt at Playhouse. The staff are so caring and attentive to our daughter’s needs. The communication between adults and children is always cordial and loving. To see our child so happy, dancing, playing, counting and absolutely loving her helpers and friends means the world. Our highest recommendation to Playhouse.

Kaori Callow

Both my sons absolutely love the Playhouse. The staff are so kind, caring and professional. They work so hard to make the days both fun and full of learning! Lots of activities, my sons are leaning a lot everyday at the Playhouse. Highly recommended! My eldest son, who used to cry every day at the play group he attended in Japan, seems to be enjoying his daily life at the Play house so much that he doesn't want to go home when he comes to pick him up. The staff are very kind and help both parents and children. This place is perfect for learning English in a small group.

2025-2026 School Year Calendar

Holidays (School Closed): 

September 11 | La Diada (National Day of Catalunya)

September 24 | La Mercé 

December 8 | La Inmaculada

December 22 - January 7 | Winter break/Reyes

March 30- April 6 | Easter break 

May 1 | Labor Day

May 25 | Whit Monday 

June 24 | Sant Joan  


Important Dates:

September 8 | First day of school for teachers/Welcome (back) to school party for children & parents (@ 16:00-17:30)

September 9 | First day of school for students

January 8 | First day back after winter break

April 7 | First day back after Easter break

June 26 | Last day of school

June 29 | First day of summer camp

July 31 | Last day of summer camp 



Get in Touch

Carrer del Doctor Rizal 18, Barcelona
Get directions

Opening Hours

Monday to Friday 8:30 to 17:00 Open on Saturdays 11:00 to 13:00 *additional hours for seasonal workshops, holiday camps and english afternoon clubs.