1. Nursery school:age group, attendance is not compulsory, give little formal instruction (in the sense of systematic teaching), some sort of play activity, as far as possible of an educational kind, state institutions provided by the local education authority, is more positively concerned with the children's development, operate during normal school hours (approx. 9 a. m. - 4 p.m.) and observe normal school holidays.
2. Day nursery:take children from ... to ... years, are run by the local health authority, the difference is in the word school, a day nursery meets a social need: it minds children while their parents are at work, open for longer, and remain open virtually all the year round.
3. Kindergarten:of German origin, for developing the intelligence of young children by object-lessons, toys, games, singing, etc., certain private schools, in a wider sense, refers to foreign countries.
4. Crèche:of French origin, a public nursery for infants, are taken care of while their mothers are at work, denotes something temporary, arranged to fulfill a specific need, to enable both parents to attend.
5. Play group:organised on a voluntary basis, by the parents themselves, who cannot get into a nursery school or day nursery.