A bench instead of an office: Netanya parents have had more than 150 free consultations right in the park

A talk with a parenting counsellor usually goes like this: an appointment booked weeks ahead, a babysitter found for the evening, a drive across town, a consulting room, a bill. Netanya has tried to strip everything unnecessary out of that chain — and keep only the conversation itself.

In the Sculpture Garden in the Kiryat Nordau neighbourhood a simple arrangement runs on Tuesday afternoons: the children play on the playground while their parents sit nearby and talk to a certified parenting specialist. No registration, no queue, no payment. According to NetanyaNet, more than 150 consultations have taken place this way in roughly half a year.

Why it works better than an office

The first difference is the threshold. A parent does not have to decide whether their question is «serious enough» to book a professional. They can come over with whatever is worrying them right now: a child who has stopped sleeping, tantrums at the supermarket, fights with a brother, a screen instead of dinner, jealousy of a new baby.

The second difference is the setting. The conversation does not happen in the quiet of a consulting room but where everything actually happens: the child is two steps away on the playground, and the specialist can see the very situation the parent is trying to put into words.

Judging by the figures published by NetanyaNet, the format proved popular not just as one-off help: some parents returned again and again, and a few came more than twelve times. For them, the bench meetings have effectively become ongoing support.

Who is behind it

The project is run by Netanya Municipality — its Early Childhood Department and the unit that works with children from birth to age three. The professional content comes from the Adler Institute, one of Israel’s best-known centres for training parenting professionals.

It all began as a pilot backed by funds of the National Insurance Institute (Bituach Leumi). Over six years the programme has spread far beyond a single city: today such meetings take place in 25 public parks across the country — from Ashkelon to Nahariya.

In Netanya the format is part of the «Guf-Nefesh» (Body-Mind) programme, run jointly by government ministries and JDC (the Joint).

What it means for Netanya parents

The practical upshot is simple: there is a place in the city where you can have a professional conversation about raising your children without paying for it or planning it in advance. For families with small children, where every trip out of the house needs its own logistics, that can make all the difference.

It is worth singling out those for whom such conversations are usually out of reach: new immigrants, single parents, families with no grandparents nearby, and those for whom a paid consultation is an expense that is easy to put off «for later». A free format in the neighbourhood park removes several barriers at once.

The meetings take place in the Sculpture Garden in Kiryat Nordau on Tuesday afternoons. The exact schedule and up-to-date details are best checked with the Early Childhood Department of Netanya Municipality.

Source: NetanyaNet, 9 November 2026.
Photo: Netanya Municipality (from the NetanyaNet publication).