The Blue Cottage

** Please note : This Centre is not currently taking enrolments as they are full until 2024 **

Our Cottage

Your home away from home where we nurture, love and educate.

The Blue Cottage is so much more than just a childcare centre. It’s a community where everyone respects, trusts and supports each other and works for the greater good. We also have lots of fun and laughter is our usual soundtrack! Open and honest communication is so important for this, as well as HEAPS of cuddles for the children.

Our Areas

We have re-created the feeling of home as closely as possible so that children and families have that sense of belonging from the beginning.

‘Mi casa es su casa’ literally meaning my house is your house in Spanish, means you’re welcome here and that is true of The Blue Cottage.

Our 3 different areas, depending on your child’s stage and development, allow for them to interact with others at a similar stage in a safe environment.  We are also big believers in tuakana teina where the older children teach and care for the younger children so all 3 areas regularly interact with each other.

A lot of time and heart has gone into personally upcycling and renovating furniture, resources and sewing soft furnishings ourselves.  Loose parts play is also featured heavily where children of any age are provided with lots of objects which they can use however their imagination drives them. This can be found in each of the different areas. We have ensured that the environment enables the children to feel safe and secure so they can explore their surroundings and reach their individual potential.

Outside

Our outside play area is available to the children always except in the most extreme weather. It is so important for their physical and spiritual development that children have the opportunity to be in nature, climb trees, scrape their knees, plant flowers, listen to the birds and run around as fast as their bodies will let them. Outside play can be messy, especially if your child takes a liking to our mud kitchen but luckily children are washable plus we wash their clothes!

It was vitally important to us that the outside area is one that allows for imagination and exploration no matter what the age of the child. So rather than having play equipment that dictates to the child how it is to be used, we provide lots of equipment that the children can use to create whatever their imagination desires. A spaceship? An obstacle course? A zoo?

We also grow our own vegetables, and have a worm farm that the children love.

We are fortunate to be in a location which is so convenient for families and offers such amazing beauty on our doorstep. We enjoy views out to the Papamoa hills and we are next to the Gordon Spratt reserve and all the 50 acres of exciting opportunities that it provides. All the babies and children will be able to regularly visit this space and explore everything that it has to offer.