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A few hours
If you are looking for a place where you can play and learn alongside your child, in a fun and friendly environment, then Cockle Bay Playcentre may well be the place for you.
We pride ourselves on being a warm and welcoming Playcentre and as a result, there is a rich cultural diversity in our members and a really friendly feel on our sessions.
Sessions
During our sessions, we make as many areas of play as possible available to the tamariki (children). These range from clay to carpentry, paint to play dough with a good helping of music, books, blocks and messy play thrown in too.
The Great Outdoors
Whenever possible, we encourage our tamariki to enjoy our beautiful outdoor spaces and the swings and play area are in constant use. Our large spreading oak tree provides much sought after shade in the summer and lots of leaves to jump in as winter approaches. We are fortunate to be right next to Cockle Bay Domain and so we often take trips into this reserve to explore the creek and the wildlife. Our tamariki have been involved with planting native trees in the Domain and as a result have taken on a real appreciation of their local environment (te manaaki i te taiao). And as if this wasn’t enough, Cockle Bay beach is just a three-minute walk down the road so beach trips are also a regular excursion: collecting shells; paddling in the gentle waves; spotting all the wildlife.
Adults’ role
Parents and caregivers play a very active part in the running of Playcentre and we encourage all our members to get involved, both on sessions and in the day-to-day running of the centre by volunteering for a role. There is also a free adult education programme which all members are asked to enroll on and this provides invaluable information on how you can best help your child to learn and grow.
Mixture of ages
Being a centre which caters for children from 0-6 years old means that we are able to offer all the advantages of mixed age play. Our little ones’ language and physical abilities really progress when surrounded by the older ones. Babies tend to crawl, walk and talk faster! Plus our pre-schoolers learn how to care for and encourage our youngest members. Our tamariki often regard their Playcentre friends as their extended whānau (family).
Three trial visits
If this sounds like the sort of place that you would like to become a member of, we welcome you to come along for a trial visit to see how both you and your
child/children enjoy it. We welcome mums, dads, grandparents and other caregivers. Our sessions run from 9am-12pm and we require that families
attend a minimum of two sessions a week, with an adult from the family staying for the duration of the session.