Fantails Childcare - Estate

Fantails Estate stands out as leading-edge, modern purpose-built facilities with an environment that match the quality of education and care provided.

Set on over 3½ hectares of land nestled between farmland, in a rural lifestyle setting, and provides one of the largest landscaped outdoor spaces at a New Zealand early learning centre. A perfect place where there is enough (real!) grass for children to run, play, have fun, explore and learn.

Our generation and those past, did not sit as much as children do today in our more sedentary lifestyle. Research shows that auditory, visual, and tactile skills depend on movements. Academic success depends on having these basic physical skills in place for efficient learning to occur.

The very best place for children to get moving and master their emerging physical skills is outdoors. It is outdoors that children can fully and freely experience motor skills like running, leaping, and jumping.

Playing outdoors also helps children with cognitive, social, and emotional development. It is here where children are more likely to invent games, be able to express themselves, and learn about the world their own way. They feel safe and in control, which promotes autonomy, decision-making, and organisational skills.

Although the children are only playing to have fun, they're actually learning lifelong skills! In conjunction with age-appropriate child-led learning, our specialised school readiness program for pre-schoolers, the Fantail Flyers, is where special attention is given to not just word recognition, numeracy, and vocabulary but also concentration, working in a group and routines. Our aim is to build confidence so children can move comfortably into 'big school'.

Fantails Estate has five rooms, creating a more intimate setting for different age groups. Large north-facing sliding doors create a seamless indoor/outdoor flow to the landscaped grounds and play area, with babies, toddlers, and older children each having their own separate play areas.

Inside, modular furniture creates flexible play spaces and comfortable spots for parents to spend time with their children.

In line with the Healthy Heart recommendations, Fantails offer fresh food prepared on the premises for morning and afternoon snacks and a hot lunch, saving parents the need to prepare a main meal for children in the evening.