We all know children are naturally curious and learn by playing. By exploring and using their senses of sight, touch, sound, smell and taste, children learn about themselves and their environment. They are constantly discovering new things or ideas: how something feels, tastes or smells and how something works, moves or reacts. Young children are trying to discover the unknown by touching everything (babies and toddlers often explore something new by putting the object in their mouths!).
Playtime is Learning Time
Play is far more than just a way to fill a child’s free time. Play is one of the main ways in which children learn about the world around them. It’s also an essential part of a child’s brain development. Play helps a child:
Build confidence
Develop physical skills
Develop social skills, language and communication
Learn about caring for others and the environment
Feel loved, happy and safe
Environments to explore and discover
We’re also all well aware children in childcare centres need an environment filled with plenty of opportunities for exploration and discovery. This requires lots of multi-sensory, hands-on activities and plenty of time scheduled for play. If you operate or are wanting to open a childcare centre, three Childcare Hub partners have everything you need for playtime.
Playscape – outdoor spaces for little explorers
Playscape provides a Childcare Centre’s little explorers with an environment that gives them the opportunity to imagine, explore and discover. They specialise in delivering customised unique play settings that create a sense of New Zealand’s natural, wild beauty and cultural diversity.
Safe, stimulating play
Playscape’s goal is to maximise your playscape by integrating safe and stimulating play features within green spaces, while sustaining a clean, visually appealing environment that’s easy to look after.
Playscape creates a play environment that reflects New Zealand’s wild beauty.
Play is a child’s work
Every educaid passionately believe hands-on learning gives children the best start in life. They aim to create beautiful, calm learning environments that act as the third teacher and allow children to construct their own knowledge.
Play is a key component of hands-on learning. It’s at the heart of Every educaid and permeates everything they do. Play is a child’s work.
Respecting the child and the Earth
Ee has been in the business of play for nearly 50 years. They are New Zealand’s oldest and largest educational resource provider to schools and preschools. They specialise in resourcing new early childhood centres and with thousands of world-leading resources and have enormous depth to their range. Their natural and sustainable resources respect the child and the earth.
Every Educaid have an excellent range of equipment for outdoor play.
LSG: Smart furniture design for Childcare Centres
LSG designs and manufactures practical, robust, yet beautiful furniture for learning environments. Their industry-leading furniture designs are made from natural timber. You’ll find this furniture will help you to create a calm, warm and inviting atmosphere in your new centre for the best learning and play experiences.
Mobile, modular and flexible
LSG furniture is designed to be mobile, modular and flexible within childcare centres. Flexible furniture enables you to easily alter the look and feel of your learning spaces. You can create different layouts to make the best use of space for different activities or age groups, and cater to an increasing number of children. The ‘open’ design of LSG’s natural timber furniture also allows for maximum airflow and natural light to shine through into a centre.
LSG is modular so you can create different layouts.
Equipping your Childcare Centre for play
As a child care providers, we all know we can help foster children's growth and imagination by giving them many chances to play. To find out more about the products above , contact Childcare Hub on 0800 323 482.
