Freemans Bay Playcentre

Freemans Bay Playcentre Early childhood education where "Whānau tupu ngātahi – Families growing together" Playcentre follows the New Zealand early childhood curriculum, Te Whāriki.

Freemans Bay Playcentre is an early childhood education option for children from birth until school age. Recognised and funded by the Ministry of Education, it differs from other early childhood providers as it values and affirms parents as the first and best educators of their children. This creates the strong whanau atmosphere Playcentre is known for, allowing meaningful bonds to form between all the parent members and children, while the mixed age range allows children to learn from one another. The Education Review Office visited Freemans Bay Playcentre in 2018 They found that the centre is "well placed" to promote positive learning outcomes for children.

26/09/2026

A little moment from just before we went on our school break 💛

Before saying goodbye for the term, we brought together whānau from all our sessions for a special shared lunch at Playcentre.
a time to connect, celebrate, and enjoy each other’s company before the break.

We had a little dim sum party, shared mooncakes, and enjoyed all the delicious kai that our wonderful parents and whānau brought along to share. 🥟🥮🍱

It was such a lovely way to end the term — full tummies, happy little faces, and lots of laughter and connection. 🥰

Thank you to all our Playcentre whānau for making our community so special. We hope everyone is enjoying a restful break, and we can’t wait to see you all again next term! 🌿💛

Kia ora, Playcentre whānau! 💙That’s a wrap on Term 3! Thank you for a wonderful term of play, laughter, and learning tog...
25/09/2026

Kia ora, Playcentre whānau! 💙
That’s a wrap on Term 3! Thank you for a wonderful term of play, laughter, and learning together.
We hope you have a beautiful holiday break filled with fun adventures and restful moments with your tamariki. 🌿✨
The sandpit will be ready and doors open for Term 4 on Monday, 12 October. Enjoy the holidays, stay safe, and we can’t wait to see you all soon! 😊




To celebrate Te Wiki o te Reo Māori, we took on the Te Reo Auaha (In the Arts) (https://www.playcentre.org.nz/te-ao-maor...
22/09/2026

To celebrate Te Wiki o te Reo Māori, we took on the Te Reo Auaha (In the Arts) (https://www.playcentre.org.nz/te-ao-maori/te-wiki-o-te-reo-maori/)!
We set up a Raranga (weaving) station using natural hessian and wool, guided by laminated Te Reo vocabulary cards. The tamariki got right amongst it! We talked about how these fibres connect to Papatūānuku (earth mother) while practicing hand-eye coordination and patience, exploring schemas like transforming, connection, and trajectory.







This is uncharted territory for us... Bit of an experiment!The tamariki were given the opportunity to create a clay pend...
20/09/2026

This is uncharted territory for us... Bit of an experiment!

The tamariki were given the opportunity to create a clay pendant to be fired in a real kiln.

They've come back from their bisque firing, are waiting for their glaze firing. Stay tuned to see how they turn out!

Every child truly is an artist, and our youngest artist was 7 months. His little hand is imprinted in the clay 🥰

Thanks Eden Ceramics for letting us fire preschooler work!

19/09/2026

Preparing for the Mid-Autumn Festival! 🏮🌕✨

From making two styles of mooncakes, decorating our own dragon, creating colorful lanterns and so much more. 🥮🐉🏮

The kids were so excited to get involved, explore new things, and learn through hands-on play. Seeing them create, discover, and have fun together made the preparation even more special. 💛

Learning, creating, and celebrating together
That’s the magic of childhood✨

18/09/2026

We are absolutely buzzing!
Next term we will be hatching chicks with Living Eggs New Zealand!

We'll receive the eggs in an incubator two days before they are due to hatch, and will look after the chicks for two weeks.
We're not sure who is more excited - the tamariki or the kaiako!

Join us for a super fun term 4 - book in your visits by emailing [email protected]

Kia ora whānau! 👋🎨Exciting progress at our beloved Freemans Bay Playcentre! The brand-new plywood fence is officially up...
17/09/2026

Kia ora whānau! 👋🎨

Exciting progress at our beloved Freemans Bay Playcentre! The brand-new plywood fence is officially up, which means we have a beautiful blank canvas ready to go.

The painting will kick off soon, and the tamariki (and adults!) can't wait to see the new mural come to life, replacing our 20-year-old one.

A massive ngā mihi nui to our generous funders who are helping make this beautiful mahi happen:
✨ Trillian Trust https://www.trillian.co.nz/
✨ Waitematā Local Board Waitematā Local Board
✨ Lion Foundation https://lionfoundation.nz/
✨ BlueSky Community Trust https://bluesky.org.nz/

And a huge thank you to all our whānau and members, past and present, for your amazing fundraising efforts to help get this over the line. It truly takes a village! 💛

We’ll share more updates once the paint starts flying. Watch this space! 🖌️✨




15/09/2026

Today at playcentre, we made mooncakes together! 🌕🥮✨

The children got hands-on making their own mooncakes while learning about a different culture and tradition as we get ready to celebrate the Autumn Festival (Moon Festival) this week. It was such a fun way to explore culture through cooking, sensory play, and a little bit of history. ❤️

🥮 Fun fact: Did you know there’s a special style of mooncake called Su-style mooncake (苏式月饼, sū shì yuè bǐng)? Unlike the more commonly known Cantonese-style mooncakes, Su-style mooncakes are famous for their flaky, layered, pastry like crust. More like a delicate pastry than a dense, chewy crust. They’re traditionally associated with Suzhou, Shanghai, and the surrounding Jiangnan region.

And today, the kids got to make their own little taste of this beautiful tradition! 🌙🏮

Today at playcentre, we made mooncakes together! 🌕🥮✨The children got hands-on making their own mooncakes while learning ...
15/09/2026

Today at playcentre, we made mooncakes together! 🌕🥮✨

The children got hands-on making their own mooncakes while learning about a different culture and tradition as we get ready to celebrate the Autumn Festival (Moon Festival) this week. It was such a fun way to explore culture through cooking, sensory play, and a little bit of history. ❤️

What a great setting today!! 🌙🏮

Kia ora e te whānau! 🌟Check out our latest awesome shoutout—Freemans Bay Playcentre is leading the North Island with 8 u...
07/09/2026

Kia ora e te whānau! 🌟

Check out our latest awesome shoutout—Freemans Bay Playcentre is leading the North Island with 8 updated PIA (*) grads this year! 🎉

This amazing milestone highlights the incredible effort and dedication of our whānau, alongside the constant encouragement and vital contributions from our fellow kaiako, all working together to continuously improve the quality of our playcentre for our tamariki.

Keen to figure out more about this awesome ECE program? Playcentre offers a uniquely wonderful, hands-on approach to early childhood education that is deeply guided by Te Whāriki, our world-renowned NZ curriculum.

Come join our warm and welcoming community to see how we enjoy, play, and grow together with our tamariki. Follow us on Facebook to stay updated on our fun and explore alongside us.

✨ BOOK YOUR 5 FREE VISITS here: https://www.playcentre.org.nz/centre/freemans-bay/

(*) The Playcentre Introductory Award (PIA) is a completely free, foundational program that provides parents with the knowledge and confidence to actively support and benefit our children's early learning journey: https://www.playcentre.org.nz/learn-with-us/playcentre-education/playcentre-introductory-award/

Address

124 Wellington Street, Freemans Bay
Auckland
1011

Opening Hours

Monday 9:15am - 12:15pm
Tuesday 9:15am - 12:15pm
Wednesday 9:15am - 12:15pm
Thursday 9:15am - 12:15pm

Telephone

+64278802675

Website

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