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29 Tasman Road, Te Rapa
Hamilton, New Zealand

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Our Blog

Keep up to date with the latest news and events from Play to Learn Early Leaning Centre in Te Rapa Hamilton.

What To Look For When Choosing An Early Learning Centre In Hamilton

Understanding what to look for when choosing an early learning centre in Hamilton is one of the most significant steps a parent or caregiver can take.

Boston dressed as a pumpkin running along the outdoor wooden walkway on Dress-Up Day at Play to Learn Te Rapa

Dress-Up Day: Giraffes, Bumpkins and a Whole Lot of Fun!

Letters, laughs and big imaginations! Our tamariki dressed up as their favourite names on Dress-Up Day at Play to Learn Te Rapa.

A girl jumping joyfully at a ring toss game during Sports Day at Play to Learn Te Rapa

Sports Day at Play to Learn Te Rapa

Soccer, frisbee tossing, the balance beam and hopscotch! Our tamariki had a blast getting active together at Sports Day at Play to Learn Te Rapa.

Tamariki with rainbow, pink and spiky wacky hair decorating a taniwha drawing with pom-poms at Play to Learn

Wacky Hair Day at Play to Learn!

Spikes, braids, glitter and pom-poms! Our tamariki showed off their wildest hairstyles for a fun-filled Wacky Hair Day at Play to Learn.

A toddler buying a cookie from a teacher at the Play to Learn bake stall

Baking Day at Play to Learn Te Rapa

Our tamariki had a wonderful morning measuring, mixing and decorating delicious baked treats, then opened their very own bake stall!

Tamariki gathered around the water tub with water wheels, jugs and scoops on Messy Play Day at Play to Learn

Messy Play Day

Our little learners had the best time getting hands-on and messy!

Three tamariki holding balloon animals with a teacher dressed as a clown at the Play to Learn Carnival

Carnival Day at Play to Learn

A morning packed with laughter, games and unforgettable memories.

Wheels Day at Play to Learn

Play to Learn was buzzing with excitement for our Wheels Day!

Waikato Museum Trip for our 4 year olds

Our 4 year olds took the bus into town today for a visit at the Waikato museum.

Pyjama Disco & Fish n Chips Evening

What a fun evening we had as we put on our pyjamas and got ready to boogie.

Observational drawing

Observational drawing is such a fun and calming art project to do with the tamariki. It’s actually very magical, No picture was the same.

Matariki trip to Kirikiriroa Marae

As part of our Matariki celebrations, we took our tamariki on a special cultural trip to Kirikiriroa Marae, supported by Te Kohao Health’s Kahu Taurima service. This was a beautiful opportunity for our children to connect with te ao Maori, learn about the significance of Matariki, and experience the warmth and tikanga of the marae.

Play to Learn at the Zoo

Hamilton Zoo here we come.

Hamilton Zoo, here we come. Even though the weather forecast was for rain, we dressed for the weather and took the bus to the zoo. The animals were out and about, and we got to see all four tigers this visit.

Celebrating Holi at Play to Learn

Holi is a popular and significant Hindu festival celebrated as the Festival of Colours, Love, and Spring. It celebrates the eternal and divine love of the deities Radha and Krishna.

Father’s Day Fish & Chip Evening

Whether it’s your Dad, step-Dad, foster Dad, or just a special father figure who has helped you along the way, Father’s Day NZ is your chance to say ‘Thank You’.

Dinosaur Day

Throughout the day at Play to Learn all children are developing ‘intense interest’ in things such as trains, planes, diggers or dinosaurs, books, puzzles and many more.

Superhero day

Recently, there has been a lot of pretend play involving superheroes at Play to Learn and so we decided to have a superhero dress up day at the centre!

Crazy Hair Day

It was Crazy Hair Day at Play to Learn, and we had an absolute blast! We love having fun, so this day was perfect for us.

Matariki evening

For us at Play to Learn, Matariki is a time for learning, but also celebration and togetherness.

Book Character Day:

Who is your favourite book character. Today the centre was humming with the different characters on display. Listening to the children talking to their friends about their favourite books and who they were dressed up in demonstrated that literacy is alive and well at Play to Learn

Mother’s Day Sip and Paint Evening

What a great evening to celebrate the wonderful mum’s in our lives. There was lots of chatter and laughter throughout the evening.

Pink shirt Day

Pink Shirt Day is about working together to stop bullying by celebrating diversity and promoting kindness and inclusiveness.

PJ and Movie Day

The weather was rainy and cold outside but the inside we were warm and cozy in our PJ’s.

Grandparent and child on bright red mat

Grandparents’ Day

What a delightful morning we had, celebrating the cherished relationships in our lives! We warmly invited our grandparents and special friends to join us for a morning filled with joy and connection. We shared delicious kai and engaged in various enjoyable activities alongside their tamaiti.

Watching a shadow puppet Easter show

Easter Adventure

For an Easter treat, we took a thrilling journey to Te Aroha, which was an unforgettable Easter adventure!

Wheels Day

Our tamariki had a ‘wheely’ good time at Play to Learn’s annual ‘Wheels Day’ event.

Meri Kirihimete and a prosperous 2023

We are a multicultural centre and we participate in various different cultural activities. We had our centre Kirihimete party and our tamariki and whaanua had a lovely time together. I wish all of you a Meri Kirihimete and a prosperous 2023!

Festive Season

As our festive season is coming our tamariki are very busy doing various art activities based on the Kirihimete festive season.

Maori Language week

Here at Play to Learn we participated in the Maori Language week.

Celebrating India Independence Day

Here at Play to Learn we not only sustain our environment but we also sustain our culture as well within our community.

Using Bark and Mulch in the Play to Learn Garden.

Here at Play to Learn our tamariki help to look after our garden. They topped up our garden with more bark.

Planting silver beet seedling with trowel

Gardening in winter

Here at Play to Learn our tamariki have been doing some gardening in the overs room. They have planted some silver beet and spinach.

Looking after the gardens

Here at Play to Learn our tamariki look after our environment and surrounding.

Our annual ‘Wheels Day’ event

Here at Play to Learn our tamariki enjoyed getting out and about for some ‘wheely’ great fun for our annual ‘Wheels Day’ event.

St Patrick’s Day

Here at Play to Learn we are a diverse centre and we celebrate the various cultural days of significance.

Planting some new flowers

Here at Play to Learn ngaa tamariki love to explore their natural environment, including our Papatuuaanuku. Our tamariki helped plant some new flowers in the pots and garden as well.

Compost Worms and Composting

All types of earthworms can do the same work, converting organic matter into valuable worm castings, but some breeds do a better job than others, so naturally, we choose the best worms for the job!

Kirihimete Party

Here at Play to Learn we celebrated our Kirihimete party with ngaa tamariki. We had a yummy feast for lunch, we sang our Kirihimete carols, and had a special visit from Hana Kookoo.

Watering the Lettuce

Gardening at Play to Learn

As it’s getting hotter, this indicates that we are coming closer to our summer season. It is around that time of the year where we start doing our gardening and planting of flowers and vegetables.

Planting sunflowers

Here at Play to Learn our tamariki participated in doing some gardening. Recently they have planted the sunflower seeds in the box.

Pacifica week

Here at Play to Learn our tamariki have participated in the Pacifica week. During this time, they have made a Pacific Island mat through weaving

Manaakitanga

Manaakitanga is the heart of everything we do at Play to Learn.

Why pull weeds in your garden?

Here at Play to Learn ngaa tamariki love to explore our natural environment and our Papatuuaanuku.

Sustainability education

Here at Play to Learn we strive to positively educate tamariki about the importance of sustainability for our environment, and the longevity of active sustainability within our world.

Children learn connecting to natural world

At Play to Learn ngaa tamariki love delving deep and connecting to their natural world, our Papatuuaanuku, and our atua.

child colouring a poppy as part of learning about ANZAC Day

Marking ANZAC Day at Play to Learn

To commemorate ANZAC Day we talked about the service that soldiers carried out during the war and still do around the world.

children taking part in messy play which has many learning benefits

The benefits of Messy Play

At Play to Learn we love messy play and it is always a favourite amongst our tamariki, especially in our under-2s room.

Buzzy Bee toy

Kiwiana Day

Sometimes we have Kiwiana Day to celebrate Waitangi Day. To help the children learn about the Treaty of Waitangi we purchased Sharon Holt’s book “Te Wairun o Waitangi”.

Carpentry Play and Early Childhood

Carpentry play and activities can offer rich, diverse and exciting opportunities for skill development for young children.

making mud pies with flowers

World Mud Day!

As a child I have fond memories of making mud pies in the back yard with my siblings and cooking them in the play house we had in the back yard, I remember playing in mud as a joyous time and getting outside as often as we could.

boy is arranging wooden tree block toy on table

Manipulative Play

Manipulative skills are a set of skills needed and developed over time by young children; these are the fundamental skills for each movement with small apparatus before moving onto larger movements and bigger apparatus.

Vegetables! Let’s shop and plant!

At Play to Learn we acknowledge the importance of cherishing and nurturing the growth of ourselves, as kaakano.

Matariki Celebrations

Matariki is a constellation of seven stars in the sky and is visible between the end of May and the end of June. Matariki can be translated as (Tiny Eyes) and Mata Ariki ( Eyes of God).

Bikes Day

Each child brought their own bike or scooter one Friday. They excitedly rode on it. Some proudly described how their bike/scooter look like, the colour/design was.

Te Reo

Within Play to Learn Early Learning Centre we believe that it is important for us to incorporate the Māori language and culture within our everyday environment.