Our centres are designed as welcoming spaces that build a sense of belonging for our children and their families.
We place a high emphasis on creating safe and clean spaces where your child can grow and learn. Our spaces are designed to inspire curiosity and to help your child play in a more purposeful and meaningful way and to help your child learn through play experiences.
“The space we live in has a powerful influence over us, particularly the space we grew up in….The spaces that teachers create for children seem to hold enduring memories for them that have a powerful influence on what they will value later in life.” Susan Fraser, Autentic Childhood, 2000.
At the Hive we believe that a great environment for children should:
- Be a welcoming, inspiring and nurturing space. A space that is nurturing and familiar and at the same time inviting children to explore, to investigate by capturing their attention and provoking their inquiry
- Include elements of nature and natural materials. The natural colours and textures of materials such as stones, seed pods, pine cones, tree blocks and wool make a nice change from the bright colours of the modern toys available today. They encourage children to play more creatively as well as opens up a discussion for when they come home as the seed pods they play with can be related to the food that they eat at home
- Feel secure and comfortable with a sense of homeliness. Plants, photos and pictures they have drawn thoughtfully placed around the spaces children play in, including artwork, cushions and comfortable sofas, stools and rugs, all create a sense of home
- Have areas where children can play together and alone. Children need time and space to play both alone and with others. Our rooms are set up in a way which balances small independent play and larger collaborative play. A space for constructive play, creative play, imaginative play, reading and creating with expressive material
- Have plenty of space to move around in and explore and learn with extended outdoor play spaces with a natural setting and environment which accommodates growing and inquisitive bodies
- Play with lots of toys with flexible parts. Majority of our toys and materials have flexible or loose parts allowing for active exploration and different types of play. Flexible materials encourage open-ended learning. The materials can be used in many creative ways and offer an infinite number of new play scenarios. They help develop more skills and competence than most modern plastic toys.