Leaps & Bounds Montessori

03/09/2026

Set your alarms!!! 🚒 🚁

🚒🚁🤸🥳 DEANO’S NEE NAW LIVE SHOW ANNOUNCEMENT!! 🥳🤸🚁🚒
The LIVE SHOWS are heading to the South Island these school holidays! 🎉
Deano Yipadee will be bringing Nee Naw and friends to:
📍 Rangiora
📍 Rolleston
📍 Timaru
📍 Dunedin
📍 Gore
📍 Invercargill
It’s a VERY quick trip, so there will be ONLY ONE SHOW in each location! 😲
🎟️ TICKETS GO ON SALE THIS SUNDAY NIGHT AT 8PM right here via this page!
🌟 EARLY CHILDHOOD CENTRES: Get in touch for special rates for bringing along your little superstars! 🥳
Tag your Nee Naw-loving friends, spread the word and get ready for some serious school holiday fun! 🚒🚁🤸🥳

01/09/2026

Meet Shaun — our youngest ever student!

At just TWO DAYS OLD, Shaun joined us at Leaps and Bounds for a very special day of learning, exploring and… apparently enrolling in the Montessori programme!

Te Whare Whetū took their role as Shaun’s kaiako very seriously, making sure he was well cared for throughout the day — keeping him on schedule with his bottles 🍼, finding him a lovely little patch of grass to call his wharepaku 🌱, and making sure he had plenty of quiet time for a well-earned nap.

Caring for animals is such a beautiful part of the Montessori environment. It gives tamariki the opportunity to practise gentleness, responsibility, observation and empathy — learning that living things depend on us to notice their needs and care for them with kindness.

29/08/2026

Such an amazing event to be part of!

THE BIG SPIN … FINAL TOTAL

The donations are counted, the silent auction is wrapped up, and we can finally share the OFFICIAL final total…

🥁

$53,964.40 RAISED

24 hours. 38 bikes. 912 collective hours of riding. $53,964.40 raised.

To every rider, team, instructor, sponsor, business, volunteer, supporter, silent-auction bidder and person who donated THANK YOU!

27/08/2026

Follow the child, follow the wonder, and let nature teach

From our lemon tree to homemade lemonade — learning, growing and enjoying the fruits of our work 🍋

17/08/2026

A big thanks to all the Dads who came along to spend the night with their wee ones leaning about hair care.

We are happy to announce that we raised $50 for BetterMan. A men’s mental health awareness group.

Amazing effort from our Leaps Dads!

17/08/2026

This evening we had our Dad and daughter hair lesson, a massive thank you to Courtney from Braids for Babes - beauty and cosmetics for coming along to work with our Dads teaching them brushing techniques, a ponytail as well as a plait!

Everyone then enjoyed some delicious snacks before heading over the the nail painting area where the girls had the best time painting their Dads nails as well as getting their own done.

What a successful evening helping our Dads with their hair dressing skills and raising money for men’s mental health ❤️

16/08/2026

Don’t forget tomorrow evening is our Dad and daughter hair event! We can’t wait to see you all there!

13/08/2026

I bet there were lots of awesome facts about dolphins and whales being shared over the dinner table last night after our amazing visit from Kelly with Project Jonah New Zealand! We now know that some whales can hold their breath for about 90 minutes, a blue whale is bigger than the length of our playground and a Hector’s dolphin is about the same size as our tall 5-year-olds!

In Montessori, children develop a sense of wonder and respect for the natural world through real experiences, meaningful conversations and opportunities to care for living things. Learning about whales and dolphins helps tamariki see themselves as part of a much bigger world and encourages the values of responsibility, empathy and stewardship.

We hope yesterday’s learning has inspired many ongoing conversations about how we can show manaakitanga and kaitiakitanga towards the amazing sea mammals that share our world!