Kelburn Playcentre

You’re invited to Playcentre Open Week! Free play sessions for tamariki aged 0-6 across the motu.

Bring your baby or preschooler along to your nearest centre 17-21 August and experience our supportive community.

Your child will enjoy a range of play experiences, from messy and outdoor play to arts, music, and water exploration.

At Playcentre, early learning is a shared journey. For over 85 years, we’ve supported parents as the first and best educators for their tamariki, which is why parents attend and learn alongside their children, helping build confidence, connection, and belonging.

You’ll also gain access to a free NZQA-accredited adult education programme, helping you build practical parenting skills and strategies to support your child’s learning.

Find out more and arrange your visit today: https://www.playcentre.org.nz/news-and-events/events/playcentre-open-week/

Image description: Photo grid of happy Playcentre whānau. Text reads: "Playcentre Open Week 17-21 August 2026".

We would like to put out an enormous THANK YOU to the The Lion Foundation, New Zealand Community Trust (NZCT) and Four Winds Foundation whose generous grants have enabled Kelburn Playcentre to have Autex sound panels installed across our centre.

This installation has made an instant impact for our tamariki and and kaiako who have noticed the the reduced noice levels have lead to calmed and more focused play inside centre. This has created a more enjoyable place to play and be for all and we are incredibly grateful for this positive change!

Thank you again to each organisation, the work you do across our communities is amazing!

https://www.facebook.com/NZCommunityTrust
https://www.facebook.com/fourwindsfoundationnz
https://www.facebook.com/TheLionFoundationnz

Playcentre Education isn’t about being perfect.
It’s about growing confidence, building community, and learning alongside your child in the moments that matter.

Nobody really expects that when they join Playcentre…
they’ll grow too. 💚

You walk in thinking it’s all about your child.

Then one day you realise:
✨ you’re more confident
✨ you’ve made real friends
✨ you understand your child better
✨ you’re singing songs at home
✨ you’ve learned new skills
✨ you actually feel part of something

That’s what makes Playcentre different.

Our tamariki learn through play — and alongside them, parents and caregivers learn too. Not in a scary classroom way. In a real-life, “we’re all figuring this out together” kind of way. ☕🎨🌿

Playcentre Education isn’t about being perfect.
It’s about growing confidence, building community, and learning alongside your child in the moments that matter.

Some people join for the play dough…and stay because they found their village. 💛

This Playcentre Education Week, we’re celebrating every whānau member who has ever stepped out of their comfort zone, learned something new, or discovered they were capable of more than they thought.

If Playcentre has taught you something unexpected, tell us below 👇
We’d love to hear it.

Happy Mother’s Day to all the mums, step mums, mother figures, grandmas, those without mums and those hoping to be mums 💛

We're proud that Kelburn Playcentre was the 2nd Playcentre Aotearoa to open in June 1941. Founded on a simple and radical idea; that parents, together, could be their children’s first and best educators.

A Wartime Beginning and Lasting Legacy 💪

Founded during World War II, a group of mothers had a simple and radical idea; that parents, together, could be their children’s first and best educators.

Playcentre emerged from a time of profound challenge. Fathers were absent, and mothers were raising tamariki through facing financial strain, social isolation, and the weight of doing it mostly alone.

Those founding women recognised something essential: the issue was not just early learning. It was about families, connection, and community.

Our story is not simply remembered. It is still being lived. Parents today face the same essential pressures that moved those first Karori women to act – isolation, hardship, and the deep human need for community and connection.

The model those women created in 1941 is more relevant now than it has ever been. As other forms of social support and connection have dropped away over the decades, our role as the village raising our tamariki and supporting their whānau is more relevant than ever.

Playcentre is not just about early learning. It’s about care, community, and collective strength – and about ensuring no whānau ever has to walk their journey alone.

Celebrate our anniversary with us: https://www.playcentre.org.nz/news-and-events/events/85-years-anniversary/

Donate today to help Power the Play for another 85 years: https://85years.raiselysite.com/

Image description: Black and white photo of mothers and children in the sandpit. Text reads: "A Wartime Beginning and Lasting Legacy". Playcentre 85 Years logo.