Why Choose My Cubby

as your child’s early
learning centre?

A white, cartoon-style cloud with a simple, fluffy design.

Group of young children wearing orange safety vests and backpacks, standing on a path overlooking a park with trees and a distant body of water under cloudy sky.

A white, three-layered cloud icon on a transparent background.

Established by Kirsty Darvill in 2019, The Cubby is part of our Early Childhood Centre designed for your 1- 3-year-old.

With the idea of being a home away from home, The Cubby kaiako put extra attention into making you and your tamaiti feel welcome and comfortable. From creating intimate play spaces just for our tamariki all the way to a warming cup of coffee to take away with you.

The priority for The Cubby kaiako is to give our tamariki the best possible start to their ongoing education and life. Our skilled kaiako are here to encourage, extend or let tamariki learn at their own pace. We read each situation to see what is necessary for tamariki to gain the most from their learning experience – whether this be a kaiako to help build a sandcastle, all the way to teaching your tamaiti how to tie their shoelace (or even just put their own shoes on!). The Cubby kaiako are always around to strengthen and further develop the favourite experiences of our tamariki.

NGAHERE WALKS

On Mondays and Fridays, our 2-year-olds head out on a hikoi with backpacks full of homemade kai. Predominantly out at the Botanical Gardens our ngahere hikoi are 100% child led, with an emphasis on slowing down and enjoying our immediate surroundings. Some days our tamariki want to “Run like the wind” and some days they just want to “Plop like the rain”. These are always welcomed and celebrated ideas.

If you have any questions about our Ngahere hikoi, give us a call, we LOVE chatting about our outings!

Illustration of a brown tree branch with green leaves.

Cartoon monkey wearing overalls holding a book and raising its fist.

Four young children with backpacks looking at a waterfall feature in a garden or park.

Four young children wearing bright green and pink hats, high-visibility vests, and backpacks exploring a forest with dense green foliage and trees, examining something on the ground.

Two young children, a boy and a girl, are playing outdoors on a dirt pathway, sitting and crouching around large flat stepping stones. They are engaging with the stones, possibly arranging or exploring them. In the background, there are bushes and tall grasses.

Explore Our Learning Space

At The Cubby we value having nature on our doorstep. Tamariki love to explore, and we like to see this process be as natural as possible.

At The Cubby, before the arrival of our tamariki, kaiako have built a zoo with blocks and animals. We know our tamariki will deconstruct the zoo within minutes, but we also know the stage has been set, and imagination is limitless. Our beautiful big garden has plenty of space for the tamariki to run and explore. It has a great sandpit, trees to climb, a basket swing, an obstacle course, a path up to My Treehut’s Ngahere bush walk through the trees, and of course a very cool Cubby house.

Our kitchen is set up to allow tamariki to watch as their kai is prepared, the spaces are warmed and cooled with multiple heat pumps, and we have dedicated cot and snug rooms for naps. We recognise the value of our environment as the ‘third kaiako”. Ample space, natural resources and opportunities enable tamariki to explore, investigate, experiment and enjoy.

We are proud to ensure tamariki and their whanau feel comfortable here.

THE CUBBY WAY

Group of young children wearing safety vests and backpacks standing in a park, looking at a scenic view of the forest and water in the distance under a partly cloudy sky.

A young child watering a raised garden bed with a hose in a backyard. The garden contains vegetables including corn and leafy greens, surrounded by a wooden fence and trees.

A young boy in a bright green shirt and teal shorts, wearing a red bucket hat with the name Olivia, is playing outside near a large green shrub. He is holding a yellow item and appears to be exploring or grabbing something in a construction or park area with rocks, a blue container, and a white pipe.

We love our little ones.

We love providing them with a place where they feel safe and warm and ready to explore.

We love the families of our little ones. We want our mums, dads, grandparents and the people special to our little ones, to feel welcomed and cherished and comfortable to share a cuppa.

We love that we have time to care, to love, to laugh and to explore alongside your little ones.

We love The Cubby and we hope you will too.