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!
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 whānau feel comfortable here.
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.
It is our home away from home and we hope you feel the same way too.