Whether it be muddy, gloopy, or messy, we LOVE sensory play at our long daycare centres.

Sensory play is a fundamental part of early childhood development and at our childcare centres, we embrace the mess and magic of sensory trays to create hands-on, engaging experiences for children of all ages.

From the squish of jelly to the crunch of leaves, sensory trays offer children the opportunity to explore textures, sounds, smells, and even tastes in a safe and fun environment.

In this week's blog, we are showcasing how these engaging provocations can support brain development, fine motor skills, and creativity in young children while encouraging holistic development.

The Benefits of Sensory Trays:

At our Grow Early Education centres, our Educators use sensory trays to reflect seasonal themes, cultural learning, and educational topics. Here are just a few we’ve loved recently:

Grow Early Education Dalby:

The children at Grow Early Education Dalby recently enjoyed a bright and colourful Easter-themed “scoop and pour” tray. This tray was part of the centre’s Easter celebrations and provided a fantastic opportunity for children to practice pouring, sorting, and scooping.

Grow Early Education Darling Heights:

The Toddler Classroom were further introduced to literacy concepts as Educators set up an ocean-themed alphabet sensory tray. Children were able to create sandcastle letters as they explored a number of colours and textures, and ocean animals.

Grow Early Education Narre Warren North:

Educators were observing children's play habits within their child-initiated classroom time and discovered that the children were spending a lot of time in the home corner. To further extend on their interests, Educators set up a baking-themed sensory tray that allowed the children to experience utensils and ingredients through their senses.

Grow Early Education Bushland Beach:

As part of the Grow Early Education curriculum exploring dinosaurs, our Educators created an exciting, age-appropriate sensory experience for the Tiny Tots Classroom. The children used paintbrushes to gently dust away sand and uncover hidden dinosaur fossils, just like real palaeontologists! This hands-on activity sparked curiosity, encouraged fine motor skills, and brought the prehistoric world to life.

Grow Early Education Gunnedah:

At Grow Early Education Gunnedah, our Educators thoughtfully build sensory-themed trays based on the children’s interests. Recently, they created a vibrant, ocean-themed sensory tray filled with a variety of textures and shades of blue. This immersive experience allowed the children to explore and learn about the fascinating underwater world through sensory play that stimulates curiosity and imagination.

Sensory play isn’t just fun, it’s foundational. Our Educators love designing trays that are not only exciting for children, but meaningful too. Whether it's a celebration of culture, a holiday event, or an everyday exploration of science and nature, there’s always something new to discover with a sensory tray.

Interested in trying your own tray setup at home? Here are some simple sensory tray ideas to try:

Stay up to date with our centres on Facebook to see what sensory play trays they create next!

 

At Grow Early Education, each day is a journey of discovery, growth, and fun. Our centres are thoughtfully designed to provide a nurturing environment where children feel safe, valued, and inspired to learn.

In today's blog, we are unpacking the routines at Grow Early Education, including child-initiated play, curriculum-led activities, and mealtimes.

Mealtime

At Grow Early Education, we offer fresh, healthy meals and snacks as part of our all-inclusive fee structure. Mealtimes are a valuable part of our educational program, and all meals are prepared fresh daily by our in-house chefs, with seasonal menus designed to provide over 50% of each child’s recommended daily intake of essential nutrients.

As children grow, they are encouraged to practice self-help skills, including serving themselves and cleaning up afterwards, building confidence, fine motor skills, and independence in a supportive environment.

For our youngest children in the nursery, we follow their home feeding routines as closely as possible. This helps create consistency between home and care, supporting both the child’s wellbeing and family routines.

Mealtimes at Grow Early Education are calm, social experiences where children learn about food, practice manners, and connect with others—all while enjoying healthy, delicious meals made with love.

Child-Initiated Play & Exploration

Children choose from a variety of inviting learning experiences, both indoors and outdoors. This time supports independence, creativity, and social interaction. Our environments are thoughtfully curated with open-ended materials that encourage exploration.

Group Time and Curriculum-Led Learning

Educators introduce intentional, curriculum-led experiences based on children’s interests and developmental needs. This might include:

Children collaborate with their peers and continue working on their learning experiences based on the Early Years Learning Framework and curriculum. Educators use a play-based approach and exploration through art and creativity, STEM provocations, and social-emotional group discussions.

Extra-curricular Programs

We offer extra-curricular activities included in our daily fee. This could include specialist sessions such as music and movement, children’s yoga, physical activity and sports, language lessons, cooking classes, or gardening lessons. Each of these lessons sparks the children’s curiosities in a new and exciting way and allows them to further explore new experiences and work to complement our curriculum and support the development of young learners, whether it be intellectually, emotionally, physically, or socially.

Outdoor Discovery & Free Play

Outdoor play is a vital part of our day at Grow Early Education. Our large, spacious yards are the ideal environment for children to collaborate and explore open-ended play. Whether they are building in the sandpits, exploring the vegetable patch, playing games with peers or practising risk-play, children are constantly learning through movement and discovery.

We also embrace nature-based learning as part of our core philosophy where children engage in their natural surroundings through activities such as gardening, water play, or scavenger hunts. Some of our centres also include Bush Kindy as an extra-curricular whereby the children explore nature outside of the centre. These moments foster a deep sense of wonder and appreciation for their surroundings.

Sleep and Rest

At our centres, we recognise the importance of rest in a child’s development. While our Younger children transition into a restful nap in calm, cozy sleep spaces, the older children who don’t sleep are offered quiet activities such as puzzles, books, or mindfulness moments to relax. These experiences help children to reset, process their learning, and develop emotional regulation.

By respecting each child’s individual needs, we are ensuring that each and every child is feeling refreshed, supported, and ready for the afternoon ahead.

For our youngest children in the nursery, we follow their home sleeping routines as closely as possible. This helps create consistency between home and care, supporting both the child’s wellbeing and family routines.

Once the day begins to slow down with indoor play, quiet reading, and reflective conversations. Educators support conversations on the children’s days by encouraging reflection on what they learned or accomplished, helping to build a sense of pride and self-awareness.

 

At Grow Early Education, every moment is filled with purpose, whether it’s guided by our educational program or led by the child’s natural curiosity. Each moment at our centre is a chance to learn, connect, and develop.

Each of our Grow Early Education centres routines vary across age groups, locations, and days. Give our Enrolments Team a call today on 1300 934 769 to book a tour of your local Grow Early Education centre to learn more about their individual daily routines.

Find a Grow Early Education centre near you!

At Grow Early Education, we believe that learning goes far beyond the classroom, and one of the most powerful lessons begins right in the garden. As part of our all-inclusive childcare programs, gardening is a key component of our curriculum for children across all of our classrooms. Through our hands-on gardening lessons, children are learning valuable life lessons on curiosity, wellbeing, and healthy habits.

Gardening provides a wealth of benefits during the early learning years, from Toddlers exploring the textures in the soil to Kindergarten and Preschoolers nurturing growth from seeds through to harvest. This type of sensory-rich, outdoor activity supports holistic development across physical, cognitive, social, and emotional skillsets.

Here’s how gardening at our childcare centres helps young children thrive:

Physical Development

Digging, planting, watering, and harvesting help build fine and gross motor skills. Children develop strength, coordination, and dexterity while staying active and engaged outdoors.

Grow Early Education Dalby participated in Green Day where they utilised their collaborations with the community to create a learning experience in the garden

Cognitive Growth

Gardening teaches science in real-time. Children explore plant life cycles, weather patterns, and ecosystems, helping them understand the world around them. They also learn responsibility and patience as they care for their growing plants.

Grow Early Education Bundaberg harvest fresh herbs for their Centre Chef to use in their healthy meals

Emotional Wellbeing

Spending time in nature has been proven to reduce stress and increase calmness in children. Gardening builds self-esteem and pride, as children see the results of their efforts bloom and grow.

Grow Early Education Gunnedah children are caring for their gardens ensuring their vegetables grow big and healthy so they can harvest them and use them in their weekly cooking classes
Grow Early Education Gunnedah children are caring for their gardens, ensuring their vegetables grow big and healthy so they can harvest them and use them in their weekly cooking classes

Social Skills

Whether they’re working in teams to tend to a veggie patch or taking turns with watering cans, gardening encourages cooperation, communication, and empathy.

Grow Early Education Tarneit are learning about composting and the benefits that can have on fueling the soil and their vegetables
Grow Early Education Tarneit are learning about composting and the benefits that can have on fuelling the soil and their vegetables

At Grow Early Education, we’re proud to offer gardening experiences at all of our daycare centres as part of our all-inclusive fee structure. That means families can enjoy the benefits of this enriching activity at no extra cost. Our outdoor learning environments are purposefully designed to include edible gardens, flower beds, and even worm farms, giving children a deeper connection to nature and sustainable living.

Our passionate Educators integrate gardening into our daily routines and learning programs, aligning with both the Early Years Learning Framework and the Abecedarian Approach Australia to nurture a love of the environment from an early age.

Whether it’s tasting and smelling the herbs they’ve grown or spotting the first sprout from a seed they planted, children at Grow Early Education are constantly discovering, experimenting, and learning. And as any gardener knows, those early roots make all the difference.

Stay up to date with our Grow Early Education centres on Facebook to see how they use gardening in their everyday curriculums.

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