Welcome to Melodies - A Preschool with a Nature-Based Outdoor Playground
Instead of being constrained to four walls and plastic toys, imagine your little one racing outside, eyes sparkling with excitement for adventures in nature’s playground.
Book a tour of our daycare with a nature-based outdoor playground and explore how we can help your child grow, learn, and thrive in nature’s embrace.
What Is Nature-Based Early Childhood Education?
Simply put, it’s learning that happens primarily outdoors, where children use the natural environment as their classroom, playground, and inspiration all rolled into one.
Instead of being stuck inside with plastic toys and flashcards, your little one explores, discovers, and learns through hands-on experiences with trees, rocks, water, plants, and all the wonderful creatures that call the outdoors home.
Here’s the thing about early childhood and outdoor learning environments—they’re absolutely made for each other! Children who might be bouncing off the walls indoors become focused when digging in the dirt and watching the clouds drift by. Education naturally follows your child’s curiosity; if they’re fascinated by how worms wiggle, that becomes a science lesson, and if they’re collecting leaves, that’s suddenly maths, art, and nature study combined.
Your child’s immune system gets a natural boost from all that fresh air and outdoor play; they sleep like absolute angels after all that adventure, and their creativity just explodes when they have the whole world as their art supplies. Plus, there’s something magical about how confident and independent children become when they’re trusted to explore nature safely. Our play-based school teaches them to take gentle risks, care for living things, and develop that deep connection with the environment that’ll last them a lifetime.
If you’re considering an outdoor kindergarten or nature based preschool for your child, Melodies’ nature-based learning elements provide what other centres offer and more.
Melodies Outdoor Learning Environments for Early Childhood
At Melodies Preschool, Whāriki comes alive in the most natural way possible.
We’ve created a beautiful balance where your little explorer gets to follow their curiosity whilst still hitting all those important learning milestones. Picture this: one minute, your child might be having a music session using pinecones as shakers and logs as drums; the next, they’re creating masterpieces with mud paint or putting on a dramatic performance for the resident fantails.
When it’s time for more structured activities, we might gather under our favourite tree for story time, practice counting with collected treasures, or learn about the seasons through hands-on exploration. We make nature-based early childhood education the most natural thing in the world because, for children, it absolutely is!
If you’re looking for a nature-based preschool near you, our balanced, structured programme based on Te Whāriki has the vital elements of nature-based learning to ensure your little one enjoys a wide spectrum of enriching activities.
Why Choose Melodies Preschool?
If you’re looking for a small outdoor kindergarten or preschool near you that isn’t just another centre trying to cram children indoors – we’re the best answer! Our qualified, passionate educators weave music, dance, drama, and visual arts into daily outdoor adventures.
As a licensed preschool in Selwyn, we’ve mastered that tricky balance parents love: plenty of free exploration time for the adventurous spirit mixed with just enough structured activities to develop confidence, language skills, and brain development.
Trust us, once you see your child’s face light up during our outdoor adventures, you’ll wonder why you ever considered anywhere else!
What Families Have to Say
Melodies is a wonderful preschool with caring and knowledgeable staff, who whole heartedly care for the children and are passionate about what they do, The facilities are fantastic, warm and inviting with lots of great outdoor activities to keep the children engaged and developing - Both my children Lottie and Harry (4 and 2) attend Melodies, The teachers always do the best to nurture them and their personal interests with such a wide range of forever changing activities. My sons speech has developed in leaps and bounds since starting Melodies! the group times and music I feel has really helped with this! I highly recommend Melodies preschool and encourage anyone looking to pop in and check it out for yourself.
I have chosen to send all 3 of my children to Melodies. I looked at a lot of preschools, including private, and Melodies stood out to me for having lower child to teacher ratios than most, provided a structured day, (music time, eating at the table time), and over the 5 years we have been going there every single teacher has been so caring and kind and responsible. I feel my kids are always safe, having fun, and learning as well! Highly Recommend - from a picky Mum
Melodies is a wonderful preschool. We have been part of the Melodies family since 2018 with our daughter attending and now our son. It’s amazing teachers, small size and music program sets it apart. Our daughter started school well-adjusted and prepared thanks to Melodies nurturing and guidance. We highly recommend!
Frequently Asked Questions
Are nature-based preschools suitable for all children?
Absolutely! Parents often worry their children are too shy or can’t sit still for five minutes. But here’s the beautiful thing about our programme—we bring all various elements together along with children’s individual interests to create fun, meaningful and holistic learning experiences.
Melodies offers a structured program with elements of nature-based learning, weaving music, dramatic play, creativity and visual arts into a wide spectrum of activities.
What should my child bring?
We recommend bringing weather-ready clothing to help your little adventurer make the most of our time outdoors. This is the big one! We believe there’s no such thing as bad weather, only inappropriate clothing. Pack spare clothes, gumboots for puddle jumping, a warm jacket for chilly mornings, and a sun hat for brilliant sunny days.
A water bottle (with their name on it) will keep your explorer hydrated, a healthy lunch and snacks will fuel all that outdoor adventure, and any special comfort items will help your child to settle in. Don’t forget nappies if your little one is still transitioning, too!
How is safety managed?
Our qualified educators are experts in all aspects of nature-based learning in early childhood education including safety, and are trained in first aid and emergency procedures.
Additionally, because of our small size, we maintain excellent adult-to-child ratios. Safety is our top priority, which is why we thoroughly check our outdoor spaces to ensure they’re safe for learning and play, with clear, secure boundaries so children can explore freely within safe limits.
We also teach our little ones about nature safety: which plants to admire but not touch, how to approach insects gently, and why we always stay where our teachers can see us.