infonews.co.nz
INDEX
EDUCATION

Future Kids & Green Living the Natural Fit

Friday 27 March 2020, 4:46AM

By Beckie Wright

871 views

Sustainable practices in childcare is practiced at Future Kids, so that green living becomes a natural way of life, focusing on lots of natural outdoor space with a lovely bright and light indoor area, and a child’s big backyard - a home away from home. They offer good old-fashioned values and home-grown cooked meals that include organic wholesome ingredients, with a ‘no added sugar’ policy.

First up, their centre has a fruit orchard with many varieties of organic fruit for the children to pick and eat, including apples, feijoas, peaches, plums, oranges, lemons, and mandarins. Their fences are lined with grape vines, and hedges made from fruit trees as part of their vision to have an edible garden. Each room has its own raised-bed gardens in which the children grow organic vegetables, herbs and of course fresh strawberries. All of the produce grown is eaten by the children, with any excess produce offered to their families or used as part of fundraising activities.

Future Kids are strongly focused on recycling all waste in their centre, with purpose built recycling centres in each room for organic food waste, soft plastics, hard plastics and cardboard. They also have two large rainwater tanks that gather rainwater from the roof then it is fed back to the gardens and orchard. Finally, they have solar energy panels which store the sun’s natural energy, providing a renewable source of energy to the centre.  

The children just love the  barn that is the home to a family of animals, goats, chickens, rabbits and guinea pigs, and daily activities for the children at the centre include handling and feeding animals, and collecting food waste from meals to feed the chickens and worm-farms. This interaction encourages children to learn about sustainability and the way nature relates to their daily lives.

Future Kids provide an environment that encourages meaningful encounters with rich potential to engage, so for more information on childcare prices Hamilton, sustainable childcare and daycare New Plymouth please go to https://www.futurekids.co.nz .