Playschools for 3yr olds in Canberra?

Try Kidstart, Gold Creek or somewhere on the southside… 3 yr old preschool, just like preschool, but shorter. They teach things that help transition to preschool (like bag pegging, lunch box eating, etc) as well as puzzles, numbers, letters, phys ed, etc. Great, my daughter loved it!

We heard good things about Inner North, Koala and Wombats, and went with Wombats.

Koala announced they’re dropping short days for 2012, which may be fine for you. We liked the idea of shorter days though.

Get your application in ASAP. Inner North and Koala are filled for 2012, but you might get lucky on their waiting list. Wombats still had a couple of spots in one group a few weeks ago, but I guess they’d have a waiting list by now too.

The whole concept of a Playschool was new to us but we put our child into Wombats at Page and it was fantastic for him. The staff are great, it is a great environment with excellent facilities and my child is still friends with kids he met there (he is now in grade 1). Makes the transition to preschool a breeze also. I have never heard a bad thing about any of the other playschools around either so am guessing that is why they now have waiting lists unfortunately.

+1 for Wombats

I can recommend the Inner North Playschool.

The teachers are fabulous, the program includes the right mix of routine and interesting and new activities and the kids absolutely love it!

It’s in a convenient central location in Ainslie and runs on Mondays and Tuesdays between 9:30 and 12:30. It might be possible to do just one day (depends on numbers) – but almost everyone does the two days.

As the playschools are regulated the ACT govt has a list of all of them – in the Guide to Children’s Services published by DHCS Children’s Policy and Regulation Unit (their website doesn’t appear to be working so can’t provide a direct link). Good luck in finding a place!

Wombats Playschool in Page.
Well run. Excellent, dedicated staff. Kids have a ball.

Myself and several friends had fabulous experiences with Noah’s Ark Rivett.

My child attended two 4h sessions a week from the term in which she turned 3. Friend’s child with a May birthday did 7 terms at Noah’s Ark before going off to preschool.