A quick promise
Your kindy is running a play-based program this year. At three, four and five, play is how new habits and language are built. Twenty weeks of this curriculum develops the muscles your child will use across the rest of their school life: settling in a circle, naming a feeling, finishing a thought, noticing someone else.
This guide is for you. It explains what the week looks like, how to talk to your child about it, and three tiny home rituals that pair beautifully with the classroom work.
The five lessons your child does each week
Every week your child experiences the same five lessons, same shape, different content:
- Overview, a short video they watch with their educators on Monday.
- Play, an active game (often outdoors) that builds belonging and turn-taking.
- Written, a drawing, mark-making or "tell-me-your-story" lesson.
- Exercise, a movement game that lifts focus and shakes out the wiggles.
- Gratitude, a closing circle where children name one good thing.
Five questions that work better than "how was kindy?"
Children of this age remember play, not lessons. Try one of these on the way home:
- "What was the play game this week?", they will often act it out for you.
- "What did you draw?", opens the Written lesson without "writing" being the word.
- "Did anyone make you laugh today?", surfaces friendships without asking for "your best friend".
- "What was someone kind doing today?", celebrates other children, not just yours.
- "Can you teach me the game?", the surest sign they got it.
Three five-minute rituals you can run at home
You do not need to run a curriculum at home, the small habits that pair with kindy are gold. Pick one and run it for a fortnight:
- Three-things gratitude at dinner. One thing each, no repeats. Even toddlers can do this with prompting.
- A two-song dance break before bath. Movement before transition softens the meltdown window.
- A bedtime "who was kind today", names other people, not your child. Builds the social radar.
What makes this different from "just playing"
Every game has been chosen with a learning goal in mind, turn-taking, peer connection, naming a feeling, body awareness. The educators have a guide that maps each lesson to the EYLF (the national framework for early-childhood learning). What looks like a chasing game is also a turn-taking lesson. What looks like a chant is also a vocabulary builder for emotions.
Working with your child’s educator
Your child’s educator is the right person for any conversation about how things are going at kindy. They know the program, they know your child in the room, and they can adapt the lesson order, the level or the pairing if it helps. Open the conversation by telling them what your child mentioned at home, that’s often the most useful starting point.
The free app for home
Search "The School of Play" on the App Store or Google Play. One free family play prompt every day. The same five-lesson framework, dinner-table friendly.
