Moondew Playgroup details

Moondew Playgroup!
Moondew:  A fresh drop of confidence and aliveness after a late evening creative surge
Moondew: (Alt):  Young children full of sparkling life and energy after they wake from a moon filled evening of sleep, ready to embrace the golden sunshine!

Welcome! Come find out more...

Sadly, Moondew Playgroup in its current form will close in December as Ned and I will be moving to Perth, Western Australia to be closer to my husband's work.

But read on...

If this sounds like your kind of thing, I will soon publish an E-book that will be helpful in starting your own wonderful, heartfelt, nurturing playgroup for you and the families in your circles.

If you'd like a copy, please add your contact details in the comments section or send me an email to amber.greene@hotmail.com and as soon as it is ready, I'll be in touch...

In the meantime... a little taste.

If you are looking for that 'something more' in a playgroup, where children are cared for and nurtured, where the children are the true focus, where YOU and your children can learn new skills and be inspired to create, where you can meet like-minded eco-friendly people, and eat good quality healthy food, this is it!

Moondew Playgroup is a Creativity playgroup, which is held in a private home in the hinterland of the Gold Coast.

There are two groups:  a Tuesday morning and a Wednesday morning, from 9.30-11.30/12.   The group is open to all children under 5 years old, although the recommended start age is 12 months.

 Playgroup Rhythm:

9.30 Outside play and Greeting, Outdoor activity; Breadmaking
10.10  Storytime and handwash
10.25 Morning tea
10.40 Inside Play, Mama/children craft or activity
11.10 Pack away, Circle Time
11.20 Outside play, Delicious bread!
Sometime after 11.40 ....Farewell

The daily rhythm helps to support young children to find their way in a safe and predictable environment. One of the big bonuses for attending Moondew will be the beautiful and secure environment that surrounds the young children. This helps children to relax into play and inspires their imagination and creativity, and helps support behaviour management. 

Morning tea will be a selection of fruit and a 'special dish'.  This dish alternates between sweet and savoury, and is made from the best ingredients I can find, including organic produce where possible.   I have the pleasure of preparing for you all. (I hear this is often a highlight for busy mama's!!)
Moondew is an inclusive playgroup and every effort will be made to ensure families can participate in the meals.

 Mealtimes are a special time- to share in our community, to eat nourishing food, to learn manners and to be open and flexible to the cultures that surround us. Be prepared to join us in singing a simple blessing song to say 'thank you' for the food we will eat, the earth that has helped nourish it and the people who have helped to bring it to our bowls. Young children are enchanted by our shared voices  and often demand we 'sing again'!!

 We bake bread weekly.  This is possibly the children's favourite thing ever.
Children have an opportunity to knead dough,  play with it, shape it, and using all these movements (in fact, most of what we do in a morning) to help build their brain connections in readiness for academic and artistic development.  Physical skill building, such as fine and gross motor dexterity, strength and flexibility are by-products of our daily 'work'.

 And we 'work'!  Young children love to be involved in all aspects of the day, and we provide opportunities for children to engage in child-friendly, fun "play-work", every single visit.

 Every week, parents (sometimes with their children, sometimes not) have their own creative work to do too.
One of the key aspects of Moondew is to support Mothers to believe that their work of mothering is valuable, worthwhile and essential, yet we all know that aspects of mothering can be tedious and boring.
At Moondew, we strive to help mothers learn new skills, that enable them to make things for and with their children, and through this hand-making, find a new inner spark of creativity!  Moondew Mama's live the MamaMoontime slogan "Fire up your Creative Spark"
The tasks are designed to be practical, seasonal and  most importantly, a 'therapeutic' and nourishing activity for the child within us!

 The weekly activities are a balance between mama-only and mama-child tasks.
Cooking (and eating what they made) is a favourite, and children love festival preparation fun too!

There is a block of time inside where children are encouraged to play freely, and somewhat independently, with the toys.  Many of the toys are open ended,  such as blocks, dolls, shells, seedpods and wooden fences, to encourage children to begin to share their ideas with the world.  The key quality of a Moondew toy is that it has been made with love by an individual or nature, rather than being mass produced.   The simplicity of the toys means that children can transform the object into the flavour of their day.  A large smooth rock can substitute for a turtle, a mountain, a bridge or be a rock!

At Moondew, each child is recognised as an individual, with their own cup and bowl, own hand-embroidered handtowel and more! We will share a simple, gorgeous birthday celebration for every child to acknowledge their journey on earth.  And we enjoy seasonal festivals!! A highlight for everyone in the family.

 Moondew follows the seasonal shifts and the program offers activities that support these worldly changes. At the end of each term, we will share a seasonal festival. These photos are a small taste! Festivals are run on a weekend afternoon/evening so that all family members have the opportunity to attend if they can, to join our little community of friends.

Once a term, Amber will host an evening of very informal Parent Education for those who are interested. Topics have included Creative Discipline, Building healthy and harmonious children, and Brain-based learning. Family and friends are more than welcome to come along. This will be a child-free event.

The term fee is  $130 for one child or $160 for two or more children per family.  This is payable by the commencement of every term.  The fee aims to cover the cost of materials and a small hire fee.  (The cost is minimal relative to the inclusions, as you will soon see). We are a Playgroup Qld member, and as such, a volunteer organisation. Every family is required to join Playgroup Qld, at a cost of $35 per year, as this is a requirement of PQ for insurance purposes.

Unfortunately, there are no make up days on offer, however I strive to provide 'added value' through the other events which occur outside of normal playgroup times.

 Amber also runs regular workshops for those who want to fan their creative flame some more!!
Amber's mission in life is to support women (and children) in finding, and firing up, their own creative flames!  Go ahead, reclaim your birthright!!

Contact Amber on 07 55338915
 or email amber.greene@hotmail.com to enquire about vacancies, or to join the waitlist.

Hope to see you soon!