Kinder Kits are back again for 2024 and will be available for every eligible child enrolled in Three-Year-Old Kindergarten.
What’s a Kinder Kit?
Kinder Kits are activity boxes filled with books, educational toys and activities made especially for three-year-olds to enjoy at home.
All children starting funded Three-Year-Old Kindergarten in 2024 in Victoria are eligible to receive a Kit, including children commencing Early Start Kindergarten and Access to Early Learning programs.
Families don’t need to order a Kit - your kindergarten service will provide the Kits to children in Term 1.
Introducing Kinder Kits
What’s in the Kinder Kits?
Everything inside the Kinder Kits encourages creativity and open-ended play. The activity box folds out to a flat play surface with a chalkboard and artwork to allow for creative, play-based learning. Inside the Kit you will find objects and ideas to help you support your child to thrive at the kindergarten, including:
- great books by Australian authors
- toys and activities by local Victorian designers and businesses
- tips and ideas to help you engage with the Kit and your child’s learning.
Using your Kinder Kit
Everything in your child’s Kinder Kit is designed to be shared and enjoyed as a family. The following items have been designed to help families get the most out of their Kit:
Each Kinder Kit includes a printed Guide for Families(opens in a new window), with tips and ideas to help parents and carers guide their child’s early learning and development at home.
- The Guide for Families is also available online in 31 languages. To view or download, select your preferred language the translations page: vic.gov.au/kinder/translations(opens in a new window). Translated information explaining what early childhood education is and its benefits is also available.
- Watch the video guide below.
Kinder Kits are safe and inclusive
Our Kits are child-safe and inclusive of Victoria’s diverse communities.
Each of the items in the Kinder Kits has been recommended by education experts to help families make ‘learning through play’ part of children’s everyday life.
Kindergarten services can order Kits with supporting materials in languages other than English. A full library of these materials will also be available soon for families to download.
This helps to ensure that no child misses out and all families can take part.
All items in the Kinder Kits meet relevant safety standards and are suitable for three-year-olds. A small number of items have small parts and are not suitable for use by children under three years of age. These items have been clearly marked with suitable warnings on the outer packaging. They should only be used for their intended purpose. If you have a child under three, please keep these items where they don’t have access to them. As with all toys for children of all ages, parents and carers should always check before use and discard when there is wear and tear.
Kinder Kits are sustainable and ethical
The books and educational toys inside the Kinder Kits are made with great care, with a focus on balancing sustainable, ethical and socially responsible purchasing practices and working with as many local authors and businesses as possible.
In addition, the Kinder Kit activity box is carbon-offset and uses recycled, and recyclable, materials as much as possible.
Why are Kinder Kits important?
The Kits have been designed to celebrate the value of learning through play.
All items in the Kit are carefully chosen to support the following five important learning and development outcomes for children from birth to eight years of age:
- children have a strong sense of identity
- children are connected with and contribute to their world
- children have a strong sense of wellbeing
- children are confident and involved learners
- children are effective communicators.
How do I enrol my child in Three-Year-Old Kindergarten?
To find services offering funded and approved kindergarten programs, visit the find a kinder program(opens in a new window) interactive map.
For more information about Three-Year-Old Kinder, families can phone the Enquiry Line on 1800 338 663, Monday to Friday from 9am to 5pm. Translation supports are available.
Find out more about the benefits of two years of kindergarten(opens in a new window).
Meet The Makers
Watch the videos below to learn more about the makers of the Kinder Kit products.
Kinder Kits – Meet Aunty Fay Stewart-Muir, author of Birds in the Bush
Kinder Kits – Meet the two Marias, makers of Tinta Crayons
Kinder Kits – Meet Mel Haque, maker of Wild Dough
Kinder Kits – Meet James and Ryan, makers of Cherub Baby balancing gems
Kinder Kit books
Each Kinder Kit includes two books from a selection of four, all of which were written by great Australian authors. Watch a reading of the books with Auslan translations.
Birds in the Bush by Aunty Fay-Stewart and Jeanette Rowe
Where Is Galah? by Sally Morgan
I Just Ate My Friend by Heidi McKinnon
Heads and Tails by John Canty
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