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Discover activities, programs and information for children from 0 to 5 years and their families in the local community.
What Children’s Centres offer
Children’s Centres for Early Childhood Development and Parenting (Children’s Centres) bring together education, care, health, community development activities and family services for families and their young children. All centres focus on children’s learning and development within the context of their family and community.
Cowandilla Children’s Centre
34 Wilson Street, Cowandilla
Phone 8352 5346
Facilitates: playgroup, occasional care and preschool
Kalaya Children’s Centre (Queenstown)
50 Webb Street, Queenstown
Phone 8447 6519
Facilities: playgroup, long day care and preschool
Lockleys Children’s Centre
57 Malurus Avenue, Lockleys
Phone 8443 5758
Facilities: playgroup, occasional care and preschool
Ocean View College Children’s Centre (Taperoo)
23 Gedville Road, Taperoo
Phone 8248 3670
Facilities: playgroup, occasional care and preschool
Parks Children’s Centre (Angle Park)
Trafford Street, Angle Park
Phone 8243 5599
Facilities: playgroup, occasional care and preschool
Pennington Children’s Centre
Butler Avenue, Pennington
Phone 8268 1200
Facilities: playgroup, occasional care and preschool
Renown Park Children's Centre
Napier Street, Renown Park
Phone 8346 4306
Facilities: playgroup, occasional care and preschool
Seaton Children’s Centre
54 Squires Avenue, Seaton
Phone 8268 1200
Facilities: playgroup, occasional care and preschool
Woodville Gardens School B–6 Children’s Centre
18–58 Ridley Grove, Woodville Gardens
Phone 8414 8688
Facilities: playgroup, long day care and preschool
What is a playgroup?
Playgroups are for children under 5 and their families. Playgroups are a place to play, learn with other children and make friends.
Playgroup helps children:
- develop play skills
- socialise
- develop independence
- try new things
- have fun.
Playgroup helps adults:
- meet other adults
- play with your child
- share ideas, skills and help each other.
How do I find a playgroup?
You can contact your local Community Development Coordinator at your nearest Children’s Centre to find out what playgroups are active in your local area.
What is occasional care?
Occasional care is a low-cost sessional occasional childcare service.
Who can access occasional care?
Babies over 3 months, toddlers and children under school age who are not accessing alternative early childhood education and care programs, including preschool and childcare or family day care. Ages of children accommodated in occasional care spaces vary along with session days and times.
Where is occasional care located?
Occasional care is offered at some government preschools and Children’s Centres in rural and metropolitan areas throughout South Australia.
Inklings is a new program to support babies aged 6 to 18 months who are showing early differences in their social interaction and communication.
The program helps families and caregivers feel more confident in understanding and responding to their baby’s cues, and offers 6 to 10 sessions with a supportive, trained Inklings practitioner. The sessions can be delivered in a variety of locations including health clinics, children’s centres, at home or by telehealth.
Inklings is free for eligible families in South Australia.
Phone: 1300 030 655
Who can access preschool?
Children can access universal 3-year-old preschool from 3 years of age if their local catchment preschool offers a 3-year-old preschool program. This is different to the preschool programs that all children can attend in the year before they start school (sometimes called year-before-school preschool or 4-year-old preschool).
Children are entitled to access 4 terms (1 year) of government preschool in the year before they start school.
Children who turn 4 years old:
- before 1 May are eligible to start preschool at the beginning of the year
- on 1 May to 31 October can commence preschool through mid-year intake at the start of Term 3 of that year.
Please contact your local preschool for full eligibility and criteria.
Where is a preschool located?
To find your local preschool and check your catchment area, phone 8226 1000 or free call 1800 088 158
Enrol your child in preschool
What is Family Day Care?
Family day care is a high quality home-based early education and care service that gives you the peace of mind and flexibility your family needs.
Qualified early childhood educators supporting your child in their own family home, providing a safe and nurturing space to learn, play and grow. Your educator will work with you and your child to build a strong relationship, understand their individual needs and enable tailored learning to be developed for each child.
Operated by the Department for Education, family day care services provide an individual learning option for families and children. With small groups and flexible hours, including before and after school, during work hours, school holidays, overnight and weekends, family day care invites your family to be part of ours.
The service offers flexible hours, including before and after school, during work hours, school holidays, overnight and weekends.
Who can access Family Day Care?
The service can accommodate a small group of children, with educators caring for up to 7 children in total, with a no more than 4 children under school age.
Where is Family Day Care located?
To find a family day care educator in your area, phone 8343 6533 or free call 1300 551 890.
Find a Family Daycare
What is long day care?
Long day care is a centre-based service (sometimes called childcare) that provides education and care for children aged from 0 to age 6.
Charges may vary for this service, contact the centre directly for more information. Families may be eligible for a Child Care subsidy,
Contact the centre directly for more information.
Who can access long day care?
Children from 0 to age 6 but ages of acceptance may vary depending on each site.
Find a long day care centre
Local libraries are a great communal space and offer a range of programs for children and families. These programs are usually free and include a range of activities including stories, rhymes, dance and play. Sessions are usually aimed at a certain age group such as Baby Time, Toddler Time and Story Time.
City of West Torrens
West Torrens Library
Address: 1 Brooker Terrace, Hilton
City of Port Adelaide Enfield
Local branches
- Parks Library: 46 Trafford Street, Angle Park
- Port Adelaide Public Library: 2 to 4 Church Street, Port Adelaide
- Semaphore Library: 14 Semaphore Road, Semaphore
Port Adelaide Enfield Libraries
City of Charles Sturt
Local Branches
- Findon Library: Findon Shopping Centre, corner of Findon and Grange Rds, Findon
- Civic (Woodville) Library: 72 Woodville Road, Woodville
- Ngutungka West Lakes Library: 9 Charles Street, West Lakes
- Ngutungka Henley Beach Library: 378 Seaview Road, Henley Beach
- Hindmarsh Library: 139 Port Road, Hindmarsh
City of Charles Sturt Libraries
Find a library
Words Grow Minds helps parents and caregivers support their babies and young children to develop and thrive.
You can get free resource packs for families — just ask your local Community Development Coordinator.
Designed to encourage and support all families to talk, play, read and sing with their children every day, there are 3 packs available:
- babies
- pre-schoolers
- community families.
Child and Family Health Service (CaFHS)
CaFHS provides free health and development checks for South Australian children at key developmental ages between 0 and 5 years.
These include:
- 1 to 4 weeks
- 8 weeks
- 6 to 9 months
- 12 months
- 18 to 24 months
- 3 years
- 4 to 5 years.
They can offer support with:
- feeding
- settling
- sleeping
- health and development
- being a parent
- understanding your child’s needs
- your emotional wellbeing
- adjustment to parenting and child safety.
Appointments
Phone 1300 733 606 (Monday to Friday, 9.00 am to 4.30 pm)
Child and Family Health Service (CaFHS) website
Parent Helpline
Call the CaFHS Parent Helpline for support and advice on health or development concerns about your child.
Phone 1300 364 100 (24-hour service)
Immunisations
Immunisation starts at birth and are due at:
- 6 weeks
- 4 months
- 6 months
- 12 months
- 18 months
- 4 years ( booster).
Refugees and humanitarian entrants can receive free catch-up vaccinations through the New Arrival Refugee Immunisation (NARI) program. This can include appointments for individual and family groups and access to interpreting services at the clinics.
Parenting SA website
Parenting SA provides:
- Free Parent Easy Guides that cover a wide range of topics about raising babies, toddlers, children and young people from 0 to 18 years
- guides specially developed for Aboriginal and multicultural families
- a range of parenting videos and webinars.
Many education, health and community services across South Australia have the guides on display.
Parenting SA is a program supported by the Government of South Australia.
Families Growing Together Parenting Workshops
Families Growing Together is a team from the Department of Human Services. It offers parents and caregivers a range of parenting workshops and resources. Workshops are delivered through Children’s Centres, preschools, schools, libraries and community spaces.
Phone 1300 016 008
Email DHS.FamiliesGrowingTogether@sa.gov.au.
Adults Supporting Kids (ASK) website
ASK is a safe place where you and your family can find support.
This website will connect you to South Australian information, free local support services or someone you can talk to.
It’s ok to ASK for help, so ASK early and ASK often.
Raising Children Network
Free, reliable, up-to-date and independent information to help your family grow and thrive together.
Raising Children Network is funded by the Australian Government and reviewed by experts so you know they are a good source of information.
MyTime
MyTime is for all parents and carers of children under the age of 18 who need a higher level of care than other children. This might be because of disability, chronic medical condition, or other additional needs including developmental delay. MyTime members come from different backgrounds and their children have different abilities and needs.
Early Years SA app
A go-to for trusted information about health, learning, development and wellbeing from birth to 5 years.
The Government of South Australia created the Early Years SA app: to provide families in South Australia with trusted resources and information to guide their parenting journey.
There are lots of ways to connect with your community where you can meet other families and learn about helpful ways to raise your children.
You can get involved in any of the programs and services in your area. These may include:
- being part of family and parenting programs to support your children’s wellbeing and development
- connecting with other parents and caregivers to share your parenting journey
- attending community events, workshops and seminars
- joining in community projects
- accessing parenting resources.
If you would like further information about programs and services in your local community, you can contact your local Community Development Coordinator (CDC).
Connect with us
Acknowledgement of Country
We acknowledge the Kaurna people as the traditional owners of the land on which we live, work and play in the Western Adelaide area. We recognise and respect their cultural heritage, beliefs and relationships with the land. We acknowledge that they are of continuing importance to the Kaurna people living today. We pay our respects to Elders past and present, as well as emerging leaders who walk together in partnership on this journey.