Central Victorian kindergarten kids to receive free Kinder Kits

The kits are designed to encourage continued learning at home, helping parents support their children to thrive in their first year of kinder with activities to develop language and socialskills, and express emotions and creativity.

The illustrated Kinder Kit carrycase is made from recycled materials designed and built for flexible, long-term use rather than as a one-offsingle-use container. It opens out to become a play surface with a whiteboard and markers and can be repurposed for storing kinder or childhood memories.

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"We're delivering on our funded Three-Year-Old Kindergarten promise across the state giving Victorian children the best start in their education while supporting local businesses with these engaging Kinder Kits," Minister for Early Childhood Ingrid Stitt said.

"We know that two years of early education is better than one - our Kinder Kits are a wonderful celebration of this landmark reform rolling out statewide, helping families and children connect at home with their learning."

The kits include Tinta Crayons, Wild Dough playdough, Korango Australian animal magnets, a Micador early start development activity pad, Seed Collection alfalfa seeds, Flip Make Play Family Cards and Pure Baby story cubes designed by Nikita Rotumah a Traditional Owner from the Gunditjmara tribe from the Western District of Victoria and Bunitj tribe from the Northern Territory.

Children will also receive two great books by Australian authors from the following list: My People by Eddie Betts; Windows by Patrick Guest, Tell 'Em! by Rosemary Sullivan and Katrina Germein, Where does a giraffe go to bed? by Craig MacLean, A to Z Story of Australian Animals by Sally Morgan and My Dog Bigsy by Alison Lester.

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All Kinder Kits suppliers are Australian businesses, with nearly 70 per cent of the total Kinder Kit expenditure invested in Victoria supporting local economic recovery and employment following the pandemic with more than 300 Victorians involved in some way with the delivery of the kits.

In an Australian-first, the state government is investing almost $5 billion this decade to provide three-year-old children with access to an additional year of funded kindergarten programs.

From 2022, every three-year-old across Victoria will have access to at least five hours of kindergarten.

Services will then scale up their hours to reach the full 15-hour program by 2029.

Families can talk to their local kindergarten and long day care services about enrolling for 2022, and can look for a service near them by visiting the "Find a Kinder Program" website at findakinder.educationapps.vic.gov.au

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