Stepping Stones Child Development Centre

15/06/2026

We are excited to be hosting a free parenting workshop, Parenting on Purpose, here at Stepping Stones Child Development Centre! Click here to reserve your spot: https://www.trybooking.com/DMJBY

11/06/2026

🌏🎉 Happy International Day of Play! 🎉🌏

At Stepping Stones, play is at the heart of everything we do. ❤️

Through play, children learn, explore, create, solve problems, build friendships, and develop important skills for life. Whether they're building, painting, pretending, climbing, or exploring outdoors, they are learning every step of the way.

Today is a great reminder that play isn't just fun – it's essential for healthy development and learning.

We encourage families to take some extra time today to get involved in your child's play, follow their lead, and enjoy the magic of childhood together. ✨

For a great read on why play matters so much, check out this article by Maggie Dent 👉

  I have been writing and speaking about the importance of play in childhood for a very long time, and yet it seems that today’s children are definitely showing the ...

09/06/2026

🍕🍦 P is for Pizza and I is for Ice Cream! 🍦🍕

This week, our K1 children have been busy exploring the letter sounds P and I through a fun and engaging Pizza Shop and Ice Cream Shop role-play experience.

Using playdough, toppings, scoops, cups, containers, and a pretend oven, the children created delicious pizzas and ice creams while developing their literacy, language, and social skills through play.

As they played, the children were busy transporting ingredients, transforming playdough into tasty creations, creating enclosures within their shops, and enveloping materials into cups and containers. These important play schemas help children make sense of the world around them while building problem-solving skills, creativity, and confidence.

We loved hearing the children's conversations as they took orders, served customers, and practised the letter sounds P and I throughout their play. What a wonderful week of learning, imagination, and fun! ✨

03/06/2026

28/05/2026

Okay, we’re gonna let you in on a little secret…

While everyone is obsessing over fine motor skills, tracing, worksheets, and pencil grip… gross motor movement and heavy work are where so much of the real development is happening.

Of course fine motor skills matter. But development happens in sequence.

Before the hands can control a pencil well, the body first has to develop:
• Core stability
• Shoulder strength
• Bilateral coordination
• Postural control
• Body awareness
• Sensory integration

And that development happens through movement.

Lifting.
Pushing.
Pulling.
Dragging.
Climbing.
Digging.
Carrying.
Building.

Heavy work activates the proprioceptive system: one of the nervous system’s most powerful organizers for regulation, coordination, motor planning, attention, and spatial awareness.

But heavy work is not just a “pre-writing activity” or a stepping stone to academics.

The human body is biologically designed to move, resist force, carry weight, climb, push, pull, and engage with the physical world across the entire lifespan.

Children don’t outgrow this need. Adults don’t either.

Research consistently links movement and proprioceptive input to:
• Stronger emotional regulation
• Healthier nervous system function
• Improved executive functioning
• Better focus and attention
• Greater confidence and resilience
• Stronger cognitive performance and learning outcomes

Yet somehow we’ve normalized expecting children to sit still for long periods while minimizing the very systems the brain depends on to learn well.

The irony?
The path to healthier development, stronger learning, and even better handwriting often starts far away from the worksheet.

It starts with movement.

So stop obsessing over worksheets and start obsessing over: climbing, carrying, balancing, lifting, pushing, hauling, digging, jumping, dragging, rough-and-tumble play, obstacle courses, uneven terrain, and whole-body movement.

28/05/2026

This week through our 'Sounds Alive' program, the children explored the letters S, A, and T through hands-on learning experiences including cooking, storytelling, crafts, and shared reading activities.

Today the children created colourful letter T collages, supporting early literacy skills through creativity and play! ✂️

18/05/2026

☕ COFFEE VAN WANTED ☕- Position filled!

Due to a last-minute cancellation, we are looking for a coffee van to attend our Open Day this Saturday, 23rd May from 10am–12pm at Stepping Stones in East Fremantle.

It’s a lovely community event with families touring our centre, meeting our team, and enjoying kids activities and face painting. Unfortunately our original coffee van can no longer make it, so we’d love to hear from any local coffee vendors who may be available at short notice!

📍 Stepping Stones, 6 Fortescue St, East Fremantle
🕙 Saturday 23rd May | 10am–12pm

Please tag your favourite coffee vans or send us a message if you’re available ☕💛

18/05/2026

These “pre-writing patterns” highlight the average ages children are developmentally ready to copy certain shapes and lines. These are the important foundation skills that come BEFORE writing letters and words.

At Stepping Stones, this aligns so strongly with our philosophy of play-based learning and child-led development. 🌿

Before children are ready to write, they first need opportunities to:
✨ Strengthen their core, shoulders and hands
✨ Develop fine motor control
✨ Build coordination and visual motor integration
✨ Explore movement, creativity and problem solving
✨ Make meaningful connections through play

That’s why you’ll often see our children climbing, building, painting, threading, digging, drawing, dancing, balancing and creating. Because these experiences are not “just play.” They are laying the foundations for future learning.

Earlier is not always better.
Children develop at different rates, and learning is most powerful when it is developmentally appropriate and meaningful to the child.

We believe childhood should be filled with curiosity, connection, movement and joy, with educators gently supporting each child’s individual journey along the way 💚