Book a tour Enquire
Inside a Magic Garden room, with wooden shelves, plants and a soft place to sit.

Centre of amazing

Early education and care
in the communities we serve.

Enquire

Three centres, one family

Magic Garden does not take a cookie-cutter approach. Each centre reflects its own community, its building and the diverse strengths of its teaching team. They share the philosophy and the people behind it.

See all three centres

Welcome to Magic Garden

Where children thrive and grow

We see children as capable, competent and confident learners who construct their own understanding of the world. Our job is to create the conditions in which that learning can flourish.

Teachers work alongside children as observers, researchers, listeners and collaborators. We pay close attention to what children are curious about, and think about how to deepen and extend it.

That shapes everything: how we design the rooms, the rhythm of the day, and how we welcome children each morning and hand them back to their families each afternoon.

Our philosophy

He aha te mea nui o te ao?
He tangata! He tangata! He tangata!

What is the most important thing in the world?
It is people! It is people! It is people!Whakataukī
A monarch butterfly hanging from its empty chrysalis among the spiky seed pods of a swan plant.

Drawing from our past,
evolving for the future

Magic Garden began in 1998, when founders Jenni and Allen created their first centre at 3 Ponderosa Drive in Oteha. They built it from the ground up, shaping the buildings and environments themselves around deeply held beliefs about children, learning, relationships and the natural world.

In 2001 they took that vision further, building our larger Northcross & Browns Bay centre at Carlisle Road and moving Magic Garden to its new home. From the beginning they thought hard about what mattered: children viewed as capable and competent, teachers valued as professionals, quality ratios, and environments designed around light, transparency, nature and connection.

Across twenty-eight years, some of New Zealand's leading exponents of Reggio Emilia-inspired practice have built on those foundations, exploring, questioning and enriching what great early childhood education can be. Magic Garden continues to evolve, and those founding values remain at the heart of who we are.

About Ponderosa

  • Jenni, one of the two founders, in a black and white photograph.JenniFounder, 1998
  • Allen, one of the two founders, outdoors in a black and white photograph.AllenFounder, 1998
  • 1998The year we opened
  • 28Years on the North Shore
  • 3Centres, one family
A wall of framed family photographs above a feathered korowai at Northcross.

Loved by our families

Magic Garden has provided our two children with some amazing learning opportunities. They have had chances to try new things, consolidate what they know, share their own thoughts and have had fun doing it. Our son was so settled when he started school thanks to the skills he learnt through the teachers at Magic Garden, and our daughter is having the same experiences.

Di EdgooseMagic Garden parent

The outdoor play area at Northcross, with turf mounds, a plank bridge and a shade sail over the play area.

Family owned and operated

Andrew and Gemma own and operate Magic Garden. Between them, Andrew and Gemma have 3 children, Ben 18, Finn 16 and Olivia 10 all who help out in school holidays - Ben even designed and built this website! Andrew and his nephew Jarren manage the day to day operations of all Magic Garden centres supported by an exceptional team of passionate early childhood education experts who ensure we can live up to our vision to provide the best possible early learning experience for NZ children.

Join us

Andrew and Gemma, side by side and smiling, at a table by a window.
Andrew and Gemma

Call a centre

Monday to Friday, 7:30am to 5:30pm