Nappy Bunch Childcare Center, Bayan Lepas

“We understand you want the best for your little ones. Nappy Bunch Childcare Center is privileged to contribute to the care and education of your children in their vital early years, helping them become confident to progress through the programme levels. Together, we ensure that every child’s learning journey with us is filled with fun, meaningful learning and happy childhood memories,” Ms Darshini, the founder, introduces us to this relatively young center.

Located in a shop lot at Bayan Lepas, Penang, Nappy Bunch caters for children between the ages of 2 months to 4 years. The childcare center offers learning spaces filled with educational materials that connect with children’s needs and interests at each stage of development to provide them with the optimal environment for learning. It also features indoor and outdoor playgrounds for children to build stronger muscles and better respiratory health. “Since we are caring for really young children, practicing good hygiene habits are incredibly important in order to reduce the risk of everyone getting ill. To maintain a healthy environment, we perform temperature checks, sanitise materials often, and we don’t mix infants’ toys with the rest. Plus, we have air purifiers, as well as CCTV’s,” Ms Darshini assures parents of the adequate cleanliness and safety standards of the center.

At Nappy Bunch, the caring teachers are conscious of helping children reach their developmental milestones in how they play, learn, move and speak. “Besides being able to monitor how children grow over time, the progress patterns allow us to identify any developmental delays or special needs the child might have, and we can follow up with early intervention if needed, which is really important,” says Ms Darshini.

To assist with the development of the whole child, Nappy Bunch has incorporated Montessori-based programmes for children to grow at their own pace in terms of their social, emotional, intellectual, speech, physical, creative, moral and motor skills development.

Infants at Nappy Bunch are nurtured in a soothing environment where everything and everyone stays safe and clean. The caregivers balance the schedule so that the daily needs of feeding and sleeping are met with opportunities to introduce new skills to the littlest ones. Each infant will be on an individual routine, and parents will receive reports each day regarding feeding times, diaper changes, as well as new behaviours and skills learned. There will be plenty of room for infants to explore with tummy time, balancing on a yoga ball, and activities that stimulate their sensory development.

On to the next step, as children grow older with an increased desire to discover the world around them, they will be introduced to a wider range of learning opportunities in the 5 key areas of study in the Montessori curriculum – Practical Life, Sensorial, Mathematics, Language and Culture. Using interesting themes such as Farm Animals and Celebrations, children will pick up new knowledge and understand the concepts of subjects to ensure their readiness for kindergarten. In small learning groups of approximately 5 children to 1 teacher, children are allowed to work at their own pace, repeat activities until they are satisfied, and also get to choose what they want to do during free play sessions. In addition, children get to enjoy fun enrichment programmes, including messy play, music, cooking, art and crafts, planting, and camping nights.

Throughout this journey, Nappy Bunch teachers are trained to instil good habits into children like learning how to share, taking turns and treating others with respect. Role-playing is used to encourage children to act out polite social etiquettes in different scenarios. The teachers also act as positive role models by saying “please” and “thank you” often.

“Above all, we believe that a nutritious diet is also essential for healthy growth and development,” adds Ms Darshini. The meal plans at Nappy Bunch are specially designed and certified by a nutritionist. Children are fed home-cooked meals made with fresh ingredients, containing no salt, sugar or MSG. “Only natural sweeteners like dates or bananas are used, and we even create our own grain mixes so that we know what exactly goes into the meals.”