Sustainable Play Preschool focuses on teaching young children the importance of sustainability and being kind to animals. 

by Nicole Axworthy

This year, vegan preschool Sustainable Play Preschool will open in New South Wales, Australia. The early education center aims to encourage sustainable and ethical practices and provide plant-based food to its students. The school will offer dietician-approved vegan meals that are made fresh on-site such as baked tofu mac and cheese with broccoli, cauliflower, and mushrooms; oatmeal and berry chia bowls with soy milk; chickpea tuna sandwiches with salad; and whole wheat pasta with pumpkin seed basil spinach pesto with steamed greens, tomatoes, lettuce, and avocado. The daily menus include three snacks and a lunch.

Teaching kindness 
“At Sustainable Play we encourage children to learn where their food comes from and to empower them with the tools to eat sustainably while being kind to our planet and its animals,” the school’s website says. “Children will be invited to participate in planting, growing, and tending to fresh produce in the preschool garden, harvesting, helping prepare, cook, and complete the cycle by composting leftovers into soil.”

In addition to offering vegan meals, the school’s play-based curriculum is designed to encourage children to develop an appreciation of the environment and animals, which includes visiting local farms and nature centers, maintaining a vegetable garden, and using rainwater tanks. Sustainable Play Preschool is open for tour days and student enrollment, with plans to open the center in late summer or early fall.