Shaws Winning Play-based Preschool Curriculum
Learn why Shaws unique play-based system works for your child from 18 months to 6 years!
What is a Play-Based Curriculum for Preschool
Curious to know how a play-based curriculum for a preschool or kindergarten works? Combining inquiry-based learning with play-based pedagogical approaches, our ShawsPlay curriculum lets your kids take the lead!
Our teachers will step back, empowering your child to explore academic and non-academic subjects in an independent, self-directed fashion. We also provide our students with a fun outdoor-focused environment to enjoy learning as we prepare them for formal school and life in general.
Features of Shaws’ Play-Based Core Curriculum
Our core preschool curriculum includes academic and non-academic components. The academic component prepares your child for formal school. The non-academic component comprises life skills that prepare your child for life.

Fun Language & Literacy Experience
We ignite wonder, excitement and laughter in your children by bringing stories to life. our progressive classes ensure that your child can read and write by K2, with never a dull moment during our play-based english classes!

Hands-on Learning of Mathematical Concepts
Can your preschooler have fun with numbers? At Shaws, they certainly can! We place your child in real-life scenarios to help them learn and apply basic maths concepts through play!

Foster Bilingualism
We help your child love Mandarin from an early age, giving them a huge advantage later in life! Our experienced teachers introduce Mandarin in a fun way—through songs, stories, and cultural learning experiences (Pre Nursery) to reading and writing Mandarin
(Nursery Two onwards).

Build Motor Skills through Sports
Children learn best through active play. We partner with Shaws Little League to provide sports coaching twice a week to teach your child motor skills and nurture intrinsic values such as teamwork, resilience, communication and discipline in a safe, fun and educational environment.
Got a question about our ShawsPlay Curriculum? Our team is more than happy to provide you with more information and answer any questions.
Additional Elements Of Shaws Play-Based Curriculum
Our ShawsPlay Curriculum further includes ShawsPlay Club — a holistic learning syllabus designed to equip your child with vital 21st-century life skills. Your children will cook like little chefs, create works of art (Shaws Art), pick up specialised sports, participate in speech and drama, learn to swim (Lorong Chuan Campus), develop programming skills (Code Play) and much more!

Sports-based Play
Replace screen time with outdoor playtime! Yes, more sports! Expert coaches from Shaws Little League will help your child love sports like soccer, rugby, basketball, baseball, hockey, volleyball, golf and athletics.

Code Play
Our in-house coding programme actively engages your child with problem-solving games. We use screen-free tech toys such as wonderbug, bee bot and dash. No screen time is involved for the N2 and K1 children, with limited exposure for K2.

Sensory Play
Heighten your child’s five senses through our sensory play programme! They will be doing activities that stimulate their senses. This helps them to develop socially, emotionally, cognitively, linguistically, creatively, and physically as they explore the world.

Water Play/ Messy Play
Let’s get dirty! Our children enjoy learning with water, mud and paints. Through these activities, they learn motor skills, literacy skills, mathematics skills and so much more.

Outdoor Learning
At Shaws, we are blessed with wonderful outdoor environments where our children can thrive. Our outdoor gardens, herb gardens, butterfly gardens and playgrounds encourage our kids to independently develop their literacy, social and cognitive skills.

S.T.E.A.M
S.T.E.A.M stands for Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Maths. Integrated into our play-based curriculum.
S.T.E.A.M. encourages your child to ask questions like a Scientist, build like a Technologist, solve problems like an Engineer, create and express like an Artist and analyse like a Mathematician!

Earth Ambassadors
Protecting the Earth is a responsibility that transcends age; every child at Shaws is an Earth ambassador. Your child will learn about environmental concepts such as conservation through our inquiry-based units of study each term and apply them.
Got a question about our ShawsPlay Curriculum? Our team is more than happy to provide you with more information and answer any questions.
Benefits Of A Play-Based Learning Curriculum

Raise Confidence
Being able to complete various team-based games during playtime boost your child’s confidence level. We progressively increase the level of difficulty to encourage them to strive higher and empower them to go further, boosting their courage and initiative.

Build Critical Thinking and Problem-Solving Skills
Play offers opportunities for your child to encounter, explore and overcome obstacles. Carrying out simple tasks like building blocks to complex ones like performing a drama piece will sharpen his or her critical thinking and problem-solving skills.

Improve Knowledge Retention
Confucius once said, “I hear, and I forget. I see, and I remember. I do, and I understand.” Studies have shown the correlation between hands-on learning and the ability to recall the teaching. Our play-based curriculum ensures your child will understand concepts from a fundamental level rather than memorise them.

Foster Teamwork
Our playgroup environment offers your child the chance to work with his peers to achieve a common goal. This cultivates patience, emotional self-regulation, perseverance, and communication skills — vital elements of Emotional Intelligence (EQ) and Social Intelligence.

Develop Motivation and Grit
Resilience is the ability to bounce back after setbacks. Through play, children are encouraged to figure things out. If they don’t get it the first time, they have to keep trying. Over time, they will build up their grit, determination and resilience.

Learning Through PLAY At Shaws
Got a question about our ShawsPlay Curriculum? Our team is more than happy to provide you with more information and answer any questions.
How Shaws Equips Your Child with Vital Life Skills
From independently tying their shoelaces, helping others in need, to problem solving, life skills are essential for your child to succeed in life. At Shaws, we go beyond teaching academics—we equip your child with life skills so that they’ll:
Have a growth mindset (rather than a fixed rigid mindset)
Learn on their own (rather than be spoon-fed)
Overcome difficulties (rather than quit in the face of setbacks)
Be of service to others (rather than focus on their own needs)
If these skills and attributes resonate with you, then ShawsPlay, our play-based curriculum, is definitely for you.

Got a question about our ShawsPlay Curriculum? Our team is more than happy to provide you with more information and answer any questions.
What Your Child Will Learn at Different Ages

18 months to 3 years old
At Shaws, your child at this early age will be exposed to letters and their associated sounds in a fun way through LetterLand, rhymes, games and other play-led learning activities. Your children will also start to acquire pre-reading, pre-writing and problem-solving skills.

3 years old to 5 years old
Your children at this age are ready for a more complex understanding of numbers. They will learn sounds, word families and consonant blends under our phonics programme and embark on creative writing. In-depth Mother tongue lessons are also introduced, with basic writing skills. Learning experiences outside the school environment will also be introduced through excursions.

5 years old to 6 years old
Being more mature and a faster learner, your child is now introduced to concepts like division, multiplication, story sums, compositions, penmanship and reading at a higher level. Beyond that, they will work on projects and be equipped with more advanced life skills classes to prepare them for further education and life in general.
Take a Sneak Peek Into Our Play-based Facilities and Curriculum
Nutritional Yummy Diets that Your Kids Will Love

Your child needs the right nutritionally balanced diet to thrive. To ensure that, all our meals are cooked in-house in our Shaws Kitchen. The kitchen is led by Head Cook, Aunty Alice, who has provided supervision over the production of food in Shaws for over 20 years.
No processed food
No pork
No beef
Vegetarian and No-Salt options are available upon request
Nutritionally balanced
Parents are welcome to pack your own food for your child.
Got a question about our ShawsPlay Curriculum? Our team is more than happy to provide you with more information and answer any questions.
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What A Day Is Like In Shaws
Curious to know what a day is like in a preschool with a play based curriculum? Check out our program calendar below!
- Time: 8.30am to 5.30pm
- Meals Provided: Morning snack + Lunch + Afternoon Snack (Breakfast served for children who arrive before 8am)
Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | |
8.00am – 8.30am | Outdoor Play | Outdoor Play | Outdoor Play | Outdoor Play | Outdoor Play |
8.30am – 9.00am | Morning Circle | Morning Circle | Morning Circle | Morning Circle and Storytime | Morning Circle and Storytime |
9.00am – 9.10am | Morning Snack | Morning Snack | Morning Snack | Morning Snack | Morning Snack |
9.10am – 10.10am | English Curriculum | English Curriculum | English Curriculum | English Curriculum | English Curriculum |
10.10am – 10.50am | Shaws Little League Sport | Outdoor Play | Outdoor Play or Water Play | Shaws Little League Sport | Outdoor Play |
10.50am – 11.20am | Music | CodePlay | Drama | Music | Drama |
11.20am – 12.20pm | Chinese Language Curriculum | Chinese Language Curriculum | Chinese Language Curriculum | Chinese Language Curriculum | Chinese Language Curriculum |
12.20pm – 12.45pm | Closing Circle & Music and Movement | Closing Circle & Music and Movement | Closing Circle & Music and Movement | Closing Circle & Music and Movement | Closing Circle & Music and Movement |
12.45pm – 1.00pm | Lunch | Lunch | Lunch | Lunch | Lunch |
1.00pm – 1.30pm | Shower and Quiet Time | Shower and Quiet Time | Shower and Quiet Time | Shower and Quiet Time | Shower and Quiet Time |
1.30pm – 2.00pm | Outdoor Play | Outdoor Play | Outdoor Play | Outdoor Play | Outdoor Play |
2.00pm – 3.00pm | Little Chefs | Art Club | Our Environment or Kids & Cash | Drama Club | Chinese Culture Club |
3.00pm – 3.30pm | Afternoon Snack | Afternoon Snack | Afternoon Snack | Afternoon Snack | Afternoon Snack |
3.30pm – 4.30pm | Chinese Music and Dance | Fun with Maths | Science and Cookery | Literacy and Practical Life | Chinese Speech and Drama |
4.30pm – 5.30pm | Outdoor Play | Outdoor Play | Outdoor Play | Outdoor Play | Outdoor Play |
5.30pm – 7.00pm | Indoor Free Play | Indoor Free Play | Indoor Free Play | Indoor Free Play | Indoor Free Play |
- Time: 8.30am to 12.45pm
- Meals Provided: Morning snack (Breakfast served for children who arrive before 8am)
Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | |
8.00am – 8.30am | Outdoor Play | Outdoor Play | Outdoor Play | Outdoor Play | Outdoor Play |
8.30am – 9.00am | Morning Circle | Morning Circle | Morning Circle | Morning Circle and Storytime | Morning Circle and Storytime |
9.00am – 9.10am | Morning Snack | Morning Snack | Morning Snack | Morning Snack | Morning Snack |
9.10am – 10.10am | English Curriculum | English Curriculum | English Curriculum | English Curriculum | English Curriculum |
10.10am – 10.50am | Shaws Little League Sport | Outdoor Play | Outdoor Play or Water Play | Shaws Little League Sport | Outdoor Play |
10.50am – 11.20am | Music | CodePlay | Drama | Music | Drama |
11.20am – 12.20pm | Chinese Language Curriculum | Chinese Language Curriculum | Chinese Language Curriculum | Chinese Language Curriculum | Chinese Language Curriculum |
12.20pm – 12.35pm | Lunch | Lunch | Lunch | Lunch | Lunch |
12.35pm – 12.45pm | Closing Circle & Music and Movement | Closing Circle & Music and Movement | Closing Circle & Music and Movement | Closing Circle & Music and Movement | Closing Circle & Music and Movement |
- Time: 8.30am to 3.20pm
- Meals Provided: Morning snack + Lunch + Afternoon Snack (Breakfast served for children who arrive before 8am)
Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | |
8.00am – 8.30am | Outdoor Play | Outdoor Play | Outdoor Play | Outdoor Play | Outdoor Play |
8.30am – 9.00am | Morning Circle | Morning Circle | Morning Circle | Morning Circle and Storytime | Morning Circle and Storytime |
9.00am – 9.10am | Morning Snack | Morning Snack | Morning Snack | Morning Snack | Morning Snack |
9.10am – 10.10am | English Curriculum | English Curriculum | English Curriculum | English Curriculum | English Curriculum |
10.10am – 10.50am | Shaws Little League Sport | Outdoor Play | Outdoor Play or Water Play | Shaws Little League Sport | Outdoor Play |
10.50am – 11.20am | Music | CodePlay | Drama | Music | Drama |
11.20am – 12.20pm | Chinese Language Curriculum | Chinese Language Curriculum | Chinese Language Curriculum | Chinese Language Curriculum | Chinese Language Curriculum |
12.20pm – 12.45pm | Closing Circle & Music and Movement | Closing Circle & Music and Movement | Closing Circle & Music and Movement | Closing Circle & Music and Movement | Closing Circle & Music and Movement |
12.45pm – 1.00pm | Lunch | Lunch | Lunch | Lunch | Lunch |
1.00pm – 1.30pm | Shower and Quiet Time | Shower and Quiet Time | Shower and Quiet Time | Shower and Quiet Time | Shower and Quiet Time |
1.30pm – 2.00pm | Outdoor Play | Outdoor Play | Outdoor Play | Outdoor Play | Outdoor Play |
2.00pm – 3.00pm | Little Chefs | Art Club | Our Environment or Kids & Cash | Drama Club | Chinese Culture Club |
3.00pm – 3.30pm | Afternoon Snack | Afternoon Snack | Afternoon Snack | Afternoon Snack | Afternoon Snack |
- Time: 2.00pm to 5.30pm
- Meals Provided: Afternoon Snack
Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | |
2.00pm – 3.00pm | Little Chefs | Art Club | Our Environment or Kids & Cash | Drama Club | Chinese Culture Club |
3.00pm – 3.30pm | Afternoon Snack | Afternoon Snack | Afternoon Snack | Afternoon Snack | Afternoon Snack |
3.30pm – 4.30pm | Chinese Music and Dance | Fun with Maths | Science and Cookery | Literacy and Practical Life | Chinese Speech and Drama |
4.30pm – 5.30pm | Outdoor Play | Outdoor Play | Outdoor Play | Outdoor Play | Outdoor Play |
5.30pm – 7.00pm | Indoor Free Play | Indoor Free Play | Indoor Free Play | Indoor Free Play | Indoor Free Play |
2 Full days and 3 Half Days. Choices of the days must be fixed.
* Actual program varies for different campuses and age groups.
* Please request for a detailed timetable from the school.
Sign up for an individualised tour in one of our learning through play preschools.
Hello!
Our team is here to provide you with more information and answer any questions that you may have. Leave us a message in the form and we will get back to you as soon as we can.
Email Address:
carolynlai@shaws.com.sg
Contact Number:
+65 9789 2255
Career Opportunities:
Join our Shaws Team