Welcome to Playland Nursery School
Playland Nursery School is part of Camp Playland and is located on eighteen beautifully wooded acres in New Canaan. Our facilities include classrooms, playgrounds, athletic fields, a pond and nature trails. Camp Playland was founded in 1957 and Playland Nursery School was added in 1976 as an outgrowth of this successful summer program. Both programs have been continuously owned and directed by the Bloom family.
Our Philosophy
We believe that the first school experience should be nurturing, fun and without pressure for children and their families. Playland provides a safe, warm, loving and nurturing environment and an enriching program for two, three, four and five year old children. At Playland, we combine short structured activities interspersed around longer open classroom experiences for a well balanced program. Our loving staff provides an enriching program full of three-dimensional, hands-on activities. At Playland, learning is fun because we learn by doing. Our program is rich in play, math, science, literature, music and art. Children are encouraged to play and learn and to grow and mature socially, emotionally, cognitively and physically.
Our History
By Gary Bloom – Camp Playland was started in 1957 by my parents. My father was a physical education teacher and his dream was to create the “day camp with the away camp atmosphere.” My parents Pearl & Walter Bloom reached out to Si and Adele Breslow and a partnership was formed. The families purchased 10 acres of forested land off Ponus Ridge Road. They built two homes on the property. Both homes were deliberately architected so the lower level would be classrooms.
In 1976 my wife Barbara and I became my parents’ partners. It was at that time we decided to utilize the facility full year and open Playland Nursery School, originally called the Children’s Creative Center. We raised our three sons at Playland. In 2009 we purchased 8 additional acres adjacent to and contiguous with the original campus and our youngest son Steve joined the family business. He and his family live on this new property.
Today we have a beautiful campus of 18 acres surrounded by hundreds of acres that will never be developed. The Bloom family takes great pride in providing safe, nurturing and educational programs for children and families.
