Springvale Playcentre in Whanganui celebrates 50 years in style with exhibition, time capsule burial and open day

Energetic, rowdy children were running around in circles yelling and screaming with enthusiasm at Springvale Playcentre on Wednesday.

The children placed various items into a time capsule that they buried in a hole beside planter boxes full of vegetables at the front of their playcentre on Fox Rd.

Or as they deemed it, they "buried the treasure".

The items included photos of the children, stories they had written, letters from their parents and a Wanganui Midweek feature about them.

It marked the middle of a special week for the playcentre that is celebrating its 50th birthday.

Committee secretary Teresa Manu said that members purchased the time capsule online.

The children of Springvale Playcentre place their items in the time capsule which has been buried and will be dug up in 25 years. Photo / Stuart Munro

"Originally we talked about digging it back up in another 50 years, but then we worked out we'd probably all be dead," Manu said and then laughed.

"I'm 38 with a two-year-old, so in 50 years, the odds are not good. Now we've decided to do it in 25 years when our kids will be nearing the age that we are now."

The birthday bash kicked off with an exhibition event on Saturday, which was attended by members, four founding parents and the first paid supervisor that the playcentre had.

It was a wine and cheese kind of night where people shared stories of their playcentre experiences.

"The themes were very much the same, focused on how playcentre is about free play and children just being left alone without a lot of structure," Manu said.

"It was amazing to hear about how controversial and looked down upon it was by people in the 1960s, who thought the best thing for your children was to drop them off at kindy."

The final event on the birthday calendar takes places this Saturday and community members are invited to attend the open day.

There will be a free sausage sizzle and a board donated by Display Associates has been set up showing pictures of kids growing up at Springvale Playcentre over 50 years.