The Top 3 Childcare Centres in Hampton, VIC (3188)

Only About Children runs this 59-place campus at 461 to 463 Bluff Road as one of 77 services in its group. Rooms are split three ways: a nursery taking babies at six weeks through to age two, then a toddler room for twos and threes, and a kindergarten room covering ages three to five, whose day has structured learning hours between 9am and 3pm.

Outdoors is where the centre puts its emphasis: a large natural yard with established trees, a bike track, vegetable garden, lemon trees and an outdoor dining area, plus a separate yard kept for the nursery. Children visit a local aged care home each week, cooks prepare meals on site, and kinder children are offered free vision screening.

Its record is moving upward. September 2022 brought a Working Towards result; by October 2024 the centre had reached Meeting on every area with no change of operator, and nothing is attached to its approval by way of conditions. The site says the kindergarten belongs to the Victorian Government's Free Kinder program and holds the Kinder Tick.

The full-day fee is $194.60 to 35 months and $190.60 from three years, with eight items included per Starting Blocks, from breakfast through to excursions. Both casual and ongoing bookings had openings on each weekday, for each age group, when we read it, and occasional care is offered through the group's Flexi scheme.

First place here came down to parents. Boutique Bubs is $14.03 a day cheaper under three and $10.03 cheaper from three, with one extra listed inclusion, but this campus has the stronger outdoor offer, published vacancies and occasional care, which takes program and practical fit, two of the three middle criteria. Reviews point the same way: 5.0 across 19 against 4.3 across 10. Its October 2024 rating is the second newest of the three. Note the card phone reaches the campus; Google shows the group's 13 86 22 line.

An independent operator has held the approval for Boutique Bubs at 417 Bluff Road since 1 January 2012, and the provider has never changed. It is a three-room centre: a nursery of 12 children with three educators for babies aged six weeks up to 18 months, then a toddlers' room of up to 20 aged 18 months to three; the kinder room takes up to 30 children between three and five.

Kinder children have a weekly hour of Italian on Wednesdays and follow The Resilience Project's early years program, while Hey Dee Ho music and movement runs for all ages, and Kelly Sports takes the two to five year olds each week. A cook prepares all meals on site. A teacher holding a Bachelor of Education leads the funded four-year-old group, which is delivered within long day care hours.

The rating needs reading carefully. In May 2022 the service held Exceeding overall, with four areas beyond the standard. Its September 2025 assessment returned Meeting on each one, so it has stepped down a level without any change of ownership. No conditions are attached to the approval, and the most recent inspection was in December 2025.

At $180.57 a day regardless of age, Boutique Bubs undercuts its two Bluff Road neighbours, and the register attaches nine inclusions. Eight match theirs; the ninth, transport, appears nowhere on its website; ask what it covers. Starting Blocks carries no vacancy data for it, and doors open 6:30am to 6:30pm all year except public holidays.

Boutique Bubs holds the most recent assessment and the lowest price of the three whatever the child's age, which on paper is a strong hand. Two things hold it at second. Its rating fell from Exceeding to Meeting in 2025, and in its tie with Only About Children it wins on fee but loses program and practical fit, the outdoor offer, published vacancies and occasional care. It still clears Bambini Bluff outright on rating date. Ask what changed between assessments and what the transport inclusion covers.

Bambini Bluff is the Hampton centre of the Bambini group, trading on its own site as Bambini Hampton, Bluff Road. Its 128 approved places outnumber the other two Bluff Road centres combined, spread across ten play areas on two levels with sleeping nooks and a separate outdoor area for kindergarten children.

The program follows the Reggio Emilia approach with an emergent curriculum, layered with the group's own Nurture and Educate model and a Bambini Scouts kinder stream. In-house chefs plan menus by age group. The group's FAQ, served on this centre's site, says its centres run funded kindergarten at ages three and four, taught by a Bachelor-qualified teacher.

It was rated Meeting in June 2018 and repeated that in October 2023, both under its current operator, which took the approval over in May 2018. Two approval-time conditions are on the register: play equipment must stay 1.9m clear of the fence, and the provider had to arrange for the regional office to attend an emergency evacuation rehearsal. Neither followed any compliance action.

The fee is $205.70 a day whatever the child's age, up from $195.50 in an update Starting Blocks dates 16 October 2026, with eight inclusions matching Only About Children's list. Babies are taken from three months rather than six weeks, the day runs 7:30am to 6:00pm, and during our check of 19 to 25 October only permanent places were available. The card phone is the centre line; Google lists the group's admin office.

Size and program are the reasons to look at Bambini Bluff, and price is the reason it ranks third. It costs $11.10 more than Only About Children under three and $15.10 more from three for the same eight inclusions, and its October 2023 rating is the oldest of the three. Its 4.7 from 16 reviews is respectable. Ask about the 5.22% increase dated 16 October 2026 before you commit.