St Clair Kindergarten staff have praised the help of the local community after last week's floods displaced the kindergarten, forcing it to move into the adjacent hall.
All bark, sand and soft underfoot rubber from the playground needed to be torn up and replaced, as well as the carpet from inside the kindergarten.
The community rallied together in order to allow the kindergarten facilities to continue operating out of the adjacent hall.
Kindergarten head teacher Karen Cameron said the children had coped well, despite having been displaced from their usual play area.
''They're incredibly resilient,'' she said.
''We've had a lot of community support, and had we not had the support of the parents and Dunedin Kindergartens then we wouldn't have managed to do what we did.''
Parents and teachers were trying to keep things as normal as possible for the children, but they had to be vigilant about sanitation, she said.
''We need to make sure our playground is thoroughly cleaned, sand and bark chips need to be removed and replaced before we use any outside facilities,'' Mrs Cameron said.
Dunedin Kindergartens general manager Christine Kerr said the cost to restore the kindergarten would be significant, but could not yet quantify the costs.
It was uncertain when the kindergarten would reopen, she said.
