New Zealand has an internationally unique approach to early childhood education, which includes a bicultural early childhood curriculum, a robust infrastructure of organisation and management overseen by the New Zealand Ministry of Education, and a growing reputation for innovation in early childhood teaching and learning. This paper examines how the current model of early childhood education emerged, the policy decisions that enabled current systems to be developed, the importance of the early childhood curriculum, teacher education and professional development, and recent developments during a time of recession in New Zealand. Some recommendations for early childhood education, based on the New Zealand experience, are proposed.