The 10 new facilities, planned for Northfield, Plympton, Craigmore, Port Noarlunga South, Salisbury Downs, Elizabeth North, Fairview Park, Salisbury Heights, Prospect and Mount Gambier, would bring the total number of children’s centres in the state to 60 by 2022.

Children’s centres house childcare, health, learning and wellbeing services for families.

Labor has pledged an additional $4.6 million to employ 10-full time speech pathologists and occupational therapists to work within the centres.

Weatherill said there was “powerful evidence” that money spent on early childhood services would save money in the later years of a child’s life.

“We know that those first five years of life are absolutely crucial for establishing the health, wellbeing and learning trajectory for children for the whole of the rest of their life,” he said.

Labor has also pledged $6 million over four years to build 20 new Nature Play spaces at schools and preschools across the state.

Nature Play encourages children’s engagement with the natural environment with a focus on the outdoors.

Education Minister Susan Close said scientific evidence showed spending time in nature was good for people’s mental and physical health.

“It’s particularly important for today’s generation of children who tend to spend more time indoors than previous generations,” she said.