Ideas & Inspiration

Stories and ideas from our eight centres — what play-based learning actually looks like, where our children go, and what happens in the studio, the garden and the bush.

Children in high-visibility vests and sun hats exploring the wet sand and shallow water at the shoreline during a Beach Kindy session, with an educator alongside them
Latest

Beach Kinder at Southport: nature play by the Broadwater

Nature play · Southport  ·  4 min read

A block from the Broadwater, our Southport children have one of the Gold Coast's most beautiful classrooms on their doorstep. Here is what a session actually looks like — and why unstructured outdoor learning matters.

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Two children in dress-ups playing in the home corner, one at a table set with play food and plates and the other at a bench with a toy cash register, photographed from behind
Play-based learning

What is play-based learning in childcare? Real examples

What your child would be doing at half past nine on a Tuesday, and how our educators turn that into learning you can see.

Inside the atelier: our Reggio-inspired studio
Reggio Emilia

What is Reggio Emilia childcare? Inside the atelier

What an atelier is, what your child is doing when they come home with paint on a sleeve, and how our educators set the room up.

Beetroot, tomato and corn: what our gardens teach children
Sustainability

Sustainability in childcare: the garden and the chickens

What sustainability looks like on an ordinary day at our centres — so you can judge whether it is real practice or a word on a website.

Bush Kindy and Beach Kindy: what happens on the day
Nature play

Bush Kindy and Beach Kindy: what a session looks like

What a Bush Kindy or Beach Kindy session actually looks like, which centres run them, and how our educators keep children safe beyond the fence line.

Stay and Play: your first visit, with your child beside you
Starting care

Stay and Play: visit a childcare centre with your child

What a Stay and Play morning involves, what to look for while you are in the room, and what to ask before you commit to anything.

After drop-off: how you hear about your child's day
Families

How do I know what my child did at daycare?

What reaches you during the day, what to expect and what not to, and how to ask for more.

Our Gold Coast excursions: where children go and why
Excursions

Gold Coast childcare excursions: where our children go

The library, HOTA, the Botanic Garden, Woolworths and the Broadwater — where our Gold Coast children have actually been.

Local excursions on the Capricorn Coast
Excursions

Capricorn Coast excursions: library, park and beach

The library visits, the walks to the local park, the state school and a beach clean-up, drawn from what our educators have written up.

Excursions at our Rockhampton centres
Excursions

Rockhampton excursions: the zoo, gallery and library

A zoo story time, a Darumbal story time at the art gallery, a supermarket tour in hair nets, and practice runs at big school.