Old school play

September 29th, 2016

Every month, kids are exploring their creativity, connecting with nature and making new friends at the Adelaide Hills Outdoor Playgroup.

Meeting twice a month, the playgroup provides an opportunity for young children aged 0-5 to have fun and "get mucky," founder Zoe Locke said.

Zoe created the playgroup two years ago, after failing to find any natural spaces where her 10-month-old son could play.

"I liked being outside and not just having indoor activities all the time, so I saw there was something lacking."

With a background in early childcare, Zoe knew the importance of having those experiences, and so she created the group to help other like-minded parents.

"Especially for people from suburban Adelaide, it's hard to find those outdoor activities, and there's a fear of letting their children take risks.

"So the playgroup lets the children safely go off and explore for themselves, search for worms or play in the dirt, which is all fantastic for the kids, it builds up their immune system," she said.

With this natural approach in mind, the activities at the playgroup are child lead, with kids deciding what they want to do each week.

Children can play in the sandpit, make mud pies in the 'mud kitchen,' try a craft activity, play in the cubbyhouse or experiment with musical instruments.

"We try and keep the same activities each playgroup, with a few changes each time," Zoe said.

"That way the children can do what they enjoy and develop their skills with an activity like an instrument over time."

The playgroup's focus on natural, unstructured playtime has seen it become a success in both the Adelaide Hills and beyond, with parents flocking to each session from as far as Brighton and Seaford.

Kezia Dunn is one such parent, first hearing about the playgroup through Facebook and word of mouth.

She found the playgroup appealing because of its focus on enjoying the outside world.

"It's very unstructured so kids can develop their creativity and independence when they're playing outside," she said.

"It's a great outdoor environment there, it's such a beautiful site for the playgroup and I've seen a lot of parents amazed by it."

Since Kezia started attending with her own child in September last year, she's seen the playgroup explode in size, with around 50 people attending each session.

"That varies with weather though, so I think the most we've seen on a lovely spring day was 120 people," she said.

"Normally there's some regulars, but then there's also quite a few families who can't make it out that often, or only come once or twice."

The variance in children and parents at each playgroup session has lead to new friendships being formed between both adults and kids.

"The kids are drawn to different activities and so they make their own groups like that."

"There's an opportunity to meet different people each playgroup, and I've developed great friendships through the playgroup," Kezia said.

It's these friendships which made Kezia a regular at the playgroup, and she now volunteers to help with the playgroup's newest project - a butterfly garden extension to the play space.

The butterfly garden will be officially opened on Tuesday, October 25 and will feature a variety of native plants to attract butterflies and other insects to the area.

"We want to have those natural elements for the kids to play with, so there's lots of messy things for them to learn from," Kezia said.

The Adelaide Hills Outdoor Playgroup runs from 9:45-1:45am on the second Wednesday and last Thursday of each month at The Old School Community Gardens in Stirling.

The next playgroup will be held on Wednesday, October 12 with a $4 entry free per child.

  Back