Barefoot Nature Play

School holiday programs don’t get much better than Barefoot Nature Play, which combines creativity, imagination and old-fashioned fun all in a natural setting.

Set within the great outdoors, Barefoot Nature Play activities are all about unstructured fun, (safe levels of) risk taking and nature based play, something that many children today have little access to in their technology filled and highly structured lifestyles.

The benefits of getting children outdoors into green open spaces and giving them opportunities for fun unstructured play are well-documented, with less susceptibility to depression, anxiety and other health problems, yet for today’s parents the challenges in finding ways to provide these outlets within a safe environment can be enormous.

Which is where Barefoot Nature Play comes in, with a unique program based on years of research into childhood play, risk-taking, outdoor and nature-based play, and offering old-school games, an outdoor library, mud play, treasure-finding challenges and cubby building.

The summer school holiday program is as follows:

Dec 14-18 Christmas Where the Gumtrees Grow

Within an especially designed playscape, children can participate in Christmas activities with a real Australian feel, with the ability to explore and create throughout a festive week, culminating in an outdoor Christmas feast that will be designed, decorated and cooked by children. For 5-9 yrs

Jan 4-8 Outdoor Adventure

These fantastic outdoor adventure programs feature mud pits, rope ladders, and the opportunity to build water proof dens, with children getting the ultimate fix of speed, heights, water and mud along the way. With their time spent discovering and developing new ways to build and create in their outdoor playscape, there’s plenty of opportunity to crank up the imagination, where anything’s possible. For 9-13 yrs

Jan 11-15 Storybooks Come Alive

A unique outdoor library is designed for children to explore imaginative, playful and creative ideas at their own pace and in their own way. In the series of welcoming outdoor spaces there’s a myriad of opportunities for young ones to safely explore, experiment and create at their own pace and in their own time. For 5-8 yrs

Jan 18-22 Time Travellers

Building a shelter for protection is a skill that dates back through the great civilizations of history to pre-historic times. From cavemen to gladiators, adventurers to pirates, what they’ve all shared in common are perseverance, problem solving and persistence. In this program children can test their own abilities in these areas with challenges such as: building a shelter to protect from a hairy mammoth, devising a strategy to survive at the colosseum or how to lead allies to your hidden treasure without the enemy finding it first. For 7-11yrs

Need to know: Programs run Mon-Fri from 9-3. $350 per week or $70 per day. Places fill up quickly so bookings are essential.

ENROL HERE

Barefoot Nature Play is a valued sponsor of Must Do Brisbane.com