Guymer Bailey Presents: 10 Queensland Boredom Busting Locations for School Holidays

The school holidays are nearly upon us and if you are like most parents, you are already dreading hearing “I’m bored!”

To save your sanity we thought we’d share some of our family-favourite Brisbane projects to bring you 10 boredom busting activities that are sure to be a hit with the kids these school holidays.

Please note that while we are still impacted by COVID-19 you may like to check the following locations to see what capacity they are operating in.

1. Frew Park Arena Play Structure, Milton

Photography: Scott Burrows Photographer

While the Arena Play Structure provides play experience for all age groups and abilities, it specifically targets players of 10 to 15 years. The play structure includes slides, climbing walls, swings, nets and ropes, hang-out spaces, and interactive spaces designed to fuel the imagination. It even features a Commentary Box, which is a steel-mesh box suspended eight metres above the ground, offering greater thrill to playground goers.

There is a reason why this multi-award-winning playground is a favourite of Brisbane kids and parents alike, the Arena Play Structure resembles no other playground around. Built on the grounds where the iconic Milton tennis stadium once stood, its theme ’deconstruction’ honours its history with contemporary play precincts that reflect stadium spaces.

2. Mary Cairncross Scenic Reserve Rainforest Discovery Centre, Maleny

Photography: Scott Burrow Photographer

The Mary Cairncross Scenic Reserve Rainforest Discovery Centre is an iconic conservation, education and tourism Centre located in the Sunshine Coast Hinterland with exceptional views of the Glass House Mountains. The Reserve is a living museum of the diverse plant life including a complex notophyll vine forest that once covered the Blackall Ranges

At the Rainforest Discovery Centre you can view the rainforest from above on the elevated Glider Gallery Boardwalk, learn more about the local flora and fauna through fun interpretive displays or take in the breathtaking view of the Glasshouse Mountains on the observation deck. You can grab a bite at the Mountain View Café or utilise the barbecues and picnic shelters near the playground.

3. Kings Beach, Caloundra

Photography : Scott Burrows Photographer

Looking for a day at the beach but wanting to avoid the busy beach areas of the Gold and Sunshine Coasts? Check out Kings Beach at Caloundra.

Take a walk along the beachfront boardwalk to explore the parkland, make a splash in the iconic Kings crown waterplay area, take a dip in the beachfront pool or enjoy a swim in the ocean.

There are also plenty of picnic and barbeque stations around the surrounding esplanade and grassed areas.

4. Queens Park Nature Centre, Ipswich

Photography: Guymer Bailey Landscape

The Queens Park Nature Centre offers a range of Australian wildlife exhibits that have been recreated to represent local bushland and habitats. Within the park you and the family will Get to see wombats, wallabies, emus, birds, and barnyard animals up close in beautifully landscaped gardens, all for a gold coin donation. Make a day of it by bringing a picnic and letting the kids have fun in the Queens Park playground across the road.

5. David Fleay Wildlife Park, Burleigh Heads

Photography: Scott Burrows Photographer

Located in Burleigh Heads on the Gold Coast, the David Fleay Wildlife Park is home to many native animals and birds including eagles, brolgas, jabiru, owls, and cassowaries, as well as kangaroos, koalas, crocodiles, snakes, lizards, platypus, and dingoes.

A key highlight is the Fleay’s in Flight show where you get to see the wing spans and speed of the park’s birds of prey.

6. Maroochy Arts and Ecology Centre, Maroochydore

Photography: Scott Burrow Photographer

The Maroochy Arts and Ecology Centre is in the Maroochy Regional Bushland Botanic Gardens and is a specialised arts and ecology interpretative centre that hosts activities and events, with a focus on exploring the relationship between art and nature. 

The Centre showcases green initiatives by mixing both passive design and active systems to allow visitors to witness ecological sustainability in practice through efficient solar, air and water use.

It is also a great opportunity to explore the Botanic Gardens around the Centre, that have been designed based on the four elements of Earth, Air, Fire and Water, that shape and influence the natural landscapes of the Sunshine Coast.

7. Eumundi Markets, Eumundi

Photography: Guymer Bailey Landscape

World renowned, the Eumundi Markets are the biggest and best art and craft market in Australia. Open every Wednesday and Saturday, you will find beautifully handcrafted homewares, furniture, artworks, fashion, and jewellery as well as lots of fresh produce, baked goods, and gourmet delights.

8. California Lane, Fortitude Valley

Photography: Scott Burrows Photographer

California Lane is the newest Brisbane laneway precinct behind the popular Brunswick Street in Fortitude Valley, Brisbane. The laneway aptly incorporates retro elements from the nostalgic years of California with pastel walls, neon signs and tall palm trees leading you back in time to the 1960s, honouring the old California Café, once located at Carroll’s Corner in Brunswick Street.

The laneway features boutiques, cafés, and eateries, making it an ideal spot for a different dining experience. While you are there, be sure to check out Bakery and Winn Lanes as well.  

9. Kingfisher Bay Resort and Hotel, Fraser Island

Photography: Kingfisher Bay Resort

This was our founding project way back in 1989 and it established the field of eco-tourism. Kingfisher Bay Resort and Hotel offers a unique holiday destination with villas, houses and the main hotel nestled into tree-covered dunes that overlook the Great Sandy Strait.

The Kingfisher Bay Resort and Hotel features four swimming pools, four restaurants, three bars, tennis courts and water sports, as well as a general store, gallery, and day spa.

10. The Local Aquatic Centre

Photography: Scott Burrow Photographer

If you’re lucky to find a warm day through the holidays why not take the kids to the local pool! We can personally vouch for the Clem Jones Aquatic Centre, Ferny Hills Aquatic Centre, Kings Beach Saltwater Pool and Maryborough Aquatic Centre, though let’s face it, on a warm Queensland day, any pool is a good pool.

Considerations in special needs schools and autistic learning

By Pat Giles 

Going to Prep school when young can be a daunting thing. It may be your first time learning and playing outside of home, in a big new space surrounded by unfamiliar children and adults, and possibly the first time without a family member being there to give you comfort and feel safe.

These early memories form the foundation of your relationship with school, how you begin to socialise with others, and your motivation to be educated. They are the first steps in beginning a learning process that will be part of your life until early adulthood. It’s a pivotal moment that directly sets up your educational journey, the routine of school life, and the experiences that go with it.

For children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (or ASD), this experience is even more challenging. As a diagnosis in early ages, it can manifest in difficulties communicating, restrictive and repetitive behaviour, and other symptoms hurting a child’s capability to function properly in everyday life. 

These children need selective attention as they are more sensitive to social behaviours and stimulants than typical (or ‘neurotypical’) children. It is in response to this treatment that special needs schools - early learning facilities equipped to cater to children with ASD - are established. As designers, it is our fundamental responsibility to ensure the architecture surrounding these children facilitates this stage of their learning, and the experience itself builds a positive connection with school moving forward.

Independent Learning

The aim of designing early learning schools for children with ASD is establishing a supportive setting where students can achieve autonomy for the mainstream education system in the years beyond graduation. For this to work, schools need a curriculum and infrastructure in place for these students to develop natural skills in learning, problem-solving, and independent thinking before they transition into regular primary schools.

These skills are a coping mechanism for children with ASD, which enable students to grow in confidence as they learn. These are derived from seven design principles catered to Autistic sensitivities; Acoustics, Spatial Sequencing, Escape Spaces, Compartmentalisation, Transition spaces, Sensory zoning, and Safety.

Coping Skills - Generalisation

As a term, Generalisation refers to students with ASD having the ability to feel comfortable learning in a mainstream school without special assistance. It usually involves the process of a child understanding the daily routine of a school day, participating in activities with other students, and adapting to tasks that require independent learning, problem-solving, and social interaction.* Generalisation can range in difficulty for Autistic children but is a necessary issue that must be overcome for successful integration to mainstream schools. 

Pathway to Learning Concept: Children with ASD

The Greenhouse Effect

This term is a label for environments catered too specifically to children with ASD, or if activities in a mainstream school setting are too unrecognisable. Consequently, a child is unable to cope in this space due to an unfamiliarity with general classroom activities and the structure of mainstream learning. Under these scenarios, the value of a prep school can be lost as a student requires re-education, placing their performance behind the standard curriculum.**

There are no absolute design methods for determining when children with ASD revert to using coping skills and when they exert general behaviour. The educational approach should be a healthy balance of both patterns, with architectural design assisting spaces in ensuring the ability to learn independently. 

Spatial Design

There are a few distinctions made in Architectural design that cater to children with ASD. They differ to regular classrooms and teaching spaces in mainstream schools. Still, these differences are crucial to ensure children work in comfortable environments with minimal distraction that encourages mental development and guide the routines of everyday school life.

A recent working model with these traits was developed in Guymer Bailey’s design for Western Autistic School in Niddrie. This exercise was through consultation with Irabina Autistic Services and the ASPECTSS Design Index***, which are evidence-based guidelines that help build environments for children with ASD. The layout of a new teaching block on-site was structured to create safe, internal courtyard enclosures linked by classrooms, allowing for external stimuli to be removed or controlled in different areas. 

Classroom Learning

A standard teaching space was designed as a single or double-classroom module, intended as flexible-use learning areas for various year groups ensuring the space could accommodate several learning programs without the need to re-purpose the teaching environment. Classrooms contain six to eight children at a time, with up to four staff to maintain supervision and concentration.

Sensory rooms and student amenities are directly adjacent to the classrooms and act as escape spaces that are easily accessible from both sides. Natural light is maintained at focused levels to control diffusion and avoid visual distraction.  Windows are slimmed to obscure outdoor activity and reduce glare and are strategically placed around outdoor landscapes to prevent external attention. Internal glazing with observation points to monitor children’s behaviour by staff and parents. 

Most importantly, retreat space is provided for escape from over-stimulation in the classroom, where children can feel safe and protected. Gardens are directly accessible from class, individualised to each room, and dispersed with soft, natural materials, colours and scents. These natural areas provide physical refuge but feel safe and protective while remaining under close staff surveillance.

Standard classroom model - teaching blocks

Standard classroom model - section

ASD classroom model concepts and realised teaching block layout

Natural Play

Playgrounds and open spaces can be intimidating for children with ASD. This distress comes from the child’s stimuli, where large areas full of sights and sounds can bombard the senses and provoke uncomfortable thoughts and feelings.

Autistic children have a general tendency to find engagement in free play more actively and equivalently than neurotypical children. However, social participation itself can be a struggle and can lead to solitary behaviour in playgrounds and outdoor spaces. This struggle to socialise with other children over time can manifest in personal difficulties like developing motor skills, balance, coordination and self-awareness.

Landscape design of the Western Autistic School, Niddrie

Playspaces should be designed in ways where children recognise, separate and control their surroundings, and in doing so, organically learn when to participate in group activities, retreat quietly, and move outside their comfort zone. In tangible form, this can be facilitated through equipment to coach a child’s stability (low-level balancing beams and stepper courses), coordination (rope climbing and climbing posts) and cognitive movement (stepper courses and run patterns), to allow safe play and provide outlets for expendable energy. 

Outdoor teaching spaces should be designed to provide safe, informal class settings that develop children’s familiarity with natural shapes, textures, and scents. In early learning, this is particularly encouraged, as providing a variety of natural materials and planting elicits emotive responses, builds focus and creates a calm, comfortable connection to the environment.

In this respect, landscape spaces for children with ASD form extensions of the learning processes happening in the classroom, with an underlining theme of naturality; the natural development of a child learning to cope with a range of emotional, social and physical differences; and the ability to foster this growth in a natural setting.

Perspective

 What has fascinated me the most about designing for children with ASD is that the planning process challenges a standardised approach to educational environments, and in doing so, demonstrates that physical changes in these spaces lead to safer and more productive classrooms to learn and build confidence in. 

Working with special needs schools, it’s encouraging to know there is a sincere effort to channel this form of learning by the staff and the school communities. This enthusiasm motivates us as design professionals to ensure our creative approach translates into buildings and landscapes that support young minds on the Autism spectrum.

About the Author

Pat Giles is a registered Architect and a valued member of our educational design team in Melbourne. He has managed projects of varying scales across multiple sectors in both Western Australia and Victoria. He brings a creative attitude to projects and enjoys the tasks of managing school projects and working in partnership with multiple specialists.

* Promoting Generalisation of Positive Behaviour Change

* Designing Buildings for Children with Autism

***National Autistic Society, Designs for Living

Changes in playground design

By Rob Waddell

Significant changes have been happening in playground design over the last few years due to greater recognition around the health and cognitive benefits of play, a strong desire to get children active and outside, and modifications to playground safety standards that acknowledge the benefit of graduated challenges which teach children how to manage risk.

Out of all of the changes, we have found three key trends are emerging, and these are influencing the design of playgrounds both nationally and internationally.

1. Unlocking imagination through theming

Photography by Scott Burrows

With the introduction of video games and tablets, there is no question that the way a child plays and interacts with the world has changed.

Twenty years ago outdoor play was a way of life for us; we would disappear for hours on end building forts, riding bikes and playing sports. But now, with so much entertainment and stimulation available indoors, greater incentive to switch from screen time to green time is needed.

This has seen a rise in playground themes to evoke the imaginations of children, allowing spaces to be interpreted and used in a number of different ways to create a unique play experience for each child.

One example of this is the Frew Park Arena Play Structure Guymer Bailey Landscape designed. Built on the grounds where the iconic Milton tennis stadium once stood in Brisbane, its theme ‘deconstruction’ honours the history of the site with play precincts that reflect stadium spaces.

The grandstand is brought to life with large precast concrete panels of varying heights and angles, and it even features a commentary box – a steel-mesh box suspended eight metres above the ground, to offer greater thrill to playground goers.

2. Getting back to nature

With many children experiencing nature deficit disorder not being able to play in the creek, squish mud in between their fingers and toes, climb trees and get dirty in play, there is a growing demand to create this experience within the playground environment.

This is particularly important for kindy children who benefit from the sensory experience nature play can produce.

From mud pits and water play to sitting on logs around a fire pit, roasting marshmallows for story time, nature play experiences allow children to enjoy the beauty and simplicity of nature, and hopefully inspire a deep love for the outdoors.

The key to nature play is to make it authentic using as many raw materials as possible. There are many plastic replicas available, but they do not create the same experience for children. Nature play areas should also be flexible, allowing for a wide variety of activities, sensory experiences and individual play interpretations – such as logs that can be used for sitting, standing or balancing on.

3. Creating a call to adventure

Photography by Scott Burrows

While as children we were quite adventurous in our play, as a society in recent years we have been more cautious, preventing children from taking the same risks as we did. While these intentions are noble, in that we don’t want children hurt, what we have failed to realise is that we are preventing children from learning key life lessons through play.

Research has proven time and time again that there are significant benefits when children are exposed to risk.

Adventurous or more challenging play allows children to identify their strengths and limitations, manage risk and fear and develop courage and confidence in their abilities – all fundamental life skills that are needed into adulthood.

These findings have resulted in modifications to the Australian playground safety standards that allow playground designs to greater challenge children and expose them to managed risk, where previous standards were inhibiting their form of play.

Challenges at height including climbing walls, nets, ropes, tunnels, barriers, slopes, sliding poles, swings and flying foxes can all create greater playground challenges for children that allow them to get a better sense of risk and themselves. By being more adventurous in playground design while also keeping in mind age and ability, we can provide children with greater life skills.

Does your kindy, school or community playground need an upgrade to create more imaginative and challenging play? Talk to our specialist playground designers today on 07 3870 9700 (Brisbane) or 03 8547 5000 (Melbourne).

About the Author

Rob Waddell is the Principal Landscape Architect at Guymer Bailey Architects. With extensive experience in designing landscape architecture for the community and education sectors, Rob has a proven track record of designing award-winning outdoor areas that capture the hearts and imaginations of children and enrich the experiences of the local community. With a keen interest in exploring the relationship between natural and built environments, Rob develops high-quality design outcomes that prioritise placemaking and people-centred design that works in harmony with the natural environment.

The importance of nature play in childcare

By Rob Waddell

There are many health benefits connected to nature play from cognitive, social and emotional development, to the building of resilience and creativity. But nature play is still not incorporated as much as it should be in childcare playground design.

If you’re yet to incorporate nature play in your childcare centre or kindy play area, here are five reasons why you should reconsider your approach.

1. Unscripted play increases imagination

Children from a young age can experience a lot of structure to their lives, and while an element of structure and routine is needed for their happiness and wellbeing, too much structure, particularly around play, can stifle creativity.

Without being given prompts or recognisable play equipment, children are able to activate their imaginations, create stories, and be more likely to explore their environment.

At Guymer Bailey Landscape we believe in increasing the opportunities for children to enjoy more unstructured play outdoors and in nature, and were recently given the opportunity to bring this philosophy to life through the design of the new nature play space at Bellbowrie Kindy.

““In a world where children are constantly being told what to do, here was an opportunity to provide an unscripted play space that would foster imagination, creative thinking, and investigation.” ”

— Pam Niven, Kindergarten Teacher and Coordinator at Bellbowrie Kindy

Our team, in partnership with kindergarten teacher and coordinator, Pam Niven, and in consultation with parents and children at the Bellbowrie Kindy, created a space that consists of a number of features to encourage hours of unscripted play. These include:

• A natural watercourse fuelled by a water pump to allow kids to control the flow of water down the creek

• Mudpits and digging mounds

• Barefoot garden paths around a forest of natural totem poles

• Log bridges, balance beams and stepping stones,

• Scented and flowering native plants

• Pottery garden

• Yarning circle centred on a fire pit to introduce to children the indigenous concept of storytelling in an organic way

2. Getting dirty leads to happy exploration

Children need to be active and have the opportunity to run around and be happy playing outside. Worrying about stains and getting dirty only limits their play and can lead to guilt around activities that they find are fun and exciting.

Children who are given the time and opportunity to get dirty and explore, discover their world, and how things work. This exploration boosts their social, physical and creative skills, which can be well worth the extra washing.

3. Challenges teach resilience and risk management

““Children need the opportunity to develop their resilience through challenges” ”

— Pam Niven, Kindergarten Teacher and Coordinator at Bellbowrie Kindy

The single-minded focus on injury prevention through risk elimination that the playground industry has had in recent decades, has been found to be detrimental to children by ignoring their need to learn how to manage risk themselves.

Changes to the Australian Standards last year reflected this shifting emphasis and recognised that the downsides of risks should be balanced against the very real benefits of incorporating meaningful graduated challenges for children to explore and test their capacities and limitations.

The Bellbowrie Kindy nature play space embraces this realisation, in the hope that even at the kindergarten age, we can set a course for stronger, better-equipped and more resilient future citizens.

4. Enlivening sensory experiences

Nature play is a great way to engage all seven senses being sight, smell, touch, hearing, taste, vestibular (sense of balance) and proprioception (sense of body awareness in space). This is incredibly important when you consider sensory play has been proven to support fine and gross motor skills, cognitive growth, problem-solving skills and language and social development.

The design of the Bellbowrie Kindy nature play space has created an environment that enhances and enlivens the children’s sensory experience and importantly, at the same time, provides inclusion and engagement for those experiencing sensory impairment or disability.

5. Creating environmental awareness

““We want to develop a love of nature that will help carry them through the rest of their lives” ”

— Pam Niven, Kindergarten Teacher and Coordinator at Bellbowrie Kindy

Perhaps one of the most underrated benefits of nature play is that it can also develop an environmental awareness and appreciation, which can create a concept of stewardship later in life. A legacy worth leaving our children.

Could your kindy or childcare centre benefit from more nature play? Talk to our specialist playground designers today on 07 3870 9700 (Brisbane) or 03 8547 5000 (Melbourne).

About the Author

Rob Waddell is the Principal Landscape Architect at Guymer Bailey Architects. With extensive experience in designing landscape architecture for the community and education sectors, Rob has a proven track record of designing award-winning outdoor areas that capture the hearts and imaginations of children and enrich the experiences of the local community. With a keen interest in exploring the relationship between natural and built environments, Rob develops high-quality design outcomes that prioritise placemaking and people-centred design and work in harmony with the natural environment.