Playful By Nature

13/10/2026

Sometimes we get it wrong.
But so do the weather experts!
Today, we made the right call.

Swapping to an indoor, nature-based visit this morning after postponing already from last week due to a storm!

Thanks for your patience Oak on Erin! Lucky you got some rain to seal the decision!

Plus-
What a lovely, welcome rain smell. This scientific phenomenon is actually called petrichor, the smell of rain 😳

Your job tonight= deep breaths to soak in that fresh smell.

Follow along for more random ideas & info!

09/10/2026

Small business is brutal.
Small business is rewarding.
Small business of lots of things all at once.

Marketing, risk assessments, confidentiality, staff training, accounting, super, following fair work rules, establishing company policies, paying neverending bills... I could go on.

Plus the skills and knowledge of development, children, locations, planning, resources and allowing play to develop naturally in our sessions.

Every day we work hard to give the BEST experiences, within the safest and most professional decision making. Every day we are having professional conversations to ensure this and update parts of this small business.

Being a jack of all trades is genuinely, mentally really hard.

Check on your friends on small business. They are working harder than you think.

PS. It's worth it. Because every time. Every single time. This fills our buckets. Because we know it's good. We are lucky enough to see it daily.

07/10/2026

Sometimes we think we're living in a dream.
We made careers out of this.
How wonderful!
Another great excursion today.

30/09/2026

On the weekend, we ALL got dressed up. Swapping the boots for fancy dresses, Tara, Shelley, Rani and I went to the Toowoomba Early Childhood Awards, with a little nature in our outfits (thanks Tara).

Some of you nominated us in the Service Support category, where we were proudly Runner-Up (for support to centres/ services through our programs).

We also came home with an extra award, called the TEaCh Award (see below but it's for exceptional leadership in advancing the field of Early Education) and from about 80 nominations, we think this is an unexpectedly lovely honour.

Our favourite part of this process was by far the stories, comments, reviews and testimonials from you, our supporters, our centres and our families.

This was a lesson in stepping back and observing from your perspective, the impact that Playful has on our community and our young people.

Congratulations to all the other nominees who are doing wonderful things in our region.

Huge appreciation to Tara, Shelley and Rani for ALL that you are and all that you do. We seriously have the most wonderful team and family. The 4 of us are not often all together as we work different days, so this was a lovely opportunity.

We love the ripples we're making, mainly for all the little stories because they add up to quality childhood memories. We know the far reaching effects of better brains, moving bodies, more nature and connecting families will turn up throughout our region's future.

29/09/2026

Research time...

A systematic review of 147 international studies has found moderate to strong evidence that nature-specific outdoor learning (as exemplified by forest schools and bush kindergartens) has measurable socio-emotional, academic and wellbeing benefits for children of various ages (from preschool to high school aged children) (Mann et al., 2022).

Research suggests that nature play supports social and emotional wellbeing in children, is an activity that children enjoy, and an effective method for learning. Moreover, nature play can teach children how to assess and cope with risks, and so can be beneficial in developing confidence and resilience for facing future challenges.

Alla, K., & Truong, M. (2024). Nature play and wellbeing. Melbourne: Australian Institute of Family Studies.

25/09/2026

Meet Courtney.
She's a seriously legendary human.

Courtney and James have been bringing their 2 kiddos, along with their expert knowledge of dinosaurs and huge love of Paw Patrol to our playgroups since we first started in early 2024.

They travel 45 minutes one way to come. No, that's not a typo/error.

They are at every session (imagine the uproar from the kids if they knew they missed one anyway, phew).

They make rock art like it's a competition (in the best way).

Last year, Courtney and her 3yo planned and ran a dino session, and recently James read 'Piranas don't eat Bananas' to the group in special voices (which I learnt is part of the deal, and MUST be upheld for this book- the things you learn).

They help pack up because after so many sessions, they know how we roll and love teaching their kids about helping.

They have made other REALLY good friends through our playgroups, who meet up outside of playgroup times.

But best of all, they love the impact our Playgroups have on them as well as their kids.

One photo is of 3 of them leaving this morning on their new fav borrowed item from Playful- a roller dolly.

We are so lucky to have you all as part of this village.

Thankyou for being you. We love your little evolving family.
Chrissie & Team

"We absolutely love attending Nature Playgroup. There are so many fun activities, and Theo loves hunting for social things to incorporate into his crafts. Chrissie is so welcoming and is always looking for new activities that would be of special interest to each child. Thankyou so much for a fun experience!"

24/09/2026

Local freebie (there are optional paid activities too) for kids.
Thrive Festival on for the next few days.
At The Empire grounds thanks to lots of great local legends/groups.
https://empiretheatre.com.au/thrive-festival

20/09/2026

I never wanted to run my own business.
But here I am.
Because sometimes passion overcomes all the hurdles.
There are really hard moments.
And really rewarding moments.

Anyone else running small businesses? Give your fav a shout in the comments.

Today is National Family Business Day 💙

From local cafés and farms to trades, retailers and professional services, Australia’s family businesses play a crucial role in our economy and communities.

Today, and every day, we're celebrating their hard work, dedication and contributions.

Get involved and show your support 👉 nfbd.familybusinessassociation.org/nfbd

FBA AU

18/09/2026

I wish we could show you what this feels like in action.
It's so much more than a session.
It's a way of life and we are building positive family memories as well as new brain connections to build big brains With problem solving, real world and relationships as the foundation.

18/09/2026