NPAQ Kids in NPs

“I’m bored”, “can we go and do something?”, “we’ve been at home for ever!” Every parent has experienced at least one of these phrases during school holidays.

This year, NPAQ have re-launched our Kids in National Parks initiative to both encourage children and families to interact with and appreciate nature and beat school holiday boredom.

As well as some great at home projects and resources on the NPAQ Kids in NP web page, NPAQ have are now hosting a number of interactive activity days in national parks and protected areas around south-east Queensland on long weekend and during school holidays.

NPQ strongly believes there are a number of benefits of childhood interaction with nature, including:

• positive mental health outcomes
• physical health benefits
• enhanced intellectual development
• a stronger send of concern and care for the environment in later life

Our first activity day was held at Wellington Point at the King Island Conservation Park. During the 2 hour interactive event, children explored what coastal ecosystems were and why they are important.

Led by Marine Scientist and NPAQ Operations Manager, Samantha Smith, the children and their guardians learnt about some of the plants and animals both on the island and in the surrounding Moreton Bay Marine Park. They also learnt about the importance of protected areas and species and even saved a stranded toad fish from the rock pools before getting creative with sand sculpting and shell painting.

The next NPAQ Activity Day is scheduled for July 2nd and will be focused on teaching participants the art of bird watching with help from Birdlife Southern Queensland.