Issue 33: April/May 2019 www.FamiliesMagazine.com.au
Brisbane
TM
From North Lakes and Samford in the north to the Redlands and Logan in the South and out through the Western suburbs of Brisbane
FAMILIESMPS U B , H T L HEA BIES & BA
STEAM Activities for Under 7s Entertaining Kids When You’re Sick Easter Holidays What’s On Guide How to Raise Fearless Kids The Clever Resource for Thinking Parents
FRONT COVER COMPETITION TM
Huxley Family - Kh olo Ga
Walker Family - Redlands
Nerda
Chelmer l Family -
Jurekie Family - Rochedale
Our fabulous family finalists
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South
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Jirarnuttaruj Fam ily-
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Rose Family - Burpengary East Credit: Pepper Lane Studios
Keenan Family - Wellington
APRIL MAY 20/19
Sraon Fa
mily – Cam
WINNER!
Porter/S cott
Point
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edwell
Family –
Welling to
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pringfield
Lakes
Maulolo Family – Kingston
Heig Abhilash Family - Augustine
TerryB
Family - S
Smith Fam
ily - Brisba
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Taula Family – Boondall
Visit our website to enter our Front Cover Competition for 2020 www.familiesmagazine.com.au/competitions
April / May 2019
Contents Welcome to our Families Health, Bumps & Babies issue! I’ve started noticing cute babies again and I’m scared. At first, I thought it was just an exceptionally cute infant but more and more I’m drawn to those pudgy little arms and wide eyes. I’ve started being the person who makes silly faces at them to get a reaction. Usually, they cry. What is happening to me?! I think I need to go to Babies Anonymous. You know the saying: “one baby is too many and one thousand aren’t enough”. Babies are a slippery slope to a very antisocial lifestyle of mounting debt, lack of self-care and irreversible sleep deprivation. Know your limits! Mine was two children but I’ve got three, so no lessons were learnt here! If you are pregnant or considering a baby here are some things I wish I knew: pick your favourite flavour of iced coffee/tea now and stock up. Any hot drinks you make will end up cold so start as you wish to continue. Begin wearing an air travel inflatable pillow around your neck at all times so you are NAP READY. The baby drifts off and you drop your head like a pro- add the eye mask for extra effect. It’s not like it’s going to detract from your ‘look’- it goes perfectly with your maternity clothes! And finally, when someone offers to hold the baby insist on a 10-minute head and shoulder massage first. That’s ‘cute tax’ and they need to pay to play! There are probably lots more suggestions but my third child held my eyelids open yelling “wake up” till the alarm went off. I need parenting rehab. Browse through the articles here and let me know if any baby cuddle cafes open up. Yours in micro naps and gummy baby smiles,
Simone Eclair
Simone Eclair insists she is a Brisbane comedian (but you can decide for yourself ). Follow her on Facebook/Twitter/Instagram (simone.eclair) if you are inclined or enjoy her blog and videos at www.simoneeclair.com
CONTACT US: Families Magazine, PO Box 1018, Brighton 4017
☎ 0437 866 869
Editor@FamiliesMagazine.com.au
www.FamiliesMagazine.com.au
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Families News
6-7
Education
Find out about local news for families STEAM Activities for Under 7s
10 - 15
Families Health
How to entertain your kids when you’re feeling sick Lactation Cookies
16 - 19
Parenting
Why Is My Child So Difficult to Feed? Raising Fearless Kids
20 - 21
Families Travel
10 Things To Do in Singapore with Kids
22 - 25
Clubs, Classes & Activities
Find a local Club, Class or Activity for 2019
26 - 30
Families Fun
Circle the family events you plan to do during April/May
Photo: Front cover competition winner, Cunningham Family – Ferny Hills, courtesy of Two Ducks Photography
Next issue June/July 2019 Deadline by 5pm on Friday 3 May 2019 Focus on Winter Day Trips & Kids Parties Brisbane readership over 80,000 every issue. Published 6 times a year. Local magazines for families in Brisbane, Ipswich, Redlands, Logan and the Moreton Region. © Families Magazine 2019
Your Local Families Magazine April / May 2019
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Families News
LOCAL FAMILIES NEWS
Looking for the latest local news and views? We've got it covered!
MOTHER’S DAY CLASSIC WALK AND FUN RUN – MAY 12, 2019 Every single day 50 women in Australia are diagnosed with breast cancer. This year the Mother’s Day Classic hopes to raise $2.1million to help fund vital research projects. Held at South Bank Promenade, Brisbane, the family-friendly event will host lots of entertainment and activities throughout the day, including a Kids Zone, live performances, freebies and food and drink vendors. Walk, run, fundraise or volunteer – there are so many ways to get involved! Registrations close Friday May 10 at noon. For more information go to www.mothersdayclassic.com.au
MODERN WOMAN EXPO PARTNERS WITH MUMMY’S WISH Every day in Australia, 13 families have their lives turned upside down when mum is diagnosed with cancer. Mummy’s Wish supports these mums and their young families by providing practical, non-means tested support whilst mum is receiving treatment or palliative care for cancer. Modern Woman Expo is thrilled to announce Mummy’s Wish as their charity partner for the inaugural Expo in 2019. Mummy’s Wish will be the beneficiary of all income generated at the Be(You)tiful Bar, a feature area on the Expo floor, where visitors can take some time out from the entertainment and excitement of the event to relax and be pampered with hair and makeup services. The Modern Woman Expo takes place on June 1 and 2 at the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre. For more information visit www.modernwomanexpo.com.au Image: Aishling (with her daughters) is one of the mums supported by Mummy’s Wish.
ROYAL ON THE PARK TURNS 50!
On April 11, 1969, the Parkroyal Motor Inn first opened its doors to guests of what was then Australia’s largest motel. In the 50 years since, it has hosted prime ministers and princesses, international pop legends including Sir Elton John, Kylie Minogue, Mick Jagger, and David Bowie, survived two floods, one fire, and a name change, and continues to charm with its curvaceous façade and stunning views. To celebrate turning 50, the Royal on the Park is offering a special discounted overnight package, including breakfast and parking, for up to two adults and two children valid for stays between March 1 and April 30. Find out more at www.royalonthepark.com.au/50thbirthday and follow their Facebook page for fun facts and quirky stories about the famous guests who have stayed there during its 50 year history.
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Your Local Families Magazine April / May 2019
NORTH HARBOUR’S
BITE MARKETS
NOW OPEN!
Presented in customised shipping containers, surrounded by landscaped areas in a fully fenced dining precinct, and with parking for more than 600 cars, BITE Markets is Brisbane northside’s newest food adventure. ‘BITERS’ can enjoy a culinary journey around the globe with dishes from Malaysia to Spain, Italy to Japan, Tibet to Turkey and everywhere in between, all created on-site. Located just 25 minutes north of Brisbane, take your tastebuds on an extremely affordable journey of a lifetime, with nothing costing over $15! Find out more at www.bitemarkets.com.au
Have You Seen…?
Families Online
Families Magazine has literally thousands of informative and entertaining articles on our website, and we bet you’ve only just scratched the surface of them! Go on a journey of discovery today and find out what’s under the tab!
April 25 is Anzac Day. We’ve got some great
ideas for ways to involve and educate young kids about this important commemorative day. Find this under the Holidays – Anzac Day tab.
When you have enough of Mother’s Day, take the time reflect and see just what you have enough of. Find this under the Holidays – Mother’s Day tab.
www.familiesmagazine.com.au/anzac-dayactivities-for-kids
www.familiesmagazine.com.au/this-mothersday-ive-had-enough
Got a busy toddler and a limited budget? Find
these free things to do with toddlers in Brisbane under the Things To Do – FREE Things To Do tab. www.familiesmagazine.com.au/free-toddleractivities-brisbane
With kids’ school lunches sitting for hours and hours before they eat it, having one of the best insulated lunch bags for kids is vital. Find this under the Health & Parenting – Food & Nutrition tab. www.familiesmagazine.com.au/bestinsulated-lunch-bags-for-kids
We reckon this list of ideas of unusual things to do in Brisbane with kids will have you scratching your head! How many have you tried? Find this under the Things To Do – Days Out tab. www.familiesmagazine.com.au/unusualthings-to-do-in-brisbane-with-kids Think you’ve seen a shooting star? Find our Kids’ Guide to the International Space Station under the Things To Do – Science & Technology tab. https://www.familiesmagazine.com.au/ international-space-station/
If you’re looking for inspiration to give something other than chocolate this Easter, you’re going to love this list of non-chocolate Easter gifts for kids. Find this under the Holidays – Easter tab. www.familiesmagazine.com.au/nonchocolate-easter-gifts-for-kids
Easter Holiday Discounts
Looking for some discounted fun over the Easter school holidays? We’ve taken the hard work out of searching for budget-friendly activities for your family. Find your inspiration at www.familiesmagazine.com.au/school-holiday-discount-codesand-coupons Your Local Families Magazine April / May 2019
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Education
12 best STEAM activities for children under 7
STEAM activities (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Maths) are activities that creatively educate with a hands-on approach. STEAM learning happens every day as children explore, play and investigate the world around them, and research shows a positive relationship between early STEAM experience and future success in school. Get your child off to a good start with these easy STEAM activities you can do at home.
Slime Making your own slime is insanely fun to do, and it has fantastic educational outcomes for young ones. Playing with slime is a form of sensory play that promotes fine motor skills, coordination, the five senses and exploration. It’s a great STEAM activity based on science, with an element of art and mathematics incorporated.
Bubble blowing Bubbles have the ability to capture the attention of young minds, and this simple invention is a great way to introduce some STEAM into playtime. It’s science-based and the bubble’s shapes and colours incorporate art. Buy bubble mixture or make your own, then create your own tools or use household objects to blow different bubbles. This activity opens up a whole range of STEAM relevant conversations.
Create a ramp – marble run
Gardening Growing plants is a budget-friendly, interesting and exciting science activity to do with your child. You can grow new life in an old ice-cream tub, eggshell, little pot or in the garden. Sunflowers, lettuce, beans, tomatoes, potatoes, pumpkins, watermelons and strawberries offer the greatest chance of success for your little ones. This activity opens up a world of knowledge and conversation about the process of growth from a seed and sustainability.
Scientist station – edible and non-edible
Kids love nothing more than being thrown a bunch of materials and being told to go wild, and this activity is perfect to foster the engineer in every child. All you need is a marble (preferably a large one to lower the choking hazard) and cardboard tubes or similar to build the ramps. A cereal or chip packet box makes the perfect shell for a marble run, then kids can cut and glue or tape the ramps and tunnels into the shell. How fast can their marble get down the track? Is there a way they could make it quicker?
Creating a station that is easily accessible and full of age-appropriate equipment is a great invitation to inspire children to take on the role of a scientist. There are many fascinating and easy experiments to try, like changing the colours of flowers with dye, making paper airplanes or a volcano, building a windmill, or even just offer a bunch of child-safe ingredients to let your little one go crazy with mixing and making. Edible experiments include creating phases of the moon with Oreo biscuits or toasting marshmallows in a solar oven. Don’t forget to add a scientist laboratory coat and goggles to help your child really get into the role.
Water play
5 senses rotations
Something as simple as filling containers with water can provide hours of fun and educational conversations between you and your children. Not only does water play develop motor skills, problem solving, language development and social-emotional growth, it weaves together science, mathematics and fun. It teaches children language such as full, empty, sink and float whilst opening conversation about volume, motion and life cycles.
Outdoor scientist This big wild world is home to many wonderful and interesting things, and some of these are in your own backyard or local park. Role play with your children and pretend to be scientists for the day: give them a hat and a magnifying glass and turn the back yard into a science experiment.
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Lay down and see if you can spot animals in the clouds or watch how quickly they move. Look through the grass to spot ants, check the garden for butterflies and collect different types of leaves. All options provide opportunity for science and math related conversations.
Your Local Families Magazine April / May 2019
The five senses are vitally important to everyday function. Teach your child about them by focusing on a different sense on different days or creating a sense station. For sight, play picture matching games, I-Spy, create a collage or discuss and explore different eye wear like blindfolds, sunglasses, 3D glasses and goggles. For smell, create a collage of good and bad smells like a baking cake or stinky socks. For sound, listen to music or the sounds you can hear outside, play with a tape recorder or experiment with musical instruments. For taste, try different types of foods and talk about their textures, taste different flavours of jelly beans, cook with your child or make edible jewellery. For touch, create a touch-and-feel box, explore different textures or make your own slime. All of these sense activities open up endless conversation and opportunity for education.
Education when the end result isn’t stipulated. A simple Google search comes back with hundreds of process art ideas - one of our favourites is painting on different surfaces like wood, plastic, paper, paper towel, rocks or shells. This activity opens up science-based conversations about textures, different types of paints, and maths topics like area and depth.
Shaving Cream or Mud activity For those with children that don’t mind getting a little messy, shaving cream or simple mud can be a great tool for play. Add in some little toy vehicles and watch the kids go mad. These promote learning about texture, colours and imaginary play. You could even mix these together to create a type of paint to plan and make a map for the vehicles to travel on. Your children will be exposed to areas of science, technology and maths. It will be so much fun the kids won’t even realise that they are learning at the same time.
Engineer activities Building blocks and Lego have been around for years and are fantastic at improving your child’s ability to think mathematically, develop spatial awareness and fine motor skills, and improve creativity and language skills. Set tasks like building a bridge that will allow a toy car to cross from A to B, or build a house for a Barbie doll to sleep in. Supply the tools of Lego, wooden blocks, Mobilo or even rocks and watch your child’s engineering skills come to life. Don’t forget to question them about why they are doing certain things to initiate those conversations that will allow them to practice use of mathematic and scientific language.
Process art Kids love art, and as a parent or caregiver its important not to focus on the end result but to focus on the process. Your child expressing themselves artistically and enjoying the ‘doing’ offers many more learning experiences
Robot If you have a little bit more of a budget, you can purchase some great simple robots for your kids to play with. A favourite is the BeeBot; it has a simple and child friendly operation system that will teach your child about control and topic-language like directions and programming. You can create obstacle courses with your children’s teddy bears, building blocks, books or with kitchen materials like Tupperware containers. This activity will allow your child to experience technology when coding, use mathematics for spatial awareness, and directions and engineering to build their own obstacle courses. A fun activity that promotes all aspects of STEAM that kids are guaranteed to love. Flying Fox Studios offers weekly STEM classes for children aged 3.5 years up to Grade 7. Visit www.flyingfoxstudios.com.au for details.
Your Local Families Magazine April / May 2019
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SCHOOL OPEN DAYS LIST 2019
Brisbane and Ipswich’s most comprehensive For prospective students & parents
APRIL/MAY
To promote Your School Open Day in the next issue (June/July 2019) contact our Editor. Email: Editor@FamiliesMagazine.com.au Tel: 0437 866 869 Please check the details of the events listed before setting off in case anything has changed since going to print.
All Hallows School (Fortitude Valley) Catholic Girls’ School Yr 5 - Yr 12 Open Day: Sun 26 May. www.ahs.qld.edu.au Ambrose Tracy College (Indooroopilly) Catholic College for boys Yr 4 12 Tours: 16 May 3.30pm, 11 June 9.30am, 6 Aug 9.30am, 5 Sept 3.30pm. www.atc.qld.edu.au/enrolments/college-tour Anglican Church Grammar School (East Brisbane) Anglican Boys’ School Reception - Yr 12 Open Day: Wed 8 May 10am - 1 pm. They also provide personalised tours and Headmaster’s Tours throughout the year. www.churchie.com.au Bethania Lutheran School (Bethania) Co-ed Primary School Prep - Yr 6 Contact school for a tour 3200 5363. www.bethania.qld.edu.au Brigidine College (Indooroopilly) – Catholic Secondary Girls’ College Yr 7-12 Welcome Tours: Mon 5 or Tues 6 Aug 9.30am - 10.30am; Twilight Tours: Tues 14 May & Tues 15 Oct 2pm - 6pm. www.brigidine.qld.edu.au Brisbane Bayside State College (Wynnum West) Indep Co-Ed Yr 7-12 Open Days: Thurs May 2 9.00am - 10.30am, Wed 21 May 3.00pm - 6.00pm, 6 June, 25 July, 10 Oct 9.00am - 10.30am. www.brisbanebaysidesc.eq.edu.au Brisbane Christian College (Salisbury) Co-ed Pre-prep-Yr 12. Open Days: 21 May & 20 Aug for Primary School, and Middle & Secondary School. 29 Oct for Middle and Secondary School only. www.brisbanechristiancollege.com.au Canterbury College (Waterford) Indep Co-ed Kindy–Yr 12 Open Day: Sat 18 May. Tours Morning: Wed 7 August. Canterbury@ Twilight: Wed 16 October. www.canterbury.qld.edu.au
Citipointe Christian College (Carindale) Indep Prep-Yr 12 Morning and Evening Tours: Tues 21 May 9:00am, Tues 27 August 9:00am, Tues 22 October 5:00pm. www.brisbane.coc.edu.au Clairvaux MacKillop College (Upper Mt Gravatt) Catholic Co-ed Yr 7-12 Window Days: Fri 3 May 9am - 11am, Wed 12 June 9am - 11am, Fri 26 July 9am - 11am, Fri 30 Aug 9am - 11am. www.cvxmck.edu.au Clayfield College Independent School (Clayfield) Co-ed Pre-Prep to Year 6, Girls Pre-prep-Yr 12 Open Morning: Tues 21 May 8:45am to 11am, Clayfield Fair – Sun 4 Aug 10am to 3pm. www.clayfield.qld.edu.au Faith Lutheran College (Thornlands) Middle & Senior School Campus Yr 7-Yr 12 Visit website to arrange a personal tour. www.faithlutheran.qld.edu.au Genesis Christian College (Bray Park) Indep Co-ed School Prep-Yr 12 Open Day: Tues 7 May 9am - 11am. Personalised tours can be made by appointment anytime throughout the year. www.genesis.qld.edu.au Grace Lutheran College (Rothwell) Co-ed Secondary College Yr 7-12 Open Day: Sun 19 May www.gracecollege.com.au Grace Lutheran College (Caboolture) Co-ed Secondary College Yr 7-12 Open Day: Fri 17 May www.gracecollege.com.au Grace Lutheran Primary School (Clontarf ) Co-ed Prep-Yr 6 Principals Tours: 2 Apr, 9 May, 18 June, 18 July, 20 Aug, 17 Sept, 17 Oct. Times vary. Check website for more. www.graceprimary.qld.edu.au Iona College (Lindum) Catholic Boys’ College Open Day: Mon 3 June. www.iona.qld.edu.au Ipswich Girls’ Grammar School (girls-only) and Ipswich Junior Grammar School (co-ed) Discovery Tour: Tues 28 May 8:45am to 10:30am www.iggs.qld.edu.au Ipswich Grammar School (Ipswich) Indep Boys’ School Prep - Yr 12 Open Day: Thurs 23 May. www.ipswichgrammar.com John Paul College (Daisy Hill) Co-ed Early Yrs - Yr 12 Open Days: Primary School Open Morning, Thur 6 June 9am -11am, Senior School Open Morning Thur 15 Aug 9am - 11am, Twilight Open Evening Wed 16 Oct 4pm - 7 pm. www.johnpaulcollege.com.au Loreto College (Coorparoo) Catholic Girls’ Secondary College. Open Day: 11 August 9am – 12pm, College Tours: 5 June, 23 Oct 9am 10.30am. www.loreto.qld.edu.au Marist College (Ashgrove) Yr 5-Yr 12 Open Days: Fri 31 May, Fri 2 Aug, Fri 18 Oct. www.marash.qld.edu.au Mary MacKillop College (Nundah) Girl’s Secondary College Yr 7 - 12 Open Day: Sun 20 May 10am - 1pm, Enrolment Info Evening – Tue 27 Aug 4.30pm - 6pm, Arts Showcase & Open Evening Thur 24 Oct 5.30pm - 8.30pm. www.mmc.qld.edu.au Moreton Bay Boys’ College (Manly West) Boys’ College Pre-Prep-Yr 12 Head of College Tours: Wed 1 May, Fri 7 June, Fri 19 July, Fri 30 Aug, Fri 11 Oct. www.mbbc.qld.edu.au Mount Alvernia College (Kedron) Catholic Girls’ Secondary School Open Day: Sun 19 May. www.mta.qld.edu.au Northpine Christian College (Dakabin) Indep Co-ed College Kindy – Yr 12 Open Evening: 29 May. www.northpine.qld.edu.au Northside Christian College (Everton Park) Co-ed Kindy – Year 12 Open Morning: Principals Tours and Private tours available. www.northside.qld.edu.au Ormiston College (Ormiston) Independent, Co-Educational, NonDenominational Christian, Prep to Year 12 with an Early Learning Centre. Headmaster’s Tour: Thurs 23 May 4.30pm - 6pm, Showcase Day Sat 20 July, 10am to 4pm. Headmasters Tours througout the year and personal tours may be arranged. www.ormistoncollege.com.au
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Your Local Families Magazine April / May 2019
Education Our Lady’s College Catholic (Annerley) Girls’ College Yr 7-Yr 12 Open Day: Sat 18 May 10am - 1pm. College Tours: First Friday of every month during term time. www.ourladyscollege.qld.edu.au Padua College (Kedron) Catholic Boys’ College Yr 5-Yr 12 Open Day: Sun 19 May, 10am-1pm. www.padua.qld.edu.au Prince of Peace Lutheran College (Everton Hills) Co-ed Kindy-Yr 12 Junior Campus Open Mornings: Thur 9 May, Thur 8 Aug, Thur 17 Oct. Senior Campus Open Morning – Wed 29 May 8.30am – 10:30am Senior Campus Expo – Tue 13 Aug 3:30pm – 6:30pm. www.princeofpeace.qld.edu.au Queensland Academies (Toowong, Kelvin Grove, Gold Coast) Contact the school directly for a private tour. www.qa.eq.edu.au Redeemer Lutheran College (Rochedale) Co-ed College Prep-Yr 12 Open Morning: Weds 29 May 9am - 11am, Thurs 15 Aug, 9am - 11am, Open Day: Fri 25 Oct 9am - 6pm. www.redeemer.com.au/experience Rochedale South State School Co-ed Pre-prep-Yr 6. Talk & Tour: Thurs 2 May, Tues 23 July, Fri 18 Oct, Tues 12 Nov, 9.15am - 10.15am. Information evening Tues 6 June 6-7pm. www.rochedalesouthss.eq.edu.au San Sisto College (Carina) Secondary Girls’ School. Open Day: Sun 19 May, College Tours: 26 July 9am, 17 Sept 9am, 24 Oct. 9am www.sansisto.qld.edu.au Seton College (Mount Gravatt East) Co-ed Secondary, focusing on students with learning needs Open Morning: Tues 21 May. www.seton.qld.edu.au Sheldon College (Sheldon) Independent, Co-educational, nondenominational. Childcare to Year 12 Every Day is Open Day , visit their website to book a tour at a time that suits you. www.sheldoncollege.com Somerville House (South Brisbane) Co-educational Pre-Prep, Girls Prep to Year 12 and Boarding Years 6 to 12. Open Day: Sun 19 May 11am 2pm, Tour Morning: Thur 15 Aug 8am to 12pm. www.somerville.qld.edu.au Southern Cross Catholic College (Scarborough) Catholic Co-ed Prep -Yr 12 Open Day: Sun 19 May 10am – 1pm Head of Secondary Tours Thur 9 May, Thurs 22 Aug, Thur 24 Oct from 9.30am. www.sccc.qld.edu.au
St Aidan’s Anglican Girls’ School (Corinda) Prep-Yr 12 with a Co-ed Kindy Open Mornings: 23 May, 8 Aug, 21 Nov. www.staidans.qld.edu.au St Eugene College Catholic (Burpengary) Co-ed College Prep-Yr 12 Personal tours every Weds throughout the year. www.steugene.qld.edu.au St John Fisher College (Bracken Ridge) Catholic Girls’ Secondary School Open Day: Tues 21 May 3:30pm - 6.30pm, Wed 18 Sept - Principal’s Morning Tea at 9.30am & Principal Meet and Greet at 6.30pm. Tours of the College take place throughout the year. www.sjfc.qld.edu.au St Joseph’s Nudgee College (Boondall) Catholic Boys’ College Yr 5 Yr 12. Open Day: Sat 18 May 10am - 2pm. Open Morning: Tues 13 Aug 9am - 11.30am. 07 3865 0422 www.nudgee.com St Patricks College (Shorncliffe) Catholic Boys’ College Yr 5-Yr 12 Open Day: Tues 28 May 3.30pm - 6pm. www.stpatricks.qld.edu.au St Paul’s School (Bald Hills) Anglican Co-ed Pre-Prep to Year 12 Open Mornings: Yr 7 Thur 9 May 9am – 11am, Twlight Open Evening: Junior School Fri 3 May 4.15pm – 6pm. www.stpauls.qld.edu.au St Peters Lutheran College (Indooroopilly) Indep Co-ed Prep – Yr 12 Open Day: Sat 8 June 10am – 2pm. www.stpeters.qld.edu.au St Peters Lutheran College (Springfield) Indep Co-ed Prep - Yr 12 Open Day: Sat 1 June 9am - 12 noon, Group Tour: Wed 23 Oct 9am. www.stpeters.qld.edu.au St Thomas More College (Sunnybank) Catholic Co-ed College Yr 7-Yr 12. Visitors’ Days: Tue 21 May, Tue 20 Aug, 9.15am or 4.15pm. www.stmc.qld.edu.au Stuartholme School (Toowong) Catholic Girls’ Secondary School Action Tour Mornings: 13 May, 10 June, 19 July, 15 Aug, 16 Sept, 11 Oct. Register to attend: www.stuartholme.com The Lakes College (North Lakes) Indep Co-ed College Prep-Yr 12 Open Mornings: Wed 22 May, Wed 14 Aug, Wed 16 Oct, 8.45am 10.30am. www.thelakescollege.com.au Villanova College (Coorparoo) Catholic Boys’ College Yr 5-Yr 12 Principal’s Tours: 5 Apr, 3 May, 7 June, 2 Aug, 6 Sept, 1 Nov. www.vnc.qld.edu.au
Your Local Families Magazine April / May 2019
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Family Health
How to entertain your kids when you’re feeling sick Feeling sick but still need to look after your kids? Here is our prescription for five cheeky solutions to get you through the worst of it.
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Your Local Families Magazine April / May 2019
Even Super-Parents get the ‘flu!
KPI’s (Key Parenting Indexes) and perform as per usual.
We’re expected to effortlessly leap between our different roles – parent, partner, colleague, friend and family member – and be absolutely everything to everyone.
When we start feeling sick and rundown, the wheels can most definitely come off. It’s hard to take a sick day and laze in bed when you’ve got tiny versions of yourself yelling at you for cups of milk and Peppa Pig.
Stay-a- home parents and carers can’t call in sick. No one can cover your mum or dad shift. Your tiny bosses don’t care that you’re staggering about with the sniffles and a temperature – you still need to meet their
What do you do when all you want is to lay in bed and feel sorry for yourself but you still need to keep some semblance of order in your house? Fear not! We’re here to make a house call and give you some silly, creative
Family Health suggestions that just might make your ‘sickie’ go ‘quicky’. (That was the worst - I hope that pun didn’t make you feel sicker!)
1 SHORT BURSTS OF EXCELLENT PARENTING Consider today a relay race. You’re battling against the clock, regardless of whatever gross infection is currently residing in your body and the number of things you NEED to get done for your house to function. Break your day into quadrants and give yourself half-hourly targets. Cram as much active parenting as you can into those half-hours and then collapse like a limp tissue while you steel yourself for the next burst. Beyond urgent matters like nappy changes and halting demolition derbies, you should be able to survive the day in fits and bursts.
2 HELP YO’SELF! Do you remember how exciting Sizzlers was when you were a kid and you were allowed to help yourself? Oh, the glitz! The glamour! The madness of it all! Set your home up like a salad bar. You want food, kids? Here is a low table of snacks and drinks. Here are all the toys you might wish to play with today. Here are your top five books already out of your room. A little planning in the morning and you’ll have a veritable buffet of kid-fun options so you can sniffle on the couch.
3 HEY, SICK MAMA, LEAVE THOSE KIDS ALONE Obviously this one is age dependant, but if you let your kids know that you feel like the inside of a dirty dishwasher they’re probably going to be able to entertain themselves. For the most part, anyway. Now is the time for them to do those messy projects in the yard that can be left and cleaned up later. Cartoons? Cool. Movies? Great idea. Cubby houses? Go nuts! Let your kids be kids and have an unstructured day – you don’t always have to be the grand activity master!
4 CALL IN THE TROOPS Admit it – you have a hard time asking for help. Now admit this – sometimes you really, really need it! Call around. Grandparents, relatives, neighbours, friends. All those people who’ve always said “Give me a yell if you need anything” are about to get yelled at! There is absolutely no shame in admitting that you need help and you can’t do everything – you’re not going to win a medal for “world’s biggest parenting martyr” if you suffer through everything alone. Share the love/germs and turn to your support system!
5 LET IT GO, LET IT GO You know what? This isn’t going to be your best day. The washing won’t get done. The kitchen will resemble the bowels of hell. Some people in your house are probably going to be pantsless for most of the day. That’s alright. You can’t kick parenting goals every day of the week. Sometimes it’s just about keeping your (sick) head above water. If at the end of the day all of you are still standing and the roof of the house is still on consider it a job well done. Go easy on yourself – you’re only human!
A-tissue, a-tissue, we all fall down! We know, it can be really hard to entertain your kids when you’re sick. Hopefully this has given you some useful ideas, or maybe you’ve managed to crack a smile. Get comfy, chuck on Netflix and get well soon!
Your Local Families Magazine April / May 2019
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Family Health
Lactation Cookies If you are a breastfeeding mother you’ve probably heard a lot about Lactation Cookies (or Boobie Biccies), considered by many to provide a natural boost to your milk supply, but what makes a healthy lactation cookie? While some will argue there’s no evidence to prove a particular food can boost milk supply, there are plenty others to insist that lactation cookies are more than just an Old Wives’ Tale. To be honest, if given the opportunity to kick back in a bonding moment with your baby whilst nibbling a delicious cookie – well, we’re not knocking it back! So, if you’re up for a spot of baking, here are the ingredients to look for to make a good lactation biscuit.
Galactagogue – did you know that foods and drinks thought to increase milk supply are called galactagogues? The word comes from the Greek “galacta” meaning milk and “gogue” meaning to lead.
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GOOD INGREDIENTS It’s important to ensure a lactation cookie’s main ingredients are “milk making” ones like these, which have other added health benefits too.
OATS
Oats are full of dietary fibre, which is a wonderful constipation-relieving ingredient for breastfeeding and pregnant mothers. Oats also contain essential vitamins such as thiamine, folic acid, biotin and vitamin E, plus they are a great source of slow-release energy.
LINSEEDS Linseeds (also known as flaxseeds) contain omega 3 essential fatty acids, which can help prevent excess biochemicals that the body produces under stress, making them great for busy (and sleep-deprived!) parents.
COCONUT OIL
Coconut oil has a wide range of health benefits and contains lauric acid, which occurs naturally in mothers’ milk. Coconut oil is also known for its antifungal, antimicrobial and antiviral properties, with the added bonus of being great for skin and hair. Many recipes offer
Family Health coconut oil as a substitute for butter for those wishing to avoid dairy.
More than 70% of pregnant women suffer a yeast infection at some point during their pregnancy, often occurring in the second or third trimester, meaning that many women may not be starting out on the road to motherhood with their yeast balance in check.
BUCKWHEAT FLOUR Buckwheat flour is high in lysine, B vitamins, magnesium, iron, zinc and copper. It’s also high in fibre and contains the right essential amino acids. Best of all, it’s wheat free, making it ideal for those with gluten intolerance.
Thanks to massive hormonal changes, cracked nipples from breastfeeding or a hefty dose of antibiotics for those who delivered by C-section, yeast infections are a common hazard for breastfeeding mothers, so if you are susceptible to yeast overgrowth you definitely won’t want to be adding any more to the mix!
FENNEL AND FENUGREEK Both have been used in many cultures for centuries as a milk-boosting aid. In India, a tea of fenugreek is often made for new mothers to drink in the morning to assist with the day’s milk production.
SESAME SEEDS Sesame Seeds are a good source of calcium for those on a dairy or meat restricted diet and have long been a favoured galactagogue in Eastern cultures.
NUTS Raw nuts, especially cashew, walnut and macadamia, are not only a tasty addition to your lactation cookie recipe, but also believed to be milk-boosting.
NOT SO GOOD INGREDIENTS New mums and babies often have delicate digestive systems so it’s important that lactation cookies are as wheat, dairy, refined sugar and preservative free as possible until the digestive system has settled down.
ADDITIVES Many shop-bought lactation cookies and ingredients will include additives, not all of which are required to be listed on the packaging. The additives that are listed are usually anonymous; their complex names replaced with letters and numbers. Whilst we are assured that these additives are safe, try to select only organic ingredients, or ingredients of as high a quality as budget allows, to ensure you are getting the best nutrition for you and for baby.
BREWER’S YEAST – YES OR NO? Almost every lactation cookie recipe you find will contain Brewer’s Yeast as the main milk-boosting ingredient. Brewer’s Yeast is a good source of protein and iron and contains phytoestrogens, which may help with breast tissue health. Brewer’s Yeast (also known as Nutritional Yeast) is considered an entirely safe and natural product, so why the caution?
Jesse Wilson, Totally Devoted Lactation Cookies www.totallydevoted.co.nz; Kelly Northey, Yummy Mummy Food Company. www.yummymummyfood.com.au
RECIPES There are lots of lactation cookie recipes available on the internet, including no-bake bars, indulgent cookies with chocolate and peanut butter, soft chewy cookies and cookies with a crunch. Our recommendation? Put your feet up and let someone else do the baking because, let’s face it, breast-fed or bottle-fed, parenting IS hard work, so you deserve a little treat now and then. Note: If you have concerns about your milk production or feel that your baby may not be getting adequate nutrition from your supply, always seek the help of a registered lactation consultant or medical professional.
Your Local Families Magazine April / May 2019
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Family Health
THE
modern maternity WA R D
The birth of a child is a huge event in any parent’s life and choosing the right place to give birth is a big decision. It’s important to find an environment that is calm and relaxing to ensure the birth is as comfortable and stress-free as possible for both mum and bub.
THE HOLISTIC APPROACH New mums today with private health cover can look forward to giving birth in a private room with the best maternity care that modern practice can offer. Gone are the days when birthing was done in shared wards with a curtain around your bed providing the only privacy. The best maternity wards offer a complete holistic experience, blending modern maternity care with traditional practices. Here are some of the things to look for in a modern birthing suite.
A P R I VAT E S PAC E There’s no rule book when it comes to giving birth, and new mothers are encouraged, as far as medical guidelines permit, to have the birth of their choice. The modern birthing unit will provide a private room with space to move about freely during labour, and where partners are welcome to stay overnight during those precious bonding moments.
COMFORT The birth of a child is a special time and having comfortable and relaxing surroundings makes it a more enjoyable time with bub. Modern private birthing units strive to provide the comfort of a well-appointed hotel room, with easy chairs for visitors, soft furnishings, and refreshment facilities.
FENG SHUI Feng Shui is the ancient Chinese art of placement and arrangement of space to bring happiness, success and harmony. The philosophy of Feng Shui in hospital room design helps to ensure patients feel safe and nurtured. Whilst Feng Shui respects the Chinese culture, its goal is to bring a balance of energies and a sense of calm throughout the birthing experience and during the bonding afterwards.
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PERSONAL CARE Being a new mum is exhausting, so any assistance with personal care is always welcome. Private maternity wards may offer a variety of complimentary services to ease those first few days of motherhood, including toiletries and cosmetics to help you feel your best for the newborn photographs, a range of in-room snacks for when the breastfeeding munchies hit, and soothing massages. Amid the whirlwind of the first few days of a baby’s life, having a foot and hand massage helps to relax new mums and is a great de-stressing way to enjoy some “me” time. A soothing foot massage can also encourage sleep and improves blood circulation.
E D U CAT I O N First-time mums can be overwhelmed by the changes, expectations and responsibilities of motherhood. Choosing the right maternity unit will provide access to a wealth of educational resources and classes to help new parents prepare for their new roles, and to learn essential skills such as infant CPR and first aid.
AFTER CARE Modern maternity care doesn’t end when you leave the hospital. In-home visits, postnatal exercise and baby care classes, and mental health support are all available to help new parents off to the best start for the continued health and well-being of the new family. This article was provided by the maternity unit of Sunnybank Private Hospital www.sunnybankprivatehospital.com.au/services/maternity
Family Health
Yoga
The family benefits of mindful movement
We all know that life can get a little stressful for parents, but have you ever thought how stressful life can be for children too? Moving house or starting school, changes in the family dynamics, the conflicting emotions of learning how to ‘be’ in the world – it can all add up to a lot of pressure for children to handle. When things reach boiling point, there’s only so much running around and playing to “let off steam” that a child can do before emotions boil over.
A better way Learning yoga and meditation from an early age can help our children to feel centred, calm, and in control of their emotions. Not only that, yoga is a great way to help children develop self-confidence and a sense of well-being, and provides a wealth of physical health benefits too, from learning correct breathing techniques to increasing flexibility, balance and strength. It allows little ones to focus on the thought processes required to develop social skills, express ideas, communicate and practice mindfulness, all of which can support them into their adult life.
Benefits of yoga for children It is suggested that children who practice yoga are better able to; • Focus and concentrate • Breathe correctly to improve energy • Sleep restfully • Adjust their breathing to help control thoughts and emotions • Develop and maintain a healthy body awareness • Move confidently Yoga teaches children to use all of their muscles in new and different ways, refining balance, coordination and poise. As children progress to the more difficult poses, each success is greeted with a personal sense of accomplishment and overall wellbeing. Yoga can also be highly beneficial to children with autism and special needs, helping the child to feel in control in times of heightened anxiety and to improve gross and fine motor skills.
Starting young It’s never too early – or too late! – to learn yoga. Yoga can soothe and relax young children, help school students to focus and pay attention, and keep the elderly flexible, mobile and independent. Mothers and fathers will also benefit from taking time to relax, ease aching bodies through gentle movement and refocus their energies. Yoga is an activity that all members of the family can participate in and enjoy, from the very youngest in mums and bubs yoga, to grandparents and greatgrandparents. Yoga is a great energising start to the day, and soothing way to relax at night. Consider adding yoga to your family routine and enjoy a healthier outlook today. “Yoga – The family benefits of mindful movement” was supplied by Bowen Hills Early Learning Centre. Bowen Hills Early learning Centre offers free yoga for parents and children in their care.
Your Local Families Magazine April / May 2019
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Parenting
WHY IS MY CHILD
so difficult TO FEED?!
As parents we of course know what’s best for our children. We know that they really need a nap, despite their insistence that they’re not tired. We know that the nutritious lunch we made them is a better option then the playdough they are currently licking off their fingers. And, we know that all these grey hairs are worth it and that someday they will thank us. Despite this oracle persona as a parent, we often face uncertainties and concerns that can shatter our confidence and leave us feeling inadequate. For many of us, dealing with our child’s difficult eating behaviours is one of these concerns.
How common are feeding concerns? A recent study of Australian parents with young children showed that more than half of parents are concerned about their child being a fussy eater. Around half of parents are also concerned that their child does not eat enough fruits and vegetables, and that their child eats too many discretionary (“sometimes”) foods. Importantly, many parents indicated that child tantrums were one of the main barriers to addressing these concerns. Rest assured, it is possible to improve our children’s eating without the tantrums.
Why is feeding kids such a challenge? Firstly, difficult eating behaviours are a very normal part of childhood and not a reflection of your parenting skills. Parents have been dealing with ‘fussy eating’ since the dawn of time. From an evolutionary perspective, behaviours such as rejection of new or unfamiliar foods is important to ensure potentially poisonous foods are avoided, while preference for sweet and fatty foods ensures energy needs are prioritised. Nowadays, with our ample supply of ‘safe’ energy-dense foods, these behaviours are far less beneficial for survival. Secondly, despite being a completely natural process, eating is extremely complex. It involves a highly sophisticated co-ordination of motor skills and sensory processes all embedded within complicated (and often illogical) socio-cultural rules and norms. As adults we don’t really appreciate this complexity or the underpinning evolutionary logic and simply see reluctance to eat, food refusal and preferences for sweet and fatty foods as something that can be negotiated through bribes and offers of reward (“one more bite” … “if you eat all your dinner you can have icecream” – sound familiar?). While children appear to be highly skilled negotiators, their counter offers usually include crying, screaming, throwing food, dropping food on the floor, or their all-time favourite - emotional manipulation – because of course we don’t want to see our little people heading to bed sad and hungry.
Why don’t these strategies work? Coercive feeding practices (referred to as ‘non-responsive’) are destined to backfire when it comes to improving your child’s eating. Offering bribes,
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rewards and generally pressuring children to eat changes the way children view food - and not for the better. An anxious eater (remembering how complex eating is), will become more anxious when put under pressure. Bribes and rewards reinforce that certain foods are so foully disgusting that they need to be rewarded, while the restriction of desirable foods creates a ‘forbidden fruit’ effect whereby the appeal of the food increases and a child’s ability to appropriately enjoy and self-regulate eating is impacted.
So how can we improve our child’s eating without the tantrum? Stop the negotiation! This does not mean we switch from negotiator to dictator, but rather implement what is known as the division of responsibility. In the division of responsibility parents take responsibility for what, when, and where a child eats (parent provides), while your child is trusted to take responsibility for how much and whether they eat (child decides). This approach removes the pressure, helps position food neutrally, and, provided you stick to your responsibilities, alleviates the need for a tantrum – if they don’t want to eat, that’s OK.
Parenting I know you’re sceptical and your Mumma Bear instinct will want to kick in and make sure your child is eating, but this approach has proved effective in increasing children’s intake of fruits and vegetables and supporting children to self-regulate eating. Further to this, most children who are clinically assessed as ‘fussy eaters’ are healthy and have appropriate appetites for their age – so try not to worry. Of course, if you are concerned seek medical advice, particularly if your child’s growth is faltering, your child eats fewer than 20 foods or avoids entire food groups (e.g. all vegetables), or if your child continues to be particularly anxious around food or mealtimes.
Putting Division of Responsibility into practice As you may have guessed, the division of responsibility in practice can be quite hard, particularly if you are in a solid routine of mealtime drama and worry. Here are some tips to getting started: Play it safe: While it is the responsibility of the parent to decide what to serve, make sure a ‘safe’ option (e.g. a food that is accepted) is available for your child. For example, if you know the only vegetable your child will currently eat
is carrots, make carrots available to them along with the choice of one or two other vegetables. Try to have foods of different colour and texture available at each meal too, and if possible, let them serve themselves. No alternatives: Provided your child has had the opportunity at the meal or snack time to choose a ‘safe’ food to eat and has been allowed as much of that food as they like, no other alternatives should be offered. If they choose not to eat, that is Ok, but remind them that they will then have to wait until the next meal or snack to eat (how long this is should depend on the child’s age). Continue to offer: Just because your child refused broccoli last week, doesn’t mean they will this week. Children are fickle creatures and have been known to change their mind rapidly… or not. Some children can need up to 20 exposures to a new food before they begin to try it so be patient and don’t pressure! Role Model: When it comes to eating, you are the greatest role model a child has so make time to enjoying eating meals together. Create a positive family food environment: Creating a positive family food environment is essential in helping children develop a positive relationship with food and mealtimes. Ultimately, this means creating a place where food is enjoyed, prepared and shared together as a social occasion, without distractions such as the TV, phones or other gadgets, and without stress or tension – which means if a child doesn’t want to eat something, stay calm. While we like to think we know it all, parenting is a tough gig. When it comes to child-feeding we can be our own worst enemy, with our best intentions doing more harm than good. Although feeding children can be tiresome, remember that fussy eating is a normal developmental stage and that setting up a division of responsibility sets clear guidelines to support you. Control what you can and let go of what you can’t. Happy eating. “Why Is My Child So Difficult To Feed?!” is a guest post by Nikki Ann Boswell, M Human Nutrition, The University of Queensland.
Your Local Families Magazine April / May 2019
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Parenting
5
Ways to Raise Fearless Kids
Read story books
The world can be a scary place for a child. There are so many different experiences to navigate; first steps, first words, first day of school, new friends, new experiences, learning new information and feeling strange emotions. So, how can families help their children to be courageous? This article offers a few strategies parents can embrace to nurture courage within their child.
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Your Local Families Magazine April / May 2019
Story books are a powerful tool for teaching concepts and social situations to children. Reading story books about characters being brave, like Fearless by Colin Thompson, can offer insights into scenarios and are a great stimulus for discussion. Most importantly, reading story books equips children with the vocabulary and language to be able to express their feelings.
Push boundaries Expose children to lots of different experiences which will push them outside their comfort zone. It might be encouraging them to try a new piece of play equipment at the park or signing them up for a new sporting team at school. Gently nudging and pushing their boundaries will not only give them the opportunity to accomplish a new skill but also the dispositions and confidence needed to successfully embrace challenges in the future.
says: “Feeling uncomfortable when learning is all part of learning. As adults we tolerate frustration as part of our learning process; we are not rescued when we can’t do something.”
St Margaret’s Head of Primary Angela Drysdale
“We are teaching our students that the pit is
Refer to The Learning Pit from British educator and researcher James Nottingham. The Learning Pit is a metaphor for helping students to understand the learning process, including the discomfort we experience when faced with not knowing.
Parenting of your day and how you dealt with them can be a great way of modelling to your child.
Praise effort Applaud your child’s effort. Praise the bravery, courage and perseverance it took when they challenged themselves outside their comfort zone. Share and celebrate their progress; this is how we learn. The story book Clem Always Could by Sarah Watt is a story of perseverance and a great reminder to children of all the things they can do now that they once had to learn.
Promote resilience
not a bad place to be; it’s a necessary phase of the learning process and actually where deep learning takes place,” says Angela. New and different experiences become important teachable moments for parents and teachers and provide opportunities to discuss ‘how to deal’ with a situation and strategies to employ.
Model bravery Consider the old adage “monkey see, monkey do”. When pre-prep teacher Katie Bryant kicked
off her shoes and leapt into the mud pit on “Muddy Mondays”, she was normalising the experience for her young observers. “I showed them how my muddy toes could be washed clean with a bucket of water and provided lots of positive reinforcement and reassurance to those who were really feeling uncomfortable. We try to desensitise and normalise these different experiences,” says Katie. Children learn from observing the behaviour of parents and role models. Something as simple as sharing with your child the trials and tribulations
There is a Japanese proverb “Fall seven times, stand up eight” that encapsulates the essence of resilience or the ability to bounce back from difficult situations and challenges. Resilient children are more likely to be courageous. They know that no matter how many times they get knocked down, they get back up and try again. Children need coping skills as these provide the cognition, behaviours and attitudes for making their lives in the classroom and playground happier and more productive; and the development of these skills have implications for later in life, their future careers and relationships. Promoting the skills of optimistic thinking, having a sense of purpose and future, and normalising negative events as part of everyone’s everyday life promotes resilience in children. Article contribution by St Margaret’s Anglican Girls School. Find out more about the school here www.stmargarets.qld.edu.au.
Your Local Families Magazine April / May 2019
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Families Travel To see more of Janine & Alex’s adventures follow them on Instagram families_magazine_travels
10 Things to do in Singapore with Kids Recently our Editor Janine, and her 11 year old son, set off on a trip to explore the world together for the whole of 2019. They will be reporting back on their favourite family friendly things to do with kids in each location. First cab off the rank is Singapore! Once a ‘commuter hub,’ Singapore has now become a destination of choice and the opportunities for family friendly activities are wide and varied in this wonderful city! Singapore has an area of only 721.5 km², so you will be spoiled for choice when looking for activities for kids within a short commute.
Here are our favourite 10 things to do in Singapore with kids: 1) Visit the 4 Singapore Zoos The obvious first choice for any family visit to Singapore is the world class Singapore Zoo. However, there is not just one zoo, there are four zoos; Singapore Zoo, Night Safari, River Safari and Jurlong Bird Park and they cover a total of 26 hectares. You can visit each one individually or all four, as they all offer something different. The Singapore Zoos are run by Wildlife Reserves. They are set in a rainforest environment and have an ‘open concept’ that offers the opportunity to experience and be inspired by the wonders of nature. Animals at the zoos live in spacious and landscaped environments simulating that of their natural habitat. Inside the Singapore Zoo you will also find a water park for kids. My son loved it when he was 3 and loved it again now that he is 11. Families Tip: At the Singapore Zoo you can book a breakfast with the Orangutans. Book in advance and show up early for the best seat in the house!
SENTOSA ISLAND Sentosa Island is a small man-made island resort which forms part of Singapore. You can get to Sentosa Island by road, cable car, pedestrian boardwalk and monorail. It has been transformed into a theme park like resort for tourists and locals and and has some awesome family friendly activities!
2) SEA Aquarium Singapore With over 100,000 marine creatures from over 1,000 species spanning 50 different habitats, it is hard not to be impressed by the SEA Aquarium. There is loads to see here, including a shipwreck to marvel at, tunnels to walk through and gaze at the sharks, and touch pools for discovering knobbly sea stars. The grand finale is the very impressive Open Ocean – a huge panoramic marine vista complete with manta rays, sharks, and goliath grouper.
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Your Local Families Magazine April / May 2019
In addition to viewing the amazing sea creatures, there are plenty of learning opportunities along the way, with interactive stations helping to educate children on the importance of marine conservation and environmental awareness. VIP Tours and Shark Dives (ages 12 and up) can also be arranged, and they even have occasional sleepovers in the Open Ocean Gallery! Families Tip: This is a great rainy day activity or ideal to escape the heat and humidity of Singapore for a few hours.
3) Universal Studios Singapore Enter the world of movie magic at Southeast Asia’s only Universal Studios theme park at Resorts World Sentosa. A must for mini movie lovers, Universal Studios Singapore features movie-themed rollercoasters, rides and attractions, in addition to giving you the chance to meet some of your favourite cartoon movie characters. There’s something for kids of all ages here – even the really little ones will love Madagascar: a Crate Adventure River Ride, flying a Pterodactyl on the Dino-saurin’ Ride, and flying around with Donkey on the Shrek 4-D Adventure. At the other end of the scale, more adventurous thrill-seekers can get their kicks on board Transformers The Ride – a hyper-realistic 3D thrill ride; pitch black roller coaster Revenge of the Mummy; and Battlestar Galactica – the world’s tallest duelling roller coaster ride.
Families Travel Families Tip: Buying an Express Pass is a great investment to save you standing around in the heat and humidity with the kids. Also remember to pick up a show times schedule at the gate so you don’t miss some of the fun performances.
4) Adventure Cove Offering a full day of splashing fun in the sun, Adventure Cove Waterpark on Sentosa Island is designed for thrill-seekers and families alike, promising an exhilarating day of enjoyment. Located within Resorts World Sentosa, the waterpark comprises of six waterslides as well as water play attractions, and opportunities to get up close and personal with some marine life! It is a unique outdoor venue for fun and excitement, especially for those seeking respite from the tropical heat. Families Tip: Get there around 15 minutes before the gates open on a weekday to get in as many slides as you can before it gets crowded.
5) Palawan Pirate Ship at Sentosa Your kids love water theme parks but you’re on a budget? Then, you must visit Palawan Pirate Ship at Sentosa. While most attractions and activities in Sentosa cost you between $10 to $100, this water park is absolutely free. From colourful slides, fountains, splashing waters and a giant pirate head bucket that splashes water down at certain intervals, the park knows how to make your kids happy. There are shower facilities, nursing room, lockers and even a dry playground for younger kids Located at Palawan Beach at Sentosa, the Palawan Pirate Ship is open from 10am to 6pm daily. Palawan Pirate Ship is suitable for kids aged 3 to 10 years old. Swimwear is compulsory. Families Tip: Adults are allowed at common play areas, but not the slides and ships.
9) Supertrees & OCBC Skyway Measuring between 25 and 50 metres tall, Gardens by the Bay’s Supertrees are designed with large canopies that provide shade in the day and come alive with an exhilarating display of lights and sounds at night. Stand in awe amidst these iconic giants or stroll along the 22-metre-high OCBC Skyway and enjoy panoramic vistas of the Gardens and the Marina Bay skyline. Families Tip: If you plan on going on the walkway try and time it for 7.45pm when the light show is on!
10) Spectra Light & Water Show at Marina Bay Sands Hotel Watch the beautiful symphony of dancing fountain jets, colourful visual projections, advanced lasers and mist effects that tell the Singapore story. The great thing about the light and sound show at Marina Bay is that it is visible from both sides of the water. If you are standing in front of the hotel looking towards the city you can hear the music and see the projected images on the water fountains. From the city side looking towards the hotel you see not only the water fountains but also a series of lasers which light up Marina Bay Sands and the ArtScience Museum. This is one of the most technologically advanced light and sound shows in Asia. The music is highly emotive, inspired by live orchestral compositions. It’s perfect for children and adults too! To read the rest of our hints and tips for families considering visiting Singapore including details about treetop walks, cable cars and the Science Museum check out our full article online: www.familiesmagazine.com.au/things-to-doin-singapore-with-kids
GARDENS BY THE BAY FOR KIDS The magical Gardens by the Bay is another ‘must do’ activity when in Singapore. The area incorporates 2 huge domes; Cloud Forest and Flower Dome, as well as the Children’s Garden and Waterpark and, of course, the Supertrees & OCBC Skyway. We loved them ALL!
6) Cloud Forest The Cloud Forest is incredibly difficult to describe. I have never been in anything like it and it is a true experience. It is cooled to a lower temperature (a blessing in Singapore heat) and is a mysterious world veiled in mist. You are greeted by a waterfall upon entry, and throughout your visit you can take in breath-taking mountain views surrounded by diverse vegetation and hidden floral gems. It is also a place to learn about rare plants and their fast-disappearing environment…. I urge you to add this wonder to your travel bucket list!
7) Flower Dome Enter a world of perpetual spring! Replicating the cool and dry Mediterranean climate, Flower Dome showcases exotic plants from five continents which are displayed in nine different Gardens. Wander amongst thousand-year-old olive trees and unusual Baobabs as you take in sights of the Flower Field Display. It simply is an amazingly beautiful and calming place to visit and I suggest you take your camera.
8) Children’s Garden and Waterpark When visiting the above attractions, remember to pack the kids swim suits so they can cool down in the Children’s Garden and Waterpark. With play equipment, such as a sway bridge and stepping springs, and the Fish Fountain with an interactive landscape of water tunnels and fish sculptures, it’s perfect for toddlers to clamber and play around. The waterplay area centrepiece will delight younger and older children who love splashing about in water. The programmable water play is linked to sensors which detect the movement of children to create a corresponding sequence of water effects. Your Local Families Magazine April / May 2019
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Local Clubs & Classes Directory
Clubs, Classes & Activities
around Greater Brisbane for adults and children aged 0 - 17. If you would like a listing for your club, class or activity in our next issue’s inclusive directory, contact us now! Email: Listings@FamiliesMagazine.com.au Compiled by Regina Gleeson NS = Northside SS = Southside
CLASSES FOR ADULTS 2Ballerinas (NS) They welcome people of all ages, and all levels of experience to Queensland’s first ballet school for adults. They offer classes in Ballet, Contemporary, Jazz, Tango, Tap, Stretch and Fit Barre. Combining their wealth of knowledge and experience in the art form of ballet and contemporary dance, they have designed the adult dance classes to give you strength, flexibility and fitness in a fun and supportive environment. 0428 672 920 www.2ballerinas.com
about your own personal journey based on your skill level and desire for sewing knowledge. With a range of courses, workshops and events Sewing Adventures has something for all ages and levels of experience and they have amazing teachers who will share their experience with you. 0417 591 438 www.sewingadventures.com.au
Paediatric First Aid Courses BLS First Aid Training (NS) BLS First Aid Courses
with your partner or on your own - in a relaxed, social and fun environment, where the instructor welcomes you by name. They are a Brisbane-based dance studio offering Latin dance and fitness classes. 0415 818 983 www.boogiecamp.com.au
may be one of the most important courses you will take in your life. You never know when someone who may be close to you will need First Aid. They will teach you how to administer confident first aid in the event of an emergency until experienced medical help arrives. Your help may save a life. 0433 604 041 www.blsfirstaid.com.au
Brisbane Painting Classes (NS) Housed in a large,
Brisbane First Aid Courses (NS & SS) Brisbane
Boogie Camp (NS & SS) You can learn to dance -
light-filled warehouse in Albion, Brisbane Painting Classes offers a wide range of courses and workshops across a variety of mediums including oil, acrylic, watercolour, drawing, charcoal and pastel, at a range of levels from absolute beginners through to those seeking to refine and extend their practice. 3262 1808 www.brisbanepaintingclasses.com
Code9 Parent Code9 Parent is an online service for parents who want, or need, to have an active role in managing and supporting their children using social media and online gaming platforms. By becoming a Code9 Parent, you will learn what your kids already know, what kids don’t want you to know, and how to stay one step ahead, keeping your children safe. www.code9parent.com.au
Flipside Circus (NS) Leave your dramas, inhibitions
and spandex at the door and avoid crowded gym rooms and repetitive workouts. Achieve fitness goals in a supportive and encouraging environment. Learn circus tricks that will amaze your friends (and yourself!) All circus activities are scalable to suit your individual goals. 3352 7233 www.flipsidecircus.org.au
Groove Therapy (SS) So what exactly is Groove Therapy? They have three main divisions – a beginner dance class series, a talent/performance agency and a community programme series. Each class follows the same premise – non-dance studio vibes, with dim lights, no mirrors and a community feel. www.groovetherapy101.com Healthstream QUT (NS) Healthstream QUT offer
several adult swimming programs, ranging from beginner through to advanced squad training. Stroke correction and learn to swim classes are also available. 3003 1779 www.healthstreamqut.com.au/ swim-programs
Men’s Shed (NS & SS) An organisation that is
accessible to all men and whose primary activity is the provision of a safe and friendly environment where men are able to work on meaningful projects at their own pace in their own time in the company of other men. A major objective is to advance the well-being and health of their male members. 1300 550 009 www.mensshed.org
Orchard’s Dance Studio (NS) Ballroom dancing will touch your mind, body and soul. Age is no barrier and there has never been a student that couldn’t be taught! Their twenty years’ experience includes seven years of high-level international competition and education under the finest dance gurus in the world. 0422 967 267 www.orchardsdance.com
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Sewing Adventures (SS) Sewing Adventures is all
Your Local Families Magazine April / May 2019
First Aid offers nationally accredited first aid courses to provide, renew, refresh, or upgrade participants’ qualifications as providers of first aid. www.brisbanefirstaidcourses.com.au
CPR Kids (SS) So much more than first aid! Let their
expert critical care paediatric nurses and midwives, who are also mums and dads, empower you with the knowledge and skills of CPR, First Aid and recognition of the sick child, that could save the life of a child. 1300 543 727 www.cprkids.com.au
Kids First Aid (NS & SS) Kids First Aid offers the only
first aid courses delivered exclusively by experienced paramedics, designed to teach parents and caregivers how to respond calmly and confidently to 10 of the most common first aid emergencies situations. 1300 138 133 www.kidsfirstaid.com.au/brisbane
Queensland First Aid (NS & SS) Since 1975,
Queensland First Aid has been serving individuals and corporations in a professional, efficient and friendly manner. Whether you or members of your organisation need to undertake a First Aid Course or you need to purchase a First Aid Kit for your home or office, they have you covered for all your First Aid requirements. www.qldfirstaid.com
St John Ambulance First Aid (NS) Whether it is
for workplace or individual needs, St John provides a full range of best practice certified, customised and online first aid training with flexible delivery options available throughout Australia. St John can also assess your first aid workplace needs by arranging a Best Practice First Aid Readiness assessment. 1300 360 455 www.stjohn.org.au/first-aid-training
CLASSES FOR CHILDREN Arts & Craft Art Shed Brisbane (SS) They help students achieve their artistic goals by guidance in the acquisition of sound knowledge of the visual world and the practical skills to convey these phenomena. 3846 1330 www.artshedbrisbane.com.au/learn/art-class Brizart (NS) Brizart was founded by Jennifer Andrews in 1999 and continues to offer art education for children, teens and adults in the western suburbs of Brisbane. The fundamental aim of Brizart is to foster creativity in the visual arts while covering essential skills and techniques in a safe, supportive and flexible learning environment. 3720 2077 www.brizart.com.au Raw Art (SS) Whether you are a teacher or a parent,
RAW Art has a fantastic range of workshops on offer for you and your kids! They have an extensive Primary
school and kindy program, and their in-house studio program in West End runs awesome after-school and holiday programs. 3844 4296 www.rawart.com.au
Scattered Arts (SS) Scattered Arts, established
in 1967, is Brisbane’s oldest exhibiting art and craft gallery with studio space for both adults and children’s art classes. www.scatteredarts.com.au
ZoomArt for Kids (NS) Art classes for children in a fun and friendly environment. 6 different age levels from 2 yrs to Grade 12. Designed for the intentional development of the child’s skills, observations, thinking, and experiences in the visual arts. 3855 1528 www.flyingfoxstudios.com.au
STEM CLASSES Fox Blocks (NS) is a unique and innovative engineering and construction program for kids. Developed by Flying Fox Studios educators, and run in Brisbane since 2009, Fox Blocks is one of Brisbane’s longest running STEM focused kids extracurricular activities. Fox Blocks classes combine STEM concepts in a fun and creative way, with weekly classes for children from 3.5 years of age to Grade 7. The Fox Blocks program is so much more than one single branch of the STEM tree. Whether it be learning about physics by building a theme park, discovering historical engineering with the wonders of the world, or coding an arduino powered traffic light, Fox Blocks is unique in every way. 3855 1528 www.flyingfoxstudios.com.au
LANGUAGE & BABY DEVELOPMENT Baby Massage By Design (NS & SS) Baby
Massage by Design offers a unique, tailored service to help parents learn and understand the scientific reasons behind their instincts, giving you the confidence to respond appropriately and positively to your baby’s needs while improving their overall health, wellbeing and happiness. 0405 463 899 www.babymassagebydesign.com.au
Baby Sensory (NS & SS) Specifically designed from
birth, to aid your child’s development, the classes are packed with an incredible variety of sounds, smells, sights, textures, music, dance, singing and more - plus you’ll never experience the same class twice. www.babysensory.com.au
Beer & Bubs (NS) Beer and Bubs is a one–night session at the pub where expectant dads learn how to support their partner through the birth of their baby. Childbirth is daunting for men too and this session prepares fathers for an active, caring role. www.beerandbubs.com.au Flipside Circus (NS) Flipside circus offers classes for people aged 1 and up! Their Wriggles and Giggles classes introduce toddlers and parents to the world of circus through fun, interactive workshops designed to improve gross and fine motor skills, social development and physical abilities. 3352 7233 www.flipsidecircus.org.au Hush Little Baby Music (SS) Hush Little Baby Early Childhood Music Classes are based in Brisbane and provide music classes for children aged 0-5 and their
Local Clubs & Classes Directory caregivers, as well as childcare centre music programs, consultancy and professional development. www.hushlittlebabymusic.com
ACTIVITY CENTRES
trampoline park. It’s hundreds of trampolines, connected to form a single massive trampoline that literally allows you to jump off the walls. If that’s not enough excitement for you, Sky Zone Macgregor now has Sky Climb! Over 20 different climbing obstacles for you to reach new heights on...but wait...there’s more...Skyland Laser is a 3-storey laser tag arena that holds up to 40 players battling it out in a cloudfilled wonderland. That’s right, you read correctly. A Trampoline park with a climbing arena and laser tag! So, what are you waiting for? 13 75 99 www.skyzone.com.au
Bay Play Cleveland (SS) Bay Play Cleveland
Tiddlywinks Dance & Play Café (NS) Tiddlywinks
Making Rainbows (NS & SS) Parents participate
with their children in the program, singing and playing instruments and other fun props. It’s a lovely way to bond with your child and excite their natural love of music in a relaxed and fun atmosphere. 0467 668 535 www.makingrainbows.com.au
operates within the heart of Redland City, located within Cleveland Junction; a lifestyle cornerstone allowing Bay Play Cleveland a conduit to promote the wellbeing of children. Established in 2014 in Redland’s Bayside suburb of Cleveland, Bay Play Cleveland promises you will play safe, eat well and laugh loud. 3821 7772 www.bayplaycleveland.com.au
BOUNCE Inc (SS) BOUNCE Tingalpa is a massive
indoor adventure playground in Brisbane that provides an adrenaline rush for all ages. Imagine more than 50 interconnected trampolines with the Big Bag, Slam Dunk and Dodgeball courts rolled in. It’s also home to the famous BOUNCE X-Park obstacle course so you can get your ninja on! www.bounceinc.com.au/venue-tingalpa-qld
Chipmunks Playland & Café (NS & SS) Visit
Chipmunks for unlimited play for kids aged 0 – 11 years old and relax over a coffee or lunch with friends and family at their café in one of their 3 Brisbane locations. They feature state of the art equipment and are fully air-conditioned, clean and comfortable. They also have party facilities. www.chipmunks.com.au
Crocs Playcentre (NS) Crocs Playcentre is one of a chain of playcentres across Australia that is bringing air-conditioned, indoor playcentre fun to a new generation of families with small children. www.crocsplaycentre.com.au
Flipside Circus (NS) has a professionally appointed
circus training facility that is available for individuals or small groups to use during our open training sessions. Open training is perfect for industry professionals and advanced students who wish to work on enhancing their skills or developing new acts. 3352 7233 www.flipsidecircus.org.au
Inflatable World Oz (NS & SS) It’s all about having
fun, so take the whole family and bounce on in to Inflatable World. It’s not just for the kids – they encourage the parents to have fun with their children. Sessions are for two hours per single entry fee – you will be tired by then anyway! www.inflatableworldoz.com.au
Laserzone Lawnton (NS) Brisbane’s No 1 multi-level laser tag arena, arcades, prize counter and rides will blow your mind! Laserzone offers the best value family entertainment on Brisbane’s north with a variety of packages to suit most ages and abilities. Laser tag is a camouflaged sport, perfect for getting kids away from their screenbased games and into an active game scenario with real people. Points are accumulated by tagging opponents, bases and targets throughout a tri-level futuristic maze. Arcades and rides are played between missions, adding even more excitement and variety to your visit. Laserzone is perfect for all occasions especially birthday parties. 3205 414 https://brisbane.laserzone.com.au
Lollipops Playland & Cafés (NS & SS) are great kids party venues or giving kids a treat while parents relax over a cup of coffee and a treat from their quality cafe. Their indoor play centres are safe and secure where kids can have hours of fun climbing, sliding, jumping and spinning. 4 Brisbane locations. www.lollipopsplayland.com.au
Skyzone Indoor Trampoline Park
(SS) Sky Zone Macgregor isn’t just any indoor
Dance and Play Cafe is a family owned and operated entertainment venue, providing a unique dance and play experience for children up to 11 years old. They also have dance programmes and party facilities 3266 8484 www.tiddlywinks.com.au
Urban Xtreme
(NS) in Hendra is making active adventure sports accessible, achievable and affordable for all. Their unique mix of activities is suitable for all ages & abilities. Simulated skiing & snowboard, laser tag, jump, playland and fun climb is now open with more activities to come! They do birthday parties too! 1300 [URBANX] 872 269 www.urban-xtreme.com.au
MUSIC Annette’s Music Studio (NS) (formally Little
Munchkin’s Music) offers Violin, Piano, Singing, Guitar, Viola, and Cello lessons to children from approximately 3 years of age right up to adults. Lessons are in small 0417 762 362 groups or private lessons. www.littlemunchkinsmusic.com.au
Brisbane Music Studio (SS) BMS are passionate about teaching. They believe that everyone can learn music and that, with practice and great training, everyone can grow in skills and confidence, and they would love to be a part of that journey with you. Lastly, and importantly, they believe that your lessons 0410 489 559 should be fun! www.brisbanemusicstudio.com.au Do-re-mi Music for Children (NS & SS) Do re mi classes are run by highly qualified, trained teachers who use their extensive knowledge of child development and music education to design programs specific to the needs of the children in each www.do-re-mi.com.au music class. Forte School of Music (NS & SS) Their multisensory approach is one of a kind and you child will learn music as the language that it is. Forte kids develop an amazing range of musical skills from improvising to composing, music reading and playing, theory, memorising, playing by ear, concert performance skills and more! www.fortemusic.com.au KeyboardKidz (NS & SS) Every child is different
and at KeyboardKidz, they believe that one-on-one piano lessons are by far the best and only way to teach piano. Each child learns at different rates and in different ways to other children. A private lesson ensures that your child has 100% of the teacher’s attention and a tailored approach to their piano 3219 0808 education. www.keyboardkidz.com.au
Kids Music Beat (NS & SS) is Brisbane’s original and
longest running Music Early Learning Program. Their program nurtures development, fosters a love of music and helps you to use music in the home. Having fun through musical play and taking joy in your child’s musical expression is central to their program. All music is played live and is voice led. This is because research supports the use of live voice-led music with children under 5 years of age. Come learn how making music supports your child’s social, cognitive, physical, emotional, and musical development. To book visit www.musicbeat.com.au
Kindermusik at Flying Fox Studios (NS) Music
and movement classes from newborn to 7 yrs. Kindermusik classes encourage babies & children to
develop language, social, emotional, & physical skills as well - all in the context of joyful, musically rich play! 3855 1528 www.flyingfoxstudios.com.au
Music Masters (NS) Music Masters is a sequential music program developed by Christine Masters. The classes are designed not only to foster a child’s natural musical ability, but to extend them so that their musical education is fully developed. 3357 9646 www.musicmasters.com.au Young Musicians Academy (NS & SS) Your
children will be in great hands, learning with one of their qualified music teachers. All of their teachers hold a blue card and have had working with children checks. They are all great with children and attend professional development training sessions every 3 months. www.ymacademy.com.au 0437 170 260
Queensland Show Choir (NS & SS) With
programs for babies up to adults, QSC provides quality music education and choral experiences for the whole family. The benefits of early childhood music can be seen in many areas from language development to social skills, not to mention it’s great 3257 4905 fun! www.queenslandshowchoir.com.au
SPORTS & EXERCISE Ants in your Pants (NS) multisports program
offers the opportunity for children to explore the wonderful world of sport in a fun and entertaining way. Offering 9 different sports on a 4 week rotation and presented in playful programs, the classes are designed specifically for 2 year old through to prep age children. Parents are always amazed at the amount of skills and life lessons their children are learning whilst laughing and playing in the great 0449 146 272 outdoors. www.antsinyourpants.com.au
Capoeira Beribazu Australia (SS) Their kids’ classes for 5-7 and 8-12 years old focus on age appropriate activities to develop kids in the martial arts, musicality, rhythm and acrobatics aspects of Capoeira. Physical activities, playing music instruments, singing and interacting with one another 0414 433 083 are all part of the class. www.beribazuaustralia.com Cheeky Monkeyz (NS & SS) The goal is to teach the kids all skills involve with the sport, classes provide a lot of fun and help kids socialise with other kids their own age and make friends. It’s designed to build the kids self-confidence and co-ordination and most of all its FUN! Learn a different sport every month, and only pay per sport so you’re not tied down for a whole 0421 251 002 term. www.cheekymonkeyz.com.au/sport-classes
CrossFit Kids (NS) ) CrossFit Kids emphasises good
movement throughout childhood and adolescence. Consistency and good mechanics translate to physical literacy, enhanced sports performance and fewer sports injuries for kids. www.crossfitmitchelton.com.au/crossfit-kids
Flipside Circus (NS) offer a wide range of classes
from beginners to experienced from ages 0 - 100. There is something fun and suitable for every age and every ability. The classes are fast moving and full of action – never a moment to spare. Go and learn all the skills of the circus including tissu, static trapeze, lyra, juggling, hoops, acro balance and tumbling. 3352 7233 www.flipsidecircus.org.au
Gecko Sports (NS & SS) GeckoSports offer kids a
fun and interactive start to sport and fitness for life. They give children the inspiration and confidence to be more physically active and try their hand at playing different sports through their scientifically designed 1300 432 565 programs. www.geckosports.com.au
Go Sports (NS & SS) Go Sports provides a range of children’s sports activities and children’s sports coaching classes to primary school children in over 60 public and private schools throughout Brisbane 0417 614 509 and surrounds. www.gosports.com.au Kelly Mini Sports (NS & SS) Their fun and energetic approach delivered by expert coaches in a safe and fun environment, allow children aged 1-5 years old to discover sport while developing their fundamental motor skills, confidence and social skills. www.kellyminisports.com.au Your Local Families Magazine April / May 2019
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Local Clubs & Classes Directory Golf @ Victoria Park
(NS) Learn to play golf for kids at Victoria Park with their junior programs during school term and school holidays. Their classes are fun and interactive for kids aged 4–14, no experience required. Play exciting games, learn great sports skills, all while making new friends. For more information and bookings contact Victoria Park 3252 9891 www.victoriapark.com.au
Gymnastics Queensland (NS & SS) Gymnastics is one of the most fundamental and exciting of all physical activities. Basic gymnastic skills develop attributes that are perfect stepping stones for other 3036 5600 sports, activities and life in general. www.gymqld.org.au
Hockey Queensland (NS & SS) Hockey is a team
sport, children learn the value of working with others. They figure out how to rely on teammates and understand that cooperation is key to success. 3399 6577 www.hockeyqld.com.au
Little Athletics Queensland (NS & SS) A
uniquely Australian sport for children 5-16 years. Based upon the sport of athletics (track & field) the events are specially modified to suit the ages and abilities of children. A wide range of running, jumping, throwing and walking events is conducted. 3255 9436 www.laq.org.au
My First Gym (NS & SS) MyFirstGym is a destination for kids to fall in love with movement and fitness, a place that supports skill development and inspires kids to move their bodies through their most important developmental years. www.myfirstgym.com.au Netball Queensland (NS & SS) For young children interested in playing netball for the first time, there is NetSetGo! This program is for children (girls and boys) aged 5-10 and is designed for teaching the basics of netball while fostering fun and friendship in a team 3426 9500 www.netballq.org.au environment. PCYC (NS & SS) Gym fun, kids dance, tiny tots,
cheerleading, boxercise, teen yoga karate, tumble and stunt, glee club, circuit and gymnastics are just some of the activities at PCYCs. Please contact your local club to see what is on offer for you and your children. 3909 9555 www.pcyc.org.au
Pocket Rocket Sports (SS) Book your trial now!
Designed to improve the health and happiness of tomorrow’s little men and women with sports and fun! See your child’s confidence, skills and knowledge grow, while they enjoy all the benefits that sport has to offer. Understanding good sportsmanship, teamwork and fair play is what Pocket Rocket Sports is all about! No Membership Fees! No Admin Fees! No Long Term Contracts! Owned and operated by experienced children’s sports coach Neil Fairley! Get a taste of a range of different sports every 4 weeks including AFL, Basketball, Cricket, Hockey, Rugby, Soccer, Softball, Tennis, Athletics and more! Classes are restricted in numbers to ensure your child gets 0434 606 516 the proper attention. www.PocketRocketSports.com.au
QLD Cheer Elite (NS) Their classes are a mix of gymnastics, dancing and acrobatics - rolled into one. Combine this with music, performing and costumes and it’s a mix that kids absolutely love. In cheerleading, every student in the team is important and everyone’s strengths are celebrated. Athletes of all shapes and sizes are embraced and everyone has a role to play. Cheer is about team work, encouragement, trust and commitment and it allows everyone the chance to shine. To find out more about our free trial classes for ages 4+ www.queenslandcheerelite.com.au Tennis Queensland (NS & SS) Tennis Queensland Registration is automatically included when you join your local affiliated club as a member. This will also give you access to all the exclusive benefits that the club chooses to offer. Find a club near you. 3120 7900 www.tennis.com.au/qld
YMCA Stafford YMCA Stafford is a specialist
gymnastic centre focussed on giving your child the
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Your Local Families Magazine April / May 2019
best possible gymnastic experience. From 3 years to teens their friendly and experienced coaches ensure every child has the opportunity to reach their full 3355 7176 potential. www.ymcagymnastics.com.au
Horseriding Gumnuts (SS) Gumnuts is a 140 acre horse farm
located in the Biddaddaba Valley. They offer a farm stay experience as well as horseriding, which is their primary focus. They have expanded to include day & ½ day riding tours operating from both the Gold 3613 9716 Coast and Brisbane. www.gummies.org.au
Indarra Equestrian Centre (SS) provides a safe
riding environment with qualified, professional staff so you can enjoy your love of horses. You can choose either group (max 4 riders) or private lessons. Indarra also hold fun filled day and overnight camps during 0409 475 040 each school holidays.
Kiah Park (SS) Offers 7 day horse riding farm stays for children ages 6yrs - teens every school holidays. Includes full accommodation and each child is given their own pony/horse to love, care for and ride twice a day. Includes full accommodation, arena lessons, horse care – grooming & tacking up, trail rides and gymkhana. Fun night activities include night walk, talent show, camp fire with stories and marshmallow 5486 6166 roasting, bingo and movie night. www.kiahpark.com.au Nag Nanny (SS) Nag Nanny & Equine Resolutions is passionate about teaching all aspects of looking after horses. Children will not turn up to a horse that is saddled and ready to go, do their lesson and leave. They will teach them all about getting to know a www.nagnanny.vpweb.com.au horse. Riverside Equestrian Centre (SS) Riverside Equestrian Centre is located at Moggill in a park-like setting on the banks of the Brisbane River. It is a short drive from Brisbane City. They offer lessons for groups and single riders from junior to senior riders. Each lesson runs for 2 hours instead of the normal 3202 6641 45mins. www.riversideequestriancentre.com.au Wattle Creek Riding School (NS) At Wattle Creek, they specialise in one on one lessons. This gives 100% of the Coach’s attention to the rider. This allows the experienced and inexperienced to work at their optimum pace. No riding experience is needed to start as they teach from the first riding lesson to 3300 6422 the highly experienced rider. www.wattlecreekridingschool.com.au
Swimming Kingswim (NS & SS) Kingswim offers programs for
babies from 12 weeks, right through to graduate level swimmers. Children are progressed as they’re ready, not as terms change to ensure children develop at their own pace. Plus, there’s no lock in contract for mum and dad! Contact Kingswim Carindale, Robina or Lutwyche today for a free introductory lesson. www.kingswim.com.au
Nudgee College Swimming (NS) welcomes
both girls and boys, and is based at St Joseph’s Nudgee College, Boondall. With both their 25m and 50m pools being heated, it allows them to operate all year round. They have an extensive Learn to Swim Program from 10 months old. This program then filters through to their high-level squads ranging from Junior Development to Age Nationals. They also run an Aqua Fitness program, which includes deep water running, aqua aerobics and adult swimfit. The talent of swimmers is maximised by their quality environment where all swimmers can achieve the many benefits of this sport such as health, self-discipline, fitness and 3865 0516 www.ncswimmingclub.com fun.
Shapland Swim Schools (NS & SS) Learn-to-swim with only 3 per class. Shaplands have been teaching swimming for 3 generations and through that time have trialled many class sizes and found a class of 3 is the most successful for a child to learn their aquatic skills. A class size of 3 allows each child to receive more individual attention and accelerates their learning through less time wasted waiting for their turn to perform a skill and more time spent with the teacher. Shaplands offers a semi-private class where students can progress quickly through the Shapland unique Swim-in-Five program. www.shapland.com.au
Superfish (SS) Free swimming assessment & Free
trial lesson - No obligation! All levels & ages. Under 3’s also includes - free 45Min orientation lesson. Under 6-month bubs also includes – free water familiarisation lessons. 25m heated, indoor pools. Specialist Drowning Prevention Program - babies, toddlers & under 5’s. School age stroke correction program - small, structured classes. Children’s squads. Free pool entry for Superfish families, 6 days/week, once booked in lessons! Sunnybank. 3323 3188 www.superfish.com.au
FILM & TV, THEATRE & PERFORMING ARTS ASPAFTV (NS & SS) Australian school of performing arts, film and television specialises in acting classes for children, drama classes for children, film and television classes for children and holiday workshops for kids. www.aspaftv.com.au
Brisbane Arts Theatre (NS) Every Saturday morning, children aged 8 to 16 from all over Brisbane attend Brisbane Arts Theatre’s Performing Arts’ Workshop from 9am – 11am at the Lavalla Centre in Paddington. At each class, there are three specialist instructors teaching singing, acting and dancing in rotation. The children are taught introductory stagecraft, acting techniques, improvisation, singing (solo and chorus) and movement (mime and dancing). Saturday mornings during school term time. Cost $600 per year or $350 for two school terms. Intakes at the beginning of Terms One and Three. 3369 2344 www.artstheatre.com.au/childrensworkshops
Brisbane Junior Theatre (NS) Brisbane Junior Theatre is a youth based not-for-profit theatre company producing Broadway Musicals acted by young performers. Supported by a great team of people who understand performance and production, everything we do aims at producing significant quality productions at an affordable price with the best motives, skills and processes possible. www.brisbanejuniortheatre.com.au
Brisbane Youth Theatre (NS) Brisbane Youth Theatre classes, for ages 7 - 17 are adventurous and playful and provides an exciting and supportive environment for creating theatre and enhancing learning for your children. 0447 467 724 www.brisbaneyouththeatre.com.au
Flipside Circus (NS) Performance Program Flipside Circus Trainers support students in every step of the way ensuring each student is ready as they take the steps from performing in small in-house shows to roaming performances at fetes and festivals to touring large scale performing works in major festivals! 3352 7233 www.flipsidecircus.org.au
Genesis Drama Academy (NS) The objective of their Drama Classes is to develop confidence and skills in Speech and Drama through positive and stimulating classes, within a Christian environment. Regardless of the individual student’s experience or goals, they aim to provide a fun atmosphere that creatively engages their young students’ imaginations. 0418 443 220 www.genesisdramaacademy.com.au The Theatre Factory (SS) The Theatre Factory offers a variety of Dance, Drama and Singing classes to students of all ages including: Ballet, Jazz, Tap, Contemporary, Speech, Drama, Acting, Musical Theatre Performance, Group Singing, Part Singing, Solo Singing, Voice Production, Staging etc. 0416 247 220 www.thetheatrefactory.com.au
DANCE Attitude Dance Company (NS) Attitude Dance
Academy offers many styles of dance for ages ranging from three years to adults. They aim to build students’ confidence, creativity and ambition, while improving their strength, technique, coordination and general fitness. 0434 574 757 www.attitudedanceacademy.com.au
Local Clubs & Classes Directory Balance Dance School (NS) Balance is a family orientated dance school run by industry professionals. They are committed to empowering children by nurturing creativity and inspiring a love of dance. They specialise in early childhood dance and classical ballet. Offering quality, affordable and expert 0415 729 030 tuition. balancedanceschool.com.au Brisbane Academy of Dance (NS) The Brisbane
Academy of Dance offers a wide range of qualified teachers in all areas of dance. They all always have an energetic approach to teaching and encourage students to achieve their personal best. 3356 5880 brisbaneacademyofdance.com.au
Brisbane Dance Centre (NS) Brisbane Dance
Centre is the place to be if you wish to learn how to participate in the art of “Classical Ballet”. Brisbane Dance Centre also offers many other genres in order to give our dancers an overall dance and performance education. They cater for those who are just starting off their dancing journey to those who are on the doorstep of a professional career. From tiny tots to 3262 2277 adults. www.brisbanedancecentre.com.au
Kick Dance (SS) in Bulimba provides classes in Ballet,
Hip Hop, Jazz, Acrobatics, Contemporary, Tap and Irish and caters for all ages and abilities from toddler to adult. Kick Arts provides classes in Singing and Acting as well as producing biannual musicals. Kick provides a fun and enjoyable class environment that also caters for students wishing to excel in exams, eisteddfods, musicals and concert performances. They are very proud of their students’ national successes and they are recipients of many Eisteddfod titles including Classical Ballet, Jazz and Tap Championships and aggregates. Whether you are keen to have fun or ‘Kick’ start your dance career, Kick Dance and Arts have classes to suit.
0414 308 248
www.kickdance.com.au
KJ Dance & Cheer (NS) Their teaching philosophy
is for students to have fun while gaining self-esteem and learning valuable life skills. They provide exciting multi-skilled classes at affordable rates. Your child could be learning ballet, jazz, tap, drama, singing, acrobatics and hip hop, all in the one class. 1300 522 624 www.karenjacobidance.com.au
Perry’s Dance Academy (NS) Perry’s Dance
Academy has something for everyone offering the best in dancing lessons in Brisbane. They offer ballroom & latin group classes for both adults and children, medal classes, private lessons, wedding dance preparation at their air-conditioned dance school in Stafford. www.perrysdance.com
Promenade Dance Studio (NS) Promenade
Dance Studio was established in 1989 and has since grown to become a well-respected and renowned provider of quality dance education on the northside of Brisbane. They offer a diverse and well-rounded dance curriculum for students from 2 ½ years to young professional, including ballet (RAD Graded and Vocational), tap, jazz, contemporary, singing, musical theatre, acrobatics and hip hop. 3733 0900 www.promenadedance.com.au
Mega Jam (NS) The concept of Mega Jam is to learn Hip Hop dance styles and other styles of commercial street dancing, in a fun and relaxed atmosphere. www.megajam.com.au
S.H.A.K.E Dance Studio (NS) S.H.A.K.E. has been
established for nineteen years and specialises in fun classes for the individual. They have classes available in Jazz, Tap, Classical Ballet, Musical Theatre, Acrobatics and Contemporary for all ages. 0417 193 379 www. shakedance.com.au.
Shilleena’s Dance Academy (SS) At Shilleena’s
Dance Academy it is their mission to provide quality dance tuition and care that encourages and supports the physical, emotional and cognitive development of all their dance students. 0439 763 082 www.shilleenasdanceacademy.com.au
QLD Performers Academy (SS) Why Choose QPA? Their students enjoy a fun learning environment that encourages team work, collaboration and achievement. Every child from 2 years onwards is invited to be part of a supportive and caring community that encourages and fosters individuality and sets students on the journey to personal success. QPA Director Miss Grace Willett believes dance plays an important part in the education and development of children and as such pursues furthering her own knowledge in fields of dance, education, psychology and sports science. Her team of dedicated and qualified teachers share this passion and together strive to make dance a positive and important part of their students’ lives. 0435 355 781 www.qpacademy.com.au Superstars (SS) Your child will experience learning
the joy of dance and, alongside the health benefits, will thrive with improved self-confidence, co-ordination, skills in teamwork and ability to focus. That is the SUPERSTARS difference. This is where everyone gets to shine. www.superstars.net.au
HEALTH, WELLBEING AND SCHOOL SUPPORT 10/10 Educational Services (NS & SS) 10/10
Tutoring implement a variety of effective, explicit teaching practices and strategies in order to match the individual student’s unique profile and needs. Considerations such as the individual’s preferred multiple intelligence, dominant learning style and their current interests and motivations make up the underlying approach to their programs. 0421 114 342 www.1010tutoring.com
Get Grit (NS) Get GRIT empowers kids with the
knowledge and skills to maintain a healthy mind and a positive well-being. The program teaches children how to manage their emotions, how to enjoy healthy and positive relationships, how to develop a growth mindset, how to be resilient and persistent, how to tackle life’s challenges with grit and how to reach their true potential. 0413 245 531 www.getgritprogram.com
Hope Tutoring (NS) Hope Tutoring is for children and adults with learning difficulties or disabilities and/or those seeking help with home-schooling. Justin is a qualified teacher experienced in tutoring adults and children at all levels and abilities. 0407 407 223 www.hopetutoring.com.au Lindamood-Bell (NS) They believe, passionately, that all children and adults can be taught to read, comprehend, and do math to their potential. They
identify strengths and weaknesses that may be affecting school performance. Their instruction is based on an individual’s learning needs. Some students come to them with previous diagnoses such as dyslexia, autism spectrum disorders, or general learning challenges—and they make a difference for each of them. Some students seek their help to enhance their skills or to just make learning easier— lindamoodbell.com and they do.
Northside Tuition (NS) Northside Tuition is a personalised tutoring and education advisory service, supporting children and families on Brisbane’s northside. It is run by Kylie Fedrick, an experienced special education teacher with expertise in teaching primary and lower high-school students with disabilities, learning difficulties and/or giftedness. The motto of Northside Tuition is ‘it takes a village to educate a child’ so let Kylie work with you to support your child’s learning needs through offering advice, advocacy and support in areas such as navigating the school system, motivation and help with homework, social skills and managing complex behaviours. 3269 5859 www.northsidetuition.com.au Pathways to Resilience (NS) Their programs have been developed by their highly skilled team of educators and other professionals based on their work over several years in schools and community settings. The programs are well researched with themes of resilience and wellbeing that are both grounding and empowering. www.pathwaystoresilience.org
Scribble Ink Writing Classes
Brisbane’s Most Dynamic Holiday Writing Course for Students @ Griffith University EVERY SCHOOL HOLIDAY! “My daughter’s writing improved tenfold. She came home beaming! Thankyou!” P. O’Callaghan. “OMG! Went from a B+ to an A+ and TOPPED MY GRADE. Used all your techniques!” Yr 12 student Lourdes Hill College. “I got the best mark in school for the ICAS writing test!” Year 7 Scribbler MSHS. “Best student short story I have ever read.” English HOD BGS. Our Scribblers course and Saturday morning Masterclasses will take your child’s writing to the next level....guaranteed! Using advanced techniques mastered over 29 years of teaching experience, allow the passionate Mister C and his experienced team to take your child on a journey of writing enrichment. It’s fantastic! Find us on Facebook / go to www.scribbleink.com.au
Scooter Tutor (NS & SS) At Scooter Tutor, their tutors
are their heroes. That’s why they spend a significant amount of time interviewing every tutor who applies, and ensuring they have the required experience, skills and qualifications to become a tutor with them. They are proud to employ all of their tutors, and they put in the work upfront to make sure you get nothing but the best. www.scootertutor.com.au
If you would like a listing for your club, class or activity in our next issue’s inclusive directory, contact us now! Email: Listings@FamiliesMagazine.com.au Compiled by Regina Gleeson
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#FamiliesMagFun
FAMILIES FUN
Listings for everyone in every family! To promote your local family friendly event including school fetes and fairs, community groups, get-togethers and local festivals in the next ‘Families Fun’ listings (June/July 2019) send your entry by 5pm on Friday 3 May 2019. Email Regina – Listings@FamiliesMagazine.com.au Listings in this section are FREE for most non-commercial ventures. Please check the details of the events listed before setting off in case anything has changed since going to print.
WHAT’S ON IN THE CITY?
- APRIL/MAY 2019 BRISBANE man against prehistoric predators in the ultimate battle for survival. Featuring visually stunning imagery and ground-breaking special effects, this epic film is sheer movie magic 65 million years in the making. Now audiences can experience Jurassic Park as never before: projected in HD with a full symphony orchestra performing John Williams’ iconic score live to picture. 27 April.
SOUTH BANK PARKLANDS Kids Collective Kids Collective is a free program held every Thursday from 9am to 1pm in South Bank Parklands, suitable for kids aged up to five at all skill levels. Bookings are not required, and classes are re-set at regular intervals, so you can come and go as you please. Buddha Birth Day Festival Visitors can enjoy a relaxed environment surrounded by a range of displays, entertained by a variety of performances and experiencing many cultural customs and activities and vegetarian food. It is a Festival for everyone, regardless of age, religious or cultural backgrounds. 9am to 9pm. 3 – 5 May. www.familiesmagazine.com.au/venue/ south-bank
BRISBANE CONVENTION & EXHIBITION CENTRE Queensland Symphony Orchestra presents Jurassic Park The action-packed adventure pits
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Brisbane Truck Show The Brisbane Truck Show will return to the world’s best Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre from Thursday 16th to Sunday 19th May 2019. The Brisbane Truck Show is an unparalleled showcase of the very best heavy vehicle industry’s latest and best trucks, trailers, components, equipment and technology. Thu 16 – Sun 19 May. www.familiesmagazine.com.au/venue/ brisbane-convention-exhibition-centre
QUEENSLAND MUSEUM Anzac Legacy Gallery The Anzac Legacy Gallery tells the fascinating story of the First World War in Queensland; the people and the things they held close – objects of war and warfare, and personal items belonging to those on the front line. NASA – A Human Adventure Come face to face with NASA’s remarkable achievements in human space flights and space exploration – the greatest adventure that humans have ever undertaken. Discover the exciting history of rocket science and space flight and learn about some of the most extraordinary accomplishments in space technology. Until 9 Oct. Behind the Scenes Tour Delve into the mysterious unseen world of the Museum’s
collection stores with our expert tour guides. The Museum is like an iceberg – only a small part of the huge collection is on display. Behind the scenes, they have an amazing world to explore, with millions of objects and specimens. 18 May. www.familiesmagazine.com.au/venue/ queensland-museum
QPAC Fantastic Mr Fox No one outfoxes a fox, especially not the horrible and greedy farmers Boggis, Bunce and Bean – one fat, one short, one lean. Dahl’s much-loved favourite leaps off the page (and all over the stage) in a spectacular new production from the team behind the award winning, sold out national tours of George’s Marvellous Medicine and Revolting Rhymes & Dirty Beasts. 11 – 20 Apr English Baroque with Circa English Baroque with Circa will have you gripping your seat and gasping in awe. This breathtaking combination of Circa acrobats and Brandenburg musicians
#FamiliesMagFun
will have you spellbound from the first note to the last. Join the Brandenburg and Circa for this dazzling experience of contemporary circus and enchanting English masque and theatre music where the concert hall is transformed, exploding with sound, colour and movement. 21 May.
• Future Worlds • Screen Printing
meaningful insights into the contemporary art of Australia, Asia and the Pacific. Until 16 Jun.
• Micro Architects with LEGO
www.familiesmagazine.com.au/venue/ queensland-gallery-of-modern-art
www.familiesmagazine.com.au/venue/qpac
www.familiesmagazine.com.au/organiser/ museum-of-brisbane
MUSEUM OF BRISBANE City Hall Clock Tower Tours Enjoy the oldworld charm of our Clock Tower tours. Step into the original 1930s hand-operated lift, travel past the Art Deco-styled clock face to arrive at the final, 64m-high platform for a bird’s-eye view of the city. There is a reason this has been a time-honoured tradition for Brisbane families for almost 90 years. The Designers’ Guide: Easton Pearson Archive Slow fashion, sustainability, design practice and experimental future fashion will form the basis of the exhibition’s public programs. Until 22 Apr.
Some of the workshops need to be booked, so get in quick! 6 – 22 Apr.
ROMA STREET PARKLAND The Sound Society The Sound Society delivers a free live music program that will mellow your soul and leave you relaxed as you embrace chilled tunes in the lush green surrounds of Roma Street Parkland. Take your own picnic snacks or grab a bite to eat from one of the food vendors – this will be your new monthly Sunday brunch spot! The Sound Society is held one Sunday morning of each month, at Roma Street Parkland. Entry is free with live music from 9am to midday. Kid’s Collective Kids Collective is a free program held from 9am to 1pm, Thursday to Saturday, during school holidays in Roma Street Parkland. Activities are suitable for kids aged 5 to 12 years old at all skill levels. Bookings are not required and classes are re-set at regular intervals, so you can come and go as you please. www.familiesmagazine.com.au/organiser/ roma-street-parkland
QUEENSLAND GALLERY OF MODERN ART
SPARKLAB SCIENCENTRE
Calling all inventors, thinkers, creatives, the curious and science enthusiasts, Queensland Museum’s brand new science gallery SparkLab, Sciencentre is open. SparkLab includes 40 exhibits in three zones allowing for flexible facilitated learning experiences; it also includes new science shows, a science bar featuring hands on experiments and demonstrations, and a maker space that gives visitors the opportunity to design, make, test and evaluate their creations in response to a ‘big question’ or challenge www.familiesmagazine.com.au/organiser/ sciencentre
APT9 Kids As part of ‘The 9th Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art’ (APT9), APT9 Kids features 8 interactive artworks, hands-on and multimedia activities created by exhibiting artists, especially for children and families. Offering a rich participatory experience and curated to reflect key themes of the exhibition, APT9 Kids provides MoB Makers: Moki Bands Inspired by Easton Pearson’s famous runway shows, design your own fashion headband using playful templates created by Brisbane artist and long-time Easton Pearson collaborator Stephen Mok. Let your imagination run wild with Stephen’s creative shapes and make your own adornment fit for the catwalk, a stroll in the city, or your own living room, in this fun activity for the fashionable of every age. Until 22 April. School Holiday Program There are so many amazing workshops to keep the kids entertained and challenged these holidays. These include: • Colour Weave Collaboration • Patterns and Prints Badge Making Your Local Families Magazine April / May 2019
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#FamiliesMagFun APRIL 2019 Throughout Apr & May The BFG (Big Friendly Giant) | Petrie Terrace Roald Dahl’s classic book about the 24-foot-high Big Friendly Giant and a little orphan called Sophie comes to life on stage in The BFG. In one of Dahl’s most outlandish stories, the BFG and Sophie must team up to save the children of England from the child-eating giants, ably assisted by the Queen of England and the heads of the army and air force. Brisbane Arts Theatre. www.familiesmagazine.com.au/event/the-bfg-big-friendlygiant-petrie-terrace/all Throughout Apr & May Powerkids: Little Artists at Play | New Farm Jump, Jiggle, Twist offers 0-5 year-olds the chance to dance and party with their parents and carers. This is a daytime disco where you can follow along to simple dance moves, do your own freestyle groove together or sit on the soft disco mat with little ones that can clap, shake, bop, wiggle, roll about or do the tummy time twist. Not on during school holidays. Brisbane Powerhouse. www.familiesmagazine.com.au/event/powerkids-littleartists-play-new-farm/ Throughout Apr & May AquaSplash | Redcliffe AquaSplash Redcliffe Australia’s best open water fun park. The newest greatest water park ever! Get ready for the time of your life. You can book online and it is open 7 days a week. Grab your friends for an awesome day out! 9am – 6pm. www.familiesmagazine.com.au/event/aquasplash-redcliffe-clontarf/all Until 28 Apr Playing with Light | Ipswich Let there be light! Step out of the darkness and into this hands-on, interactive exhibition where visitors can play with light. Playing with Light explores our big bright world and the many ways in which science and physics create light! Ipswich Art Gallery. www.familiesmagazine.com.au/event/playing-with-lightipswich/all
Tue 9 – Fri 12 Apr Dinosaur Time Machine | New Farm Dinosaurs at Brisbane Powerhouse? What could possibly go wrong! Brace yourself and prepare to journey back in time when Dinosaur Time Machine roars into Brisbane Powerhouse from April 9-12. Fusing science, circus, puppetry and fun, Dinosaur Time Machine returns to entertain – and sneakily educate –children during the Easter school holidays following its smashhit season in 2017. Guided by two scientists, the imaginative and creative performance is peppered with up-to-date discoveries and scientific facts that transport audiences of all ages back to a time when dinosaurs ruled the Earth. Brisbane Powerhouse Artistic Director Kris Stewart said the award-winning production proved a hit with dinosaur lovers young and old when the prehistoric beasts last came to life on the venue’s stage. www.familiesmagazine.com.au/event/dinosaur-time-machine-newfarm/all Thu 11 Apr That’s All Folks | Sunnybank From the beautiful to the bizarre, this show features a powerful and charismatic cast of internationally renowned acts from around the world — juggling, acrobalance, bell routines, slapstick, comical routines, musical chairs and more! It promises to be exhilarating and mesmerizing for audiences of all ages. www.familiesmagazine.com.au/event/thats-all-folks-sunnybank Thu 11 – Sun 14 Apr Room on the Broom | Brisbane The witch and her cat are flying happily on their broomstick – until a stormy wind blows away the witch’s hat, bow and wand. The team behind The Gruffalo and The Gruffalo’s Child return with songs, laughs and scary fun for children aged 3 and up (and their grown-ups). Gardens Theatre. www.familiesmagazine.com.au/event/room-broom-brisbane/all
Sat 6 – Sun 22 Apr Waterworld Central | Sandstone Point Make a SPLASH at Australia’s first mobile waterpark, WaterWorld Central! Coming to Sandstone Point Hotel 6th – 22nd April and open from 10am to 4pm daily! Enjoy inflatable slides and pools right on the waterfront! 2 HOUR PASS only $25 per child! Spectators are FREE! www.familiesmagazine.com.au/ event/waterworld-central-sandstone-point/all
Sat 13 Apr The Boy, The Bear, The Baron, The Bard | New Farm The Lord Mayor’s Children’s Concerts are a new series of fun and engaging free performances taking place during school holidays! When a boy jumps the fence to retrieve his rogue soccer ball, he unwillingly finds himself on the stage of the world’s most famous theatre with The Bard by his side. What follows is pure midsummer magic framed by a whimsical chase through the streets of Elizabethan London. The Boy, The Bear, The Baron, The Bard is an original adaptation of Gregory Rogers’ much-loved picture book and presented by award-winning theatre company, shake & stir. Free event – bookings required. www.familiesmagazine.com.au/event/the-boy-thebear-the-baron-the-bard-new-farm
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#FamiliesMagFun Mon 15 – Wed 17 Apr Earth Kids Programs | Windsor NSCF Earth Kids programs are about supporting kids to become ‘nature smart’ – to have the knowledge, understanding and skills to engage in creating a more sustainable world – in a fun and interactive way. Northey Street Farm. www.familiesmagazine.com.au/event/earth-kids-programs-windsor Wed 17 Apr The New Tales of Quinn | New Farm The Lord Mayor’s Children’s Concerts are a new series of fun and engaging free performances taking place during school holidays! The New Tales of Quinn is an interactive theatre show where you help our storyteller spin new tales for their hero, Quinn. It’s up to you to send Quinn on an adventure they’ve never been on before! What new lands will they explore and what mystical objects will they discover? What strange creatures will Quinn encounter and who will they meet - a giant? A pirate? A witch? You decide! The show is presented by one of Brisbane’s favourite improvised theatre companies, ImproMafia. FREE! Bookings required. www.familiesmagazine.com.au/ event/the-new-tales-of-quinn-new-farm Fri 19 Apr Bluewater Festival | Shorncliffe The Bluewater Festival at Shorncliffe Pier showcases the beauty and attractions of the northern Bayside and attracts thousands of visitors to the Shorncliffe Pier as well as Upper and Lower Moora Park. There will be lots of different market stalls, festival rides, life-sized board games, play equipment and activities for children of all ages. www.familiesmagazine.com.au/event/bluewaterfestival-shorncliffe Fri 19 Apr Redcliffe Festival of Sails | Redcliffe On Friday, 19 April families can enjoy a whole day of Easter-themed free entertainment and activities from 9am-4pm. Kids will love the free workshops and activities, Easter egg hunt, rides and amusements, and our famous sky-diving Easter Bunny. Suttons Beach. www.familiesmagazine.com.au/event/redcliffe-festival-sails-redcliffe Fri 19 & Sat 20 Apr North Brisbane Easter Festival 2019 | Mitchelton Each year, Youth With a Mission Brisbane hosts the North Brisbane Easter Festival (NBEF) in the Mitchelton community. It is a free event for everyone to enjoy! Join in this year for a fun community time with activities including an Easter egg hunt, inflatables, food trucks, sports, games, prizes, photo booth, chai tent, graffiti wall, petting zoo, live music, and more. www.familiesmagazine.com.au/event/north-brisbane-easter-festival
Thu 25 Apr Anzac Day Parade | Brisbane The Anzac Day Parade in Brisbane has its 103rd anniversary on 25 April 2019 having been continuously commemorated from the first Anzac Day in 1916. No tickets are required to spectate this family event. The best position to view the Parade is on Adelaide Street, between George Street and Creek Street. The Parade runs between 10am and 1pm. www.familiesmagazine.com.au/event/anzac-day-march-brisbane
Fri 26 – Sun 28 Apr Festival of Tibet | New Farm Offering something for everyone, there’s discussion, art, music, intrigue and philosophy on show. There will be workshops in chakra healing, momo making and traditional Tibetan art, and a myriad of free activities including yoga sessions, prayer flag painting for children, public talks and witnessing the creation of a traditional sand mandala during the period of the Festival. Brisbane Powerhouse. www.familiesmagazine.com.au/event/festival-tibet-new-farm Sat 27 Apr The Gap Autumn Fair | The Gap Head along and join in this great community and family event! There will be face painting, a jumping castle, 2nd-hand toys and games for the kids. For adults they have 2nd hand clothes, books, puzzles, gifts and fantastic plants! www.familiesmagazine.com.au/event/the-gap-autumn-fair
Sun 21 Apr Easter Eggstravaganza | Sandstone Point Hotel If Australia’s biggest Easter egg hunt sounds right up your alley, hop on over to Sandstone Point Hotel for their Easter Eggstravaganza where over thousands of Easter eggs will be hidden, found and devoured. They’ve got Easter egg hunts from 10am with over 6,000 eggs to be discovered! Live entertainment, kids rides, a visit from the Easter Bunny himself and more! www.familiesmagazine.com.au/event/easter-eggstravaganzasandstone-point-hotel Mon 22 Apr Redlands Easter Family Festival | Cleveland The Redlands Easter Family Festival takes over the Redlands Showgrounds with a host of sideshow rides, entertainment acts, children’s performers and wide range of kids activities, street theatre, free food and drinks and lots more. It attracts approx. 15,000 people, making it one the largest annual events in the Redlands. www.familiesmagazine.com.au/event/redlands-easterfamily-festival-cleveland
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#FamiliesMagFun Sat 27 & Sun 28 Apr Pine Rivers Garden & Plant Fair | Lawnton Competitions, prizes, entertainment, plant and garden sales. Yummy food. Guest speakers, display gardens. Loads of things to see. Don’t miss it. www.familiesmagazine.com.au/event/pine-rivers-garden-plant-fair-lawnton
Tue 30 Apr Alice in Wonderland | Ipswich Join the White Rabbit, Queen of Hearts and the Mad Hatter as Alice ventures through Wonderland. This all new ballet by Melbourne City Ballet is perfect for all ages and is a magical portrayal of the classical story. With 40 unique costumes and newly designed tour-able sets, this ballet is sure to be a colourful and playful rendition that will thrill the whole family. Over a year in the making, this ballet is set to entertain across Australia and New Zealand and bring a smile to both ballet audiences with its exquisite choreography and non-ballet audiences through its dynamic storytelling. Ipswich Civic Centre. Do you know a young ballet dancer? This performance has an accompanying workshop for dancers to be a part of the magic. Find out more on our website. www.familiesmagazine.com.au/event/alice-in-wonderland-ipswich
MAY 2019 Sat 4 May Redlands Rockabilly Revival | Cleveland This year’s Redlands Rockabilly Revival will see thousands of people enjoy a sensational day surrounded by hot rods, specialty markets, gourmet foodies, jive dancing, pinup parades, live bands, DJs and more. The huge, shady concert space will be the place to hang out with plenty of room for everyone to enjoy a tip of the top selection of Australian bands. www.familiesmagazine.com. au/event/redlands-rockabilly-revival-cleveland Sat 4 May Redlands College Fete | Wellington Point Head along to the Redlands College Fete. With lots of rides, games, food, live performances, entertainment, displays, activities, stalls and fireworks - it’s sure to be a great day out for the whole family! 12noon to 7pm. www.familiesmagazine.com. au/event/redland-college-fete-wellington-point Sat 4 – Sun 19 May Brisbane Street Art Festival | Brisbane The Brisbane Street Art Festival (BSAF) has played an important role in contributing to their city’s creative sector, connecting with 100s of creatives in all forms of creativity, since the bare foundation three years ago. BSAF is an annual multi-platform public arts festival with the core objective of showcasing local, national and international artists through a wide public platform. www.familiesmagazine.com.au/event/brisbane-street-art-festivalbrisbane/all Thu 9 – Sun 26 May 2019 Anywhere Theatre Festival | Brisbane From 9-26 May, the nooks and crannies of Brisbane will explode with over 500 performances anywhere you don’t expect it. Theatre in car parks, comedy
in laneways, opera in reservoirs, dance in stairwells and quirky workshops exploring arts and craft from cooking to jewellery making. www.familiesmagazine.com.au/event/anywhere-theatre-festival-brisbane Sat 11 – Fri 17 May Billionaire Boy | Brisbane Twelve-year-old Joe has everything a boy could even want, from a golden underwater Ferrari to his very own cinema. David Walliams’ best-selling book comes to life with songs, laughs and, yes, that cat sick and sweet potato mash from the canteen in this original Australian adaptation. Gardens Theatre. www.familiesmagazine.com.au/event/billionaire-boy-brisbane/all Thu 16 & Fri 17 May Me & My Shadow | Cleveland Me & My Shadow is about the fanciful escapades of a girl making friends with her shadow. It is a gentle, magical visual poem for children that uses paper, light, shadow, colour, water, music, sound and words to create a world of play where the imagined becomes real. RPAC. www.familiesmagazine.com.au/event/me-my-shadow-cleveland Sat 18 – Sun 19 May Paniyiri Greek Festival | South Brisbane For more than four decades, Paniyiri has grown to become Queensland’s signature celebration of all things Greek. Celebrate over two joyous days with traditional music and dancing, along with traditional food stalls showcasing the tastes and recipes from all corners of Greece. www. familiesmagazine.com.au/event/paniyiri-greek-festival-south-brisbane Sun 26 May Dayboro Day Festival Entertainment, demonstrations, market stalls, chopper rides, wildlife displays, lots of food, drinks, antiques & collectables fair plus much more! 8am to 3.30pm. www.familiesmagazine.com.au/event/dayboro-day-festival Sat 26 May Albany Fair | Albany Creek Albany Fair is entering its 29th year and is gearing up for another fun-filled day of thrills, food, smiles, memories and more. There are plenty of things for the kids to enjoy like Carnival rides, jumping castle and lots of other fun activities. Gates open at 10.00am. www.familiesmagazine.com.au/event/albany-fair-albany-creek Wed 29 May Thoughts Have Feelings Too | Sunnybank Meet two clowns: Sweet Clown and the absent-minded Professor. When the clowns meet in the Professor’s laboratory, they discover that thoughts and emotions are connected. Over four scenes focusing on happiness, sadness, anger and fear, the clowns discover how to recognise each emotion and find simple steps to deal with them. SunPAC. www.familiesmagazine.com.au/event/ thoughts-have-feelings-too-sunnybank Thu 30 May Flipside Circus – Revolve | Cleveland Revolve brings together 14 of Queensland’s youngest circus stars, experienced artists, and a live DJ to create a show that is bursting at the seams with energy and fun. Highly rehearsed elements are combined with moments of improvisation as the performers play with rhythms of movement and music. RPAC. www.familiesmagazine.com.au/event/flipside-circus-revolve-cleveland
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Es i L i M a F
s e i b ee
Fr
iNe! L n O R EnTe
Families Freebies
FaNtAsTiC PrIzEs
for the whole family!
Enter at www.FamiliesMagazine.com.au/competitions
WIN A PRIZE PACK (4 X A RESERVE TICKETS + MERCHANDISE) TO DISNEY ON ICE CELEBRATES MICKEY AND FRIENDS Get ready for the ultimate interactive event as Disney On Ice celebrates Mickey and Friends comes to the Brisbane Entertainment Centre, from June 28 to July 1. For the first time ever, see fearless Moana on a high-seas adventure with demigod Maui and follow the unforgettable Dory through the unexplored seas of the Pacific Ocean. “Live Your Story” alongside Disney Princesses as they inspire all to celebrate their favourite Disney memories in this commemoration of 90 years of Mickey Mouse. Tickets at www.ticketek.com.au/disneyonice Win 1 of 3 prize packs each with 4 x A Reserve tickets to Disney On Ice celebrates Mickey and Friends on Friday 28 June at 7pm and 2 x merchandise bags. Total prize pool valued from $850 as at 11 March 2019
©Disney. All rights reserved
WIN! NEW KIDS TOYS
FROM CROWN & ANDREWS!
WIN! FAMILY PASS (2 ADULTS + 2 CHILDREN) TO ALICE IN WONDERLAND BY MELBOURNE CITY BALLET! Performed by Melbourne City Ballet with 40 unique costumes and newly designed tour-able sets, this rendition of Alice in Wonderland is sure to be a colourful and playful performance the whole family will enjoy. Tickets on sale now at www.ipswichciviccentre.com.au/event/alice-in-wonderland Ipswich Civic Centre is giving away five family passes to see this whimsical performance of Alice in Wonderland, valued at $100 each. For full terms and conditions and to enter, go to www.familiesmagazine.com.au/competitions
Using smart technology, the i-Top ($19.99) keeps track of the number of spins while LEDs light up the display. Spin your way to the top score and unlock hidden features and animations. Tri-ominoes ($24.95) combines strategy with luck as players try to match one side of a Tri-omino tile that’s on the table to one that’s in your hand. The Phlat Ball Flash ($24.95) is fitted with bright LED modules that shine and shimmer, so squash it, toss it, and watch it pop into a ball. Rubik’s Race ($29.00) is a fun new puzzle game that combines the strategy of the Rubik’s Cube with face-to-face play. Shake the Scrambler to create a new Rubik’s pattern, then be the first to slide the tiles on your board to match the pattern. 2x Crown & Andrews prize packs containing all four toys to win. Enter online at www.familiesmagazine.com.au/competitions
For full competition terms and conditions and to enter, log on to: www.FamiliesMagazine.com.au and click on ‘Competitions’
Remember to join our Facebook page to enter our Facebook ONLY competitions
Families Magazine is made with love by
UPCOMING ISSUES
Janine Mergler – Editor
June/July 2019
Joanne Crane – Co-Editor
WINTER DAY TRIPS & KIDS PARTIES
Regina Gleeson – Listings Editor
Advertising deadline: Friday 3 May 2019
Suzie Porter – Designer
August / September 2019
Stephen Monteith – IT Systems & Support Lou Lavery – Online Content Manager
The information contained in this publication and on our website and social media forums is for general information purposes only. The information is provided by Families Magazine and its contributors as detailed on individual articles. While we endeavour to publish information that is up to date and correct, we make no representations or warranties of any kind, express or implied, about the completeness, accuracy, reliability, suitability or availability with respect to the information, products, services, or related images contained in print, on our website or in our social media forums for any purpose. Information received via our publication or online should not be relied upon for personal, medical, legal or financial decisions. You should consult an appropriate professional for specific advice tailored to your need and situation.
LOCAL SCHOOL & EDUCATION Advertising deadline: Friday 5 July 2019 We do not endorse contents or advertisers in our publication or on our web pages and will not be responsible for any content of any linked site or any link contained in the link site. In no event shall we be liable for direct, indirect, punitive, incidental, special, consequential damages or any damages whatsoever arising out of or in any way connected with the use of or performance of information, products, services or reliance on the contents of the advertisements. All material including, but not limited to adverts, editorial, images and part thereof sent to Families Magazine remain the property of Families Magazine. All materials and personal details will be handled appropriately with respect to data protection laws. No material published by Families Magazine in print or online may be reproduce whatsoever without prior written consent.
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