You can celebrate the National Day of Real Play anywhere! Get outside and have fun making up your own adventures, whether it is in the park at the end of your road or one Australia’s magnificent National Parks.
To help you get started though Nature Play and OMO have come up with our Top 10 ways to celebrate the National Day of Real Play, along with some great places in Tasmania you can go to try them!
1. Climb a tree
Climbing trees is something every kid should do! To be safe remember to always have three points of contact (two hands and a foot, or two feet and one hand) and not to climb on a branch that is thinner than your thigh.
Types of trees that make for great climbing include: Morton Bay figs, mulberry, and gum trees – look for strong, sturdy branches with good spacing between (and a sandy or grassy base for softer landings!)
2. Build a cubby at home or at your local park
Every kid needs a base of their own! Find a spot in the backyard to make a cubby just for you, or go to your local park and see if you can recruit other kids to help you make something you can share.
You can use just about any materials you can get hold of. Try cardboard boxes, bits of wood, sticks or sheets from the laundry. If you are making a cubby in nature remember to leave only your footprints and take home only memories!
3. Make a mud pie at Bakers Beach
Mud is good! There’s nothing better than squishy, dirty, gloppy mud to bring out your inner super chef.The wet sand of Bakers Beach in Narawntapu National Park is perfect for creating gloopy mud pie delicacies, as you enjoy the sensation of slowly sinking into the sand! Your mud pie bakery will be ready for business in no time.
4. Go camping in your backyard
Camping out under the stars is amazing and you don’t need to go bush to do it. Why not pitch your tent in the yard. If you don’t have a tent you can string up a tarp with rope and snuggle up with your doona and pillow.
Why not invite your friends around and camp together?
5. Go on a family bike ride on Clarence Foreshore Trail
Having a bike is like having a licence for freedom! You can explore, meander, or just go on a ride to nowhere. Why not get the family together and explore the Kangaroo Bay to Bellerive Beach section of the Clarence Foreshore Trail? The scenic track takes in views of yachts in Kangaroo Bay and across the Derwent to kunanyi/Mount Wellington, with lookouts along the way – what a great way to get active in some real play!
6. Make a kite and fly it at Binalong Bay
Kites are popular for kids all over the world. And best of all making them is super easy. A quick internet search will show you dozens of designs you can make with things you probably already have in the house.
Once you’ve made your kite try taking it to Binalong Bay, with the whitest, fine hourglass sand and bluest azure water in the world, along with the magnificent granite boulders tinged with bright orange lichen. It’s a stunning backdrop to fly your wonderful creation!
7. Invent an outdoor game with friends
The best thing about inventing your own game is that you get to make up the rules! Why not get some friends together and start inventing. You can do it in your backyard, in your neighbourhood or even organise to visit one of Tasmania’s amazing National Parks.
8. Build a city in the sand at Opossum Bay
A favourite with locals, especially families with young children, the waters are shallow, calm and comparatively warmer than open ocean. Only 40 minutes from Hobart, the dolphins, seals and penguins create an idyllic backdrop to your sand castle city. Get enough kids together and you can make your own Sand Castle Metropolis!
9. Go on a photo safari in your neighbourhood
Get your cameras (or smart phones) at the ready, and get happy snappy in the surrounds of your neighbourhood! You’ll be surprised at all the natural beauty you find!
10. Make a stick boat and float it down a creek at Tasmanian Bushland Garden
Located in a peaceful rural setting beside the Tasman Highway, its large landscaped quarry features a pond and waterfall, and abundant bushland for supplies for your water craft.