Ginninderry Community Day

UC Ginninderry Community Day celebrates Ginninderry’s unique community and environment. There will be a range of fun, family-friendly activities demonstrating the work by UC researchers to make Ginninderry a better place to live and play.

Featured activities:

• Kite Festival – Join Ginninderry’s own kite festival! Make and fly your own kites (all ages). The Kite Festival will include DIY kite activities alongside professional kite flying.
• Frogging Talks (11:30am) - hear from UC researchers about their efforts to reintroduce frog populations wiped out by a nasty fungus. Learn about all things frogs, frogging and how you can contribute to the project as members of the community!
• What lies beneath (11am, 12pm) - explore what lurks below in your ponds and waterways around Ginninderry. Are they aliens or bugs living their best life? Come and chat to researchers from the University of Canberra’s Centre for Applied Water Science on the importance of bugs (macroinvertebrates) and the quality of water they live in. Children and adults alike can engage with activities and researchers through catching and identifying critters, or if that’s too much, colour in a critter instead. There will also be the opportunity to see and use some of the equipment that we use to collect water quality samples to help protect the Ginninderry Conservation Corridor.
  
• Playful Pathways for Little Learners - a collection of fun activities for kids, including:
  • Write from the Start invites families with children aged 0 to 8 years to experience a range of activities that will encourage pre-writing and writing from the very start of life! From structures to encourage body movement, activities to engage in BIG WRITING, and opportunities to type on keyboards, this promises to be an enriching experience for all involved. Families will learn how to encourage pre-writing and writing at home through digital and printed take-home resources.
  • STEMFest invites children (ages 3-8 years) to collect a STEM passport stamp as they move through several STEM activity stations and collect a small prize at the end. The activities offer an interactive and educational experience and introduces children (and their parents) to STEM activities through hands-on activities. Parents are also provided at-home resources.  
  • Block Party Pop Up provides an opportunity for families to engage with their young children (ages 0-5 years) in free play with wooden blocks and hear from UC researchers in health and education on parent-child interactions in the context of block play and how it can be used to facilitate the development of children's oral language and spatial concepts. Parents will be provided with activity cards to continue to support the development oral language, spatial, early literacy and mathematical concepts at home.

Parking: some public parking is available on Asimus Avenue. Locals are invited to walk or ride to the park.

Accessibility: Paddys Park is accessible from the carpark and there is disability parking. There are areas within the park that cannot be accessed using mobility devices, but major activities will be held at the perimeter.

Food & drinks: there will be some vendors on-site offering food and drinks. 

Sun safety: the park has some shade but we strongly encourage everyone to wear a hat and sun cream. You are welcome to bring a picnic blanket and umbrella. Please take all your waste with you or use the provided waste and recycling bins.

Update 2 November: We have been advised that the Rural Fire Service will be conducting a hazard reduction burn at a private property on Stockhill Drive, approximately 1.25km away. Smoke may be visible from the park, but please do not be alarmed. We recommend anyone with respiratory conditions come prepared, just in case the smoke carries over to Paddys Park. A first aid provider will be at the event.

This is a free event held by the University of Canberra and Ginninderry as part of Research Festival 2024. Get involved and explore the full program on our website.