ELEMENTAL: A Paper World Adventure

ELEMENTAL: A Paper World Adventure

Step inside a magical paper world of Earth, Fire, Water, and Air.

ELEMENTAL is an interactive family installation at The Wetlands Centre Cockburn, created with children, families, and artists through the HOME Program.

Across Term 2, children and their grown-ups worked with artists Rachel Riggs, Lakshmi Kanchi, Kate Hannah, and Rickeeta Walley to make flowers, bees, butterflies, shadow puppets, water poems, flying creatures, paper trees, underwater animals, rainbows, decorations, and more.

Now, all those creations come together as a playful paper world for families to step into, explore, perform, and enjoy.

🌿 What will families experience?

This is not a sit-and-watch event. It is a hands-on, walk-through, make-and-play adventure for children, parents, carers, and grandparents.

The Wetlands Centre will be transformed into four immersive paper worlds inspired by the elements:

• Earth will grow with paper gardens, flowers, fruit, vegetables, creatures, and percussion play.

• Fire will flicker with shadow puppets, stories, glowing decorations, and a dark cave to explore.

• Water will ripple with poetry, colour, movement, whirlpools, paper boats, and underwater creatures.

• Air will lift into clouds, wings, kites, paper planes, rainbows, and flying things.

Each area will have creation stations, with local artists supporting children and families to make, imagine, move, tell stories, and play.

✨ A world made by children

The beautiful thing about ELEMENTAL is that the installation has been built from the ideas, hands, stories, and imaginations of children and families.

Little by little, across the term, the rooms began to change. Earth grew. Fire flickered. Water rippled. Air filled with wings and colour.

This July, families are invited to come back, step inside the completed world, and celebrate what has been made together.

📅 Dates and session times

Each session runs for two hours. Stay as long as you like within your session and explore each different area at your own pace.

📍 Location

The Wetlands Centre Cockburn
184 Hope Road
Bibra Lake WA 6163

🎟 Tickets

$10 per family

All materials are supplied.

Bookings are essential.

👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Who is it for?

ELEMENTAL is for families with children of all ages and abilities.

Children must be accompanied by a parent, carer, or guardian at all times.

It is ideal for children who love making, moving, storytelling, nature, colour, sensory play, and imaginative worlds.

🎨 Meet the artists

Rachel Riggs

Rachel Riggs is an internationally experienced puppeteer, theatre-maker, and creative learning artist. Through DNA Puppetry and Imaginary Leaps, her wider arts practice, Rachel creates imaginative worlds where children can make, move, perform, and play.

For ELEMENTAL, Rachel brings together puppetry, paper craft, installation, storytelling, and performance to guide families through the creation of a playful paper world where earth, fire, water, and air come alive.

Rickeeta Walley

Rickeeta Walley is a proud Nyoongar woman living and working on Whadjuk Country. She is a cultural educator, storyteller, performer, and community artist with a strong connection to culture, nature, poetry, and place.

In ELEMENTAL, Rickeeta leads the storytelling with song and percussion play, helping children explore how stories can be made, shared, and brought to life.

Lakshmi Kanchi / SoulReserve

Lakshmi Kanchi, also known by her pen name SoulReserve, is an Australian poet of Indian heritage, storyteller, and teaching artist. Her poetry explores love, language, memory, land, culture, and the natural world.

In ELEMENTAL, Lakshmi helps children turn water, wetlands, and imagination into poems, banners, and spoken moments that become part of the wider installation.

Kate Hannah

Kate Hannah, also known as Kate Hannah Creatrix, is an intuitive artist and creative workshop facilitator. Her practice includes creative sessions, community art experiences, workshops, and hands-on making for children, adults, and families.

For ELEMENTAL, Kate supports children and families through air-inspired construction, including paper planes, kites, birds, flying things, and the creation of a rainbow for the shared installation.

🌈 Come HOME to the Wetlands

“Nature is not a place to visit, it is HOME.”

Come along with your wild child and step into a world made from paper, play, nature, and imagination.

This program is supported by the WA Government, Department of Creative Industries, Tourism and Sport (CITS WA), and Healthway through the Creativity and Wellbeing for Young People Fund.