Bring your little ones for some hands-on fun at Playful Pathways for Little Learners, a collection of education-focused activities designed for children aged 0-8 years and their parents/carers to spark curiosity, creativity and love for learning. This free event is an exciting opportunity for families to learn and play together while discovering easy-to-do activities that support their children’s growth, and talk to some of the researchers behind these colourful and playful concepts.

Spaces may be limited so participation will be offered in the order of arrival. Registering for this event will not guarantee a session. We ask all parents/carers to supervise their children during the activities.

Led by expert researchers, each activity focuses on playful learning that can boost early development:

Write from the Start encourages pre-writing and writing for children aged 0 to 8 years. 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. Sessions are limited to 6 children plus their caregivers. Stations will be organised into the following age groups:

0-2 years: climbing frames, big blocks, tummy time.
3-5 years: big letters on sand, with bricks, on puzzles.
6-8 years: handwrite or type your own adventure.

STEMFest introduces children aged 3-6 years to STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) concepts through hands-on activities in both digital and non-digital environments. Sessions are limited to 12 children plus their caregivers. The full circuit will take one hour, with children progressing through 20 minute stations, collecting a stamp for their STEM passport at each one:

Non-digital coding activities, where the underpinning ideas of coding are presented in fun, hands-on activities.
Working with robotics, such as bee bots, learning how to code the small robots to move around in a particular way, using the knowledge they have built from the previous activity.
Non-digital and digital play with scaffolded hands-on activities, literacy and digital play to provide a snapshot of spatial learning for STEM. This activity draws on the work of the UC Stem Education Research Centre's nation-wide Early Learning STEM Australia (ELSA) program.

Block Party celebrates using free play at home to encourage the development of preschool-aged children's vocabulary, sentences, storytelling, imagination, spatial concept knowledge and early mathematical development. Preschool children aged 4 to 6 years and their families can play with blocks of all shapes and colours to learn and practice these key concepts, and families can take away a set of colourful activity cards developed by education and allied health researchers with advice and suggestions on how to use block play to facilitate children's communication development and early mathematical skills at home. Sessions are limited to 10 children plus their caregivers.

Dates and activities:

Saturday 2 November, 10am - 2pm @ Paddys Park, Pro Hart Ave, Strathnairn.
- Write from the Start
- STEMFest
- Block Party
Friday 8 November, 10am - 12pm @ UC's Life of a CBRn pop-up display, outside Dangerfield and the Official LEGO Store at the Canberra Centre, Bunda Street.

Write from the Start
STEMFest
Block Party

Saturday 9 November, 10am - 12pm @ UC's Life of a CBRn pop-up display, outside Dangerfield and the Official LEGO Store at the Canberra Centre, Bunda Street.

Write from the Start
STEMFest
Block Party

Wednesday 13 November, 10am - 12pm @ UC's Life of a CBRn pop-up display, outside Dangerfield and the Official LEGO Store at the Canberra Centre, Bunda Street.

Write from the Start
STEMFest
Block Party

Saturday 16 November, 10 am - 2pm @ UC Research at SouthFest, The Laneways, Greenway
- STEMFest

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