For the little ones

Nurture your little explorer with our free Burdekin Library Nature Passport!

Designed for children aged 0-5, our Nature Passport is the perfect companion for families to explore our local natural beauty and supports a child's early development through positive interactions and natural play opportunities. 

 

How it works 

Each passport contains nature play missions for children and parents to complete together and are centred around our local culture and natural spaces such as the Plantation Nature Play Park and Alva Beach. 
Use the stickers provided with every passport to document your completed missions, this can even be a fun game between siblings or friends to see who can complete all their missions first! 

We have also included some fun tips and tricks about the importance of nature play, along with rhymes, activities and book suggestions to continue the fun at home. 
Use the Visit Burdekin website to find out more information about our natural spaces including locations and important information. 

Children will need a pen, a sense of adventure and a hat/sunscreen when completing their missions, and children must be accompanied at all times by a parent or guardian. 

Why is nature play important? 

In the first years of life a human brain develops at its fastest, and what happens within the first five years last a liftetime. Research shows us that simple things like talking, reading, singing and playing from birth provides lifelong positive impacts and that these types of interactions can happen every day, anywhere and anytime. Nature play supports early years development by providing opportunities for children to use their bodies and their senses in different ways to conventional play equipment. It encourages children to be creative, to get dirty - an essential part of childhood, and to explore the world around them. Nature play fosters a child's natural curiosity and imagination and supports their creative thinking and problem solving skills which are essential for life in the 21st century. Playing make believe with sticks, rolling up and down hills or climbing trees are all great, simple nature play activities that support both a child's cognitive and physical development, and shows how easy it can be to integrate nature play into your everyday lives. 

About our passports 

Our passports were developed as part of our First Five Forever program with grant funding provided by the State Library of Queensland and Queensland Government. 
First 5 Forever is an initiative of the Queensland Government, coordinated by State Library of Queensland and delivered in partnership with local government. 

These passports are designed to create opportunities for parent-child interactions and to inspire families to reconnect with nature through fun and unstructured play in our beautiful natural spaces. 
Passports are available for free and can be collected from the Burdekin and Home Hill Library branches and the Burdekin Visitor Information Centre.