You know the old proverb: "Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime." I have a variation. Gift a child a toy and he'll play with it for five seconds. Give him the box it came in and he'll have no end of fun. Kids find such joy from open-ended play inspired by things with endless possibilities.
Child's play is not "just" child's play. As parents we want to encourage that creativity but we don't always have the skills or the time or the resources. Enter Little Artists at Play. Every Tuesday morning during the school term the Turbine Platform at the Brisbane Powerhouse is transformed into a dynamic creative space just for kids aged five and under and their people.
The project is led by Brisbane-based performing arts company Imaginary Theatre which each term invites a guest artist to develop a world of play just for little people.
"Children under five are the experts in play," says Imaginary Theatre's general manager Fiona MacDonald. "So this program Little Artists at Play for us is about going “How do we put artists and babies and toddlers and let them do what they do naturally."
The Imaginary team want to make experiences that don't replicate what is already in the market but rather to create art that is immersive, surprising and fun.
"It's really honing in and responding to the needs, those very particular and special and wonderful needs of babies and toddlers," says Fiona. "And really getting to the bottom of what play is, and how artists play, it’s how artists make their artwork and it’s how children learn. "
And one of the beauties of the program from a parent's point-of-view is it is free. You can give it a go and your small person can engage in his or her own way for as long a time as either of you wants to.
It's a formula that is proving extremely popular with families.
"We often joke that the Turbine Platform on a Tuesday morning is Brisbane’s living room because particularly around 11 o’clock we’ve got mums, dads, uncles, aunts, grandma, grandpas, day care workers and various people… laying on the floor playing with children. "
Today I was one of those "various people" playing with my buddies Owen Elliott in boxes, on phones and on microphone. We were enjoying Chatterbox, the Term 2 interactive installation designed by visual artist Amelia Kalifia and a bunch of QUT Creative Industries students including my own son. Sadly Little Artists at Play wasn't a thing when my boy was a Little Artist. Had it been, I know we would have been regulars. It's just the creative outlet we sought. And quite frankly it would be too good an opportunity to miss. Plus there's coffee and cake on hand and New Farm Park just next door plus a tribe of like-minded parents.
"That’s the community atmosphere we wanted to make here where people feel really safe and really welcome to come into one of Brisbane’s premier arts venues and not feel like they have to put on their best frocks and gowns," says Fiona. "They can rock up in there trackies, no make up who cares… walk in from the playground, bring your kids and have a really incredible time. "
So what are you waiting for? The next Powerkids: Little Artists at Play season starts when school returns.
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