Kooky Finds Home: A Sensory Adventure
Under 5s
29 September - 3 October
Tuesday
29th September
Wednesday
30th September
Thursday
1st October
Friday
2nd October
Saturday
3rd October
Bronte Frances
Free event
Kaya! Welcome, my name is Kooky! Do you know what animal I am? That's right! I am a Kookaburra! I would love to set up a home, but I often start dreaming of the sky and fly away before I remember the little details around me. Can you help me explore the space and find the delightful things, so I know where to come home?
This hub combines mindfulness, puppet-led storytelling, and nature-based sensory play. Families can join at any time and take part in a short, guided sense play story session with Kooky, followed by drawing a 'map of home' for Kooky and open-ended making. Caregivers would be co-participants for babies. The space is set up with curated, native Australian flora to interact with. This hub is designed as a calm, gentle play space where children are invited to explore at their own pace and in their own way.
The Kooky storytelling will be about 10 minutes long, with an approximate 15 minutes between Kooky appearances.
Accessibility Guide
Lighting and Sound
Total blackout (audience)
Lighting level
Warm ambient lighting
Flashing lights
Loud sounds
Repetitive noises
Drums
High-pitched tones
Unexpected sounds
Background Music
Interactivity and Participation
Children invited on stage
Artist goes into audience
Yes I will be actively interacting with the families and doing my best to modify to the group present
Manual activity (e.g. read, draw, sing, paint, construct things)
This interactive workshop offers multiple ways to participate. While drawing and building with natural materials (like leaves) are main activities, they are completely optional. Attendees are welcome to dive into the hands-on projects or simply sit back and enjoy the "Kooky" segment.
Undertake direct movement
Not required, but there will be opt-in prompts: "you may like to spread your wings" and "you may like to explore the space"
Participation in groups/pairs
Parent/carer can support in participation
Capacity for a child slower in their movements to participate
Senses, Emotions and Effects
Distinctive smells
There will be some scent boxes, marked and labelled, that children can open to smell. Currently, these are planned to be eucalyptus, lavender, lemon myrtle, mint, and sandalwood. The hope is that the boxes effectively contain most of the scents.
Special effects
Textures
One prompt from Kooky will be "one thing you can touch". There will be a number of objects in the space curated for this purpose; these will mostly be natural foliage, with some options for fabrics for a softer touch.
Balloons
Characters express anger
Dialogue driven
The dialogue is simple and heavily aided by visual cues, with the artist and the puppet in hopes of reducing the reliance on English and sound
Props
Natural items are pre-curated for ages 0–5 (no sharp pieces; choke risk managed; cleaned and sanitised), and the artist will also offer alternative “sensory trays” for children who shouldn’t handle small items.
Attention Span
Intermission/break
Introduction
Children need to sit in one place
Appropriate to make noise/move around
