When Kate Hansen learned Early Start Discovery Space was reopening on Wednesday she shared the news with other families who are members and they all booked to meet at the activity centre on its first day back after COVID-19.
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Mrs Hansen said her daughters Ava and Olive have been regular visitors to the Discovery Space at the University of Wollongong for three years and loved the opportunity to come back on Wednesday with some of their school friends.
Mrs Hansen admits enjoying it as well and ended up being the subject of her children's care in the emergency services interactive display.
"I got bandaged up and the girls put my arm in a sling," she said.
"When I saw the email to say they were opening up again the girls and I just went 'Yay'. Ava, 5 started Kindy this year but it has been a bit of a strange first year of school. And Olive, 7, is in Year 2. They were both home a lot during the COVID-19 lockdown.
"It is so good to get back here because it is such a great space. It is so good to have such a great museum for kids in Wollongong. And we heard from a friend we can use our Creative Kids voucher for our membership".
Mrs Hansen said her father Tony Hansen also loved taking his granddaughters to the Discovery Space.
The children love to go because it is fun, educational and engaging and it caters for the different things they are each interested in.
Mrs Hansen said there was something for every age. But the emergency services section interested both her girls because they spoke a lot about the health heroes who helped people so many people during the devastating bush fires over summer and with the coronavirus now.
"The Discovery Space staff were all on top of all the social distancing and cleaning requirements. We will be coming back next week," she said.
Early Start chief executive Anita Kumar said the Discovery Space team was very excited to welcome children and families back on Wednesday after such a long time closed.
"The Discovery Space hasn't been the same without children and families," she said.
"We have missed watching them explore, create, socialise, learn and most importantly have fun".
Ms Kumar said numbers will remain capped for a while yet.
It is members only at first so the team can ensure all the new practices and processes to provide a safe environment are working well.
"We are loving the support and kindness from all our members," Mrs Kumar said.
"Today has gone so well we have added extra capacity to our upcoming sessions and will look to add more sessions soon".
Ms Kumar said the Discovery Space team have done an amazing job continuing to support families during such a challenging time. She said a number of online programs, including Discovery At Home, had gone really well.
"We have had over 30,000 connections each week via our various social media platforms," she said.
"That's more than 400,000 connections in under four months. The lovely comments from families who have utlised these programs has certainly boosted the spirit of our staff. We hope to maintain our online programs as well as have the space opened. We are delighted to welcome children, families and the community back to Discovery Space".
Other venues reopen in time for the school holidays
- School holiday fun on agenda for Illawarra Fly Treetop Walk and Zipline Tour from Saturday
- Science Space plans a grand reopening on Thursday in time for the school holidays
- Excitement is building for the grand reopening of the new 3Sixty Indoor Skate Park few got the chance to visit before COVID-19
- Children happy as inflatable play centre reopens at Warrawong
- No ball pits but plenty of other fun activities as play centres reopen for Illawarra children in time for the school holidays
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Greg Ellis
Almost four decades in electronic, print and digital media. A writer, presenter, emcee, photographer and videographer with degrees in business management, marketing and human resources and tertiary qualifications in photography.
Almost four decades in electronic, print and digital media. A writer, presenter, emcee, photographer and videographer with degrees in business management, marketing and human resources and tertiary qualifications in photography.
