Last year it was the bear hunt movement. Now, it's Spoonville stirring up fun in the Illawarra.
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The latest lockdown craze involves turning wooden spoons into 'Spoony' characters and placing them alongside each other to form little villages.
Spoonville colonies have popped up in Thirroul, Fairy Meadow and Kanahooka, brightening the suburbs and keeping lockdown-weary kids occupied over the holidays.
Another neighbourhood trend showing no signs of waning is the painted rock treasure hunt.
Colourful, painted stones - some with motivational quotes - are turning up in front gardens, playgrounds and street corners, with youngsters going on scavenger hunts to either take them home or give them a new hiding spot.
"The kids on our daily walks scuffle through the rocks and gardens to find more rocks and we always rehide them," said Brooke Thomas. "It has made lockdown not so boring and our walks now have a whole new meaning."
Painting "kindness rocks" has been something Caroline Ayers and her children have been doing for more than three years, with hundreds painted during this current lockdown and left in a box outside their Woonona house for people to take.
"We hear a lot of people stopping to look at the rocks and choose one," she said.
"Often they yell out 'thank you', which is lovely. We have also received lots of thank you notes and cards, even from our postman. It makes us smile and encourages us to keep doing more."
Matilda Peacock, 9, said she finds it relaxing to paint rocks and is able to show her creativity and also make other kids happy when they find them.
It's one of many activities that help keep Matilda and her two siblings busy when activities outside of home are limited, though their mother Kate has found other sources of entertainment.
"We make big use of the walking and bike track on scooters (because they can all do that even the baby) and we've been going on big walks with stops at all the play equipment on the way - we call it 'Playground Tour'," said Mrs Peacock.
"We started at Thirroul and walked to Austinmer beach playground next, and then up to the Headlands one, the round trip took us two hours.
"We're also doing a hot chocolate tour of all the local cafes and ranking them on criteria such as whether there's a marshmallow, how chocolatey they are."
Other ideas to keep children busy include free YouTube workshops and storytime with staff from the Early Start Discovery Space; taking a surfing lesson with a surf school like Pines or Happy Days; and for teens and tweens who like their music, they can virtually meet Windang surf rock group Hockey Dad at a free online Q&A session and trivia competition on September 30, run by Wollongong Council's Youth Services.
Wollongong Art Gallery and Wollongong Libraries are also offering a range of online programs, video tutorials and interactive fun for the holidays.
Meantime, the latest change to the Public Health Order now allows a 'playdate' bubble where three people under-18 can meet up if they all live within the same local government area or within five kilometres of each other.
Adults supervising will need to be fully vaccinated, but this will allow the fun of sleep-overs again, said Mrs Thomas.
Her company Party Kids Children's Entertainment previously ran children's parties prior to lockdown but moved to sleepover rental packs such as themed teepees and tents.
"It means I will finally be able to get some much needed income back in the bank after 13 weeks of very little," Mrs Thomas said.
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