Close your eyes for a moment and think back to your own childhood.

Were you ever barefoot in a garden, turning over a rock to see what was underneath? Did you ever build something from sticks and leaves that felt, at the time, like the most important construction project in the world? Did you spend long afternoons outside, making up rules to games that only made sense to you and the friends you were with?

If so, you already understand the philosophy at the heart of Kenmore Hills Early Learning.

We call it Wildhood.

What Is Wildhood — and Why Does It Shape Everything?

Wildhood is not a curriculum document or a marketing phrase. It is a belief — deeply held and daily practised — that the most powerful early learning happens when children are connected to nature, given space to move freely, encouraged to take appropriate risks, and trusted to discover the world in their own way.

Wildhood takes us back to a time where shoes were optional, imagination was explored, and enjoying nature through play was the focus.

At Kenmore Hills Early Learning in Brisbane’s west, we have built our entire environment around this philosophy. Our outdoor playscape is not an afterthought added to the side of a building. It is the beating heart of our centre — custom designed, state-of-the-art, and shaped entirely around the developmental needs and natural curiosity of young children.

And it is surrounded, quite deliberately, by living things.

An Environment That Teaches Before a Word Is Spoken

The Queensland Department of Education’s Early Childhood Education and Care division is clear on the evidence: the physical environment of an early childhood service is a critical factor in children’s learning, development, and wellbeing. The space children inhabit sends them a constant message about whether they are trusted, valued, and seen as capable.

At Kenmore Hills Early Learning, every environment — indoor and outdoor — is designed with the child as the priority. Our spaces are:

✔️ Homely, welcoming, and well-resourced — so every child feels at ease from their very first morning ✔️ Adventurous and stimulating — designed to extend social, emotional, cognitive, and physical skills to the best of each child’s ability ✔️ Safe and beautifully maintained — because trust in the environment is the foundation of all confident exploration ✔️ Connected to the natural world — because we firmly believe that nature is, in the most genuine sense, the third teacher

And then there are the animals.

Meet Our Animals: Learning Through Relationship

Walk through our centre and you will encounter something you simply will not find at most early learning centres: a community of living, breathing animals that children are responsible for caring for every single day.

We have snakes. We have turtles. We have chickens. And more besides.

This is not novelty. It is intentional, developmentally rich early education at its very best.

Through our Wildhood Warrior Program, children learn to observe, respect, and care for their animal companions — building empathy, responsibility, and a deep sense of belonging to something larger than themselves. These are precisely the qualities that Queensland’s Early Years Learning Framework V2.0 (EYLF) identifies as foundational: a child’s sense of belonging, being, and becoming.

When a child carefully offers a handful of feed to a chicken, or sits quietly beside a turtle, they are not just having a sweet moment. They are developing the emotional intelligence and ethical sensibility that will shape them for life.

Our Inclusions: A Week Packed With Purpose

At Kenmore Hills Early Learning, what we include in our children’s daily and weekly experience is a reflection of our values. These inclusions are not extras — they are essentials.

Here is what is woven into the fabric of every week:

🌿 Bush Kindy Nature Walks — Every Wednesday

For children aged three years and above, our Bush Kindy Nature Walks take early learning outside the gates and into the living community. Every Wednesday (weather and children’s needs permitting), our little explorers walk in the fresh air, explore the local environment, observe seasonal changes, and engage with the natural world in a way that no worksheet or screen ever could.

Nature Play QLD, a program of Outdoors Queensland, highlights that children who spend time exploring natural environments hands-on develop healthy, resilient bodies and are stimulated cognitively and physically by the sights, sounds, and textures of the outdoor world. Our nature walks are a direct expression of this understanding.

🎵 Music Beats — Fortnightly Fridays

Every second Friday, Music Beats brings rhythm, movement, and sound into our children’s learning in the most joyful way imaginable. Children explore musical concepts, develop coordination and creativity, and — most importantly — experience the pure delight of making noise together.

Music is not a luxury in early childhood education. Research consistently demonstrates that musical experiences build phonological awareness (the foundation of reading), strengthen memory and attention, and support emotional regulation. For toddlers and young children, moving to a beat is one of the most natural, powerful learning experiences that exists.

🧘 Yoga — Fortnightly

Our fortnightly yoga sessions introduce children to gentle stretches, breathing exercises, and mindfulness through age-appropriate, playful poses. This is physical education, emotional regulation, and self-awareness all in one beautifully simple activity.

In a world that can feel busy and overstimulating, giving children the tools to breathe, slow down, and feel present in their own bodies is a genuine gift — one that serves them well beyond the early years.

🎶 Hey-Dee-Ho — Every Thursday

A beloved children’s song and movement session, Hey-Dee-Ho brings language, music, and community together in a weekly ritual that children come to anticipate with real delight. These repeated, joyful group experiences are the building blocks of belonging — they tell each child: you are part of this, and this group is yours.

An Inclusive Early Learning Centre: Every Child Belongs Here

Wildhood is for every child.

At Kenmore Hills Early Learning, our commitment to inclusive early learning means that every child — regardless of ability, background, learning style, or family circumstance — is welcomed, valued, and supported to participate fully in everything our centre has to offer.

The Early Years Learning Framework V2.0 (EYLF) — the guiding national framework for early childhood education and care in Australia — places inclusion at its very core. It calls on educators to recognise, respect, and work with each child’s unique abilities and learning pathways, celebrating diversity as a strength rather than a challenge to be managed.

At Kenmore Hills, our educators do not just comply with this framework — they believe in it. We work closely with families, allied health professionals, and support organisations to ensure that any child with additional needs has the specific, individualised support they require to thrive in our environment.

Inclusion Support QLD, which provides free tailored support to eligible early childhood education and care services across Queensland, works with centres like ours to build the capacity of educators and address participation barriers — ensuring every child can access and benefit from quality early childhood education.

Because inclusion is not a service add-on. It is who we are.

We Make Your Mornings Easier, Too

We know that the morning routine is real. It is genuinely, relentlessly demanding — and the last thing a family needs is to arrive at their childcare centre with a bag full of items they forgot.

At Kenmore Hills Early Learning, all daily essentials are included in your fees:

✔️ Chef-prepared nutritious meals through our Junior Master Chef program ✔️ Nappies and wipes ✔️ Sunscreen and hats ✔️ Centre T-shirts for outdoor adventures ✔️ Wildhood Warriors program ✔️ Sports, dance, yoga, and music sessions ✔️ Nature walks and Bush Kindy experiences

You bring your child. We take care of the rest.

See It for Yourself

Words can only do so much. The real experience of Kenmore Hills Early Learning — the sounds of children discovering something wonderful in the yard, the warmth of an educator who already knows your child’s favourite story, the sight of a four-year-old gently feeding a chicken with total confidence — that cannot be captured in a blog post.

It can only be experienced in person.

We invite you to come and see it for yourself.

Book a tour at a time that suits your family. Our team would love to show you everything we’ve built — and explain how it can become a second home for your child.

📞 (07) 3088 2081 📍 82 Brookfield Road, Kenmore Hills 🌐 Book a tour here → 📸 Follow us on Instagram →

Sources: Early Years Learning Framework V2.0 (EYLF) — Belong, Being and Becoming, Australian Government Department of Education; Queensland Department of Education — Early Childhood Education and Care (alt-qed.qed.qld.gov.au); Nature Play QLD / Outdoors Queensland — About Nature Play (natureplayqld.org.au); Inclusion Support QLD — For Families (inclusionsupportqld.org.au); Early Childhood Education and Care Queensland — Inclusion Ready (earlychildhood.qld.gov.au); Queensland kindergarten learning guideline (QKLG) 2024, Queensland Department of Education.