An intergenerational playground is enriching the lives of some of the youngest and oldest residents north of Brisbane.
Queensland not-for-profit care provider for elderly and vulnerable Australians, Comlink, has partnered with Edge Early Learning at its North Harbour centre in Burpengary to launch an intergenerational play program.
Following the success of the meet-ups between three women aged over 80 and young children around four years of age over the past few months, the program is now expanding across centres in south-east Queensland in 2023.
Comlink regional operations manager Leah Randle told ABC Radio Brisbane that social isolation was a major issue for older people in areas north of Brisbane, which had "quite a negative impact on their wellbeing".
"Intergenerational play provides a beautiful opportunity for seniors, who find themselves socially isolated, to connect and foster relationships with children," Ms Randle said.
"We've seen that this program assists in bridging that generational gap and understanding between generations.
"This type of program not only has benefits for our older Australians, but for our younger ones as well."
Ms Randle said the feedback from clients had been positive, with some families saying they had not seen their mother or loved one "smile so much in a long time, and be so invested in something".
"Seeing the genuine connections between our clients and our children is something so special."
New play experiences enhance children's learning
Edge Early Learning Centre area manager Peta Rix said children had much to gain from these experiences.
"We know that children learn through play and this program provides new play opportunities for the children when they're engaging and interacting with the elderly members of their community," she told ABC Radio Brisbane.
"The program encourages the children to build their confidence and social acceptance and, while engaging, they're exercising their language skills, they're practising their manners, building new friendships, and showing real care for the people they're playing with.
"It's really lovely to see."
Esther Baulch, 89, said the experience had been wonderful.
"We went there, three ladies, who these little children didn't know, and they just accepted us," she said.
"They were well behaved, they integrated with us, it was just natural."
Marcia Miller, 85, said because she did not have great-grandchildren it had been a great experience to interact with young children.
"Certainly the little ones did enjoy it, some are less forthcoming than others, but most of them I think did enjoy it," she said.
"They're so clever these days it amazes me."
