“We delight in the beauty of the butterfly, but rarely admit the changes it has gone through to achieve that beauty."- Maya Angelou
“Now I feel like I have come out on the other side of it,” said Kaye, remembering a season she was in after having her first baby.
That season was a really difficult time. One thing that helped was a weekly visit to a playgroup in the botanic gardens, called Every Little Season. Here there was a gentle rhythm for families each week.
Kaye took along her firstborn and her camera, enjoying capturing small moments, photographic records of play and connection. There was no pressure. You could be late or not turn up at all. But families were eager to go. They looked forward to it. It was creative and non-judgmental. The families understood what a hard road it can be, having children. Rewarding but hard.
Kaye tries to draw forth the right word. She lands on matrescence.
“That coming into being a mother is a really life altering experience and it is nice to not to be by yourself. It’s nice to have community and it’s nice to remember there are all these people who are just next door behind a closed door or walking past you with a pram who are going through similar things and the more we talk and share space together the better it is for us and also for our kids as well, I mean what a joy. Look how much fun they are having, it’s so lovely.”
Kaye is now looking out over the families playing in the Fitzroy Gardens, spread out upon a grassy alcove beside the creek.
Little Fitzroy Friends nature playgroup was started by Kaye after she had her second child. After a week of planning out the fun the group will have, Kaye packs up her trolley of goodies- art supplies, books, snacks, plus her two small children- and trundles down from Collingwood.
The playgroup has had a positive resonance for local families.
From hundreds of nominations, Kaye has been named the 2026 Playgroup Champion. The award recognises the values and characteristics that uphold the playgroup community. Kaye is celebrated for strengthening relationships and building a sense of belonging for so many families who attend her playgroup. A former teacher, Kaye has curated sessions that continue to engage families. She supports parents, carers and children aged 0-5 through one of the most critical developmental periods- and periods of vulnerability.
The team from Playgroup Victoria went along to celebrate Kaye as a Playgroup Champion. Danny Schwarz, Playgroup Victoria CEO, presented Kaye with the award.
“Kaye has created something truly special with Little Fitzroy Friends – a welcoming, nature-based playgroup where families feel seen, supported and connected,” he said.
“Her creativity, warmth and commitment have strengthened relationships and built a real sense of belonging for so many parents and children. That’s exactly what the Playgroup Champion award is all about, and Kaye embodies it beautifully.”
Kaye expresses her gratitude, appreciative for the group that flourishes.
“I really am very lucky that so many people believed in Little Fitzroy Friends, including the beautiful families that come each week and spend time together. Being able to facilitate this playgroup and build community with so many wonderful people is an absolute highlight of my week. I can't thank Playgroup Victoria enough for all their help!"
The playgroup was an early recipient of the Great Start Grant, an initiative run by Playgroup Victoria, supporting community groups with funding, mentoring and guidance.
“To think that joining Playgroup Victoria, it was $50, that gave me public liability and property insurance- because that would have been a stopper without that. Then the mentoring has been incredible. I have had fantastic opportunities for professional learning, the grant was amazing because it got us started with resources as well. It is such an awesome program. I am very grateful to Playgroup Victoria for their support. Even just knowing that if I call the team and they help me with whatever I need.”
The playgroup families are so grateful for what Kaye has created. They comment on the inspiring activities she prepares each week and how artistic she is, making a playful space for everyone to enjoy. They settle in on the picnic mat for their weekly storybook, which sets their imaginations in flight.
“Kaye is the most genuine, kind and creative person I know,” said mum Shirley.
She remarks upon Kaye’s energy, her smile, how she makes everyone who comes along feel welcome- a skill increasingly appreciated in the internet age.
“She is always thinking about what else she can add to it,” said Pip.
“She’s really creative, really passionate about it. She just wanted to make a space for other mums like us to spend time with, to have children spending time with each other and having really healthy play outside which is great.”
Harrison’s mum loves that she can come along and chat, or not chat, to be settled, to let the kids run wild and make sweet connections, playing contentedly with the other kids he has got to know.
“He is able to be himself and really play and it is awesome to see that- and it makes me feel happy too, to see that he’s happy.”
An essential part of what makes this playgroup so loved is the outdoor location.
There is something restorative about the playgroup meeting in the park each week, in the ever-changing environment, even through rainy days and cold days. Studies show that things such as forest bathing is good for our health, so too is a 15-minute walk in its power to soothe our overstimulated nervous systems. The families don’t need to read about it though, they feel it.
“I think that’s just the way, being outside as well, has a lot of power. It’s really good for everyone I think to be outside, especially for kids, you come out amongst the green.”
Kaye felt that call to the outside world and to others, knowing that other parents must feel it too- a need for nature and for community.
“I’m constantly in awe of what parents are capable of doing and I think it is part of the inspiration as well for this playgroup, is that giving places for people to connect, for children to connect and being outside- and that was really important in my own experience and that was a bit of a driver for that, too.”
The families that attend love how the outside world taps them on the shoulder, to be reawakened to the present moment in time. Mum Shirley first notices the trees when coming to playgroup, chatting about the change with her son Arthur.
“It’s just so beautiful to be outside in nature and under the trees with the birds and the little ducks come and say hello to everyone. It’s just such a great community, with so many different people from all backgrounds of life and different age groups.”
The thing about Little Fitzroy Friends is that it is simple as can be, families meeting up to play in the park- and yet, the group holds a lot of complexity. Here are families, who mostly did not know one another outside of playgroup, with diverse and full lives, who have their own stories and struggles and need some level of comfort and support raising little people, as Kaye experienced firsthand.
Shirley has found real solace.
“When Arthur was born I had quite severe postnatal anxiety and depression and being able to come to a playgroup, especially one that is outside, and just knowing the benefits of getting outside, for me personally, I feel better after being here, he feels better after being here- so from a mental health perspective it was just so important to have the place to come. We know on Tuesday morning this is where we can come- it’s safe, it’s fun, it’s friendly, there’s welcoming people, warm people, people from all different walks of life going through different things and we share experiences and stories and it’s just so important.”
Shirley continues.
“I think playgroup can be more impactful than sending your child to daycare in many ways because the grownups are also getting the community aspect which is so important for our mental health and for kids, they go to daycare, they are playing often in their age groups, they’re not playing across age groups and the research shows just how important it is for them to be interacting with children across different age groups and the ability to get outside and have that experience and playing with your grown up or with your caregiver, that’s super important because when you’re at home it can feel quite hard to set up activities or do things and you can default but when you’re here, you can relax and you can have fun together with your child and your relationship with your child is growing so it is super important. I don’t think playgroup is an aside. I think it is a vital part of life of children.”
Pip feels that, too. As a single mum, she said how nice it is for her son to have opportunities to play with other kids: “out in the nature, bare foot, able to run around, not having to worry about roads or doorways or anything like that- and it’s all very creative. Things I wouldn’t be thinking of myself.”
“Because the children are entertained, I get to have conversations and make friends with the other mums here and I have- and because its outside I get to have my grounding, my earthing as well and sit down on the ground and look up at the sky.”
On playgroup days, Pip and her son spend most of the day enjoying the setting, even once the playgroup is packed up. Having grown up on a farm, Pip appreciates the connection to nature and wants that for her son.
“Having it outside is perfect. Even when it’s cold or a bit rainy or a bit wet, I think it’s really important.”
As the year progresses, weekly conversations unspool between mums and dads and grandmas and nannies, fun and light. Sometimes things are funny. Other times raw, allowing for a knot to be loosened with the shared knowing that they aren’t alone in their experience.
“I think that is one of the things, with motherhood in particular, but just parenting can be really isolating, especially if you are stuck around nap times,” said Kaye. “There is so much of a load that comes with being a parent as well- food and sleep and activities. Coming to a playgroup, particularly when its outside and meeting with other people, whether they are parents or nannies or grandparents or whatever and being able to share I think some of those challenges makes you feel not alone.”
“You realise that its actually really common and then there’s a lot of power I guess in building friendships and realising that you’re not alone and it can make all the difference having that experience.”
Beside the parents, the children are totally immersed. The small toddlers who come to this playgroup are alert to the goings-on, experiencing the metamorphosis of the seasons close-up. The golden leaves of April that flutter and fall around the babies who look up with wonder. Bare trees, wintering, take the form of giant statues and the children know the textures of the bark, the smell of the cool soil. The apricity is soaked up by the parents and carers, who like the ducks, watch on as their little ones explore. Fluffy baby ducklings fossick in the dewy grass. Kookaburras sit in the old silver birch tree and watch on curiously. They chuckle in that distinct sound of Australia. Then one day, there are small green leaves, fluorescent, unfurling.
Kaye has been right beside her firstborn, Charlie, seeing him grow with the playgroup, alongside his little pals.
“I have watched Charlie just come out of his shell, from that age and then he started going to playgroups, just watching how he is socalising, seeing different kids as well, he’s really interested in kids that speak different languages, he is very gentle and kind as well and I think that is the magic of having a multi-age playgroup, it’s just so good because you see all the different ages and how they interact and watching older kids who are like mentors and it’s just so sweet and you see them say, ‘Oh you do it this way’, it’s so sweet when that happens.”
“This is what it’s all about,” Kaye writes alongside a photograph she has taken of three of the children holding hands.
The group is at ease, playing in the sunshine, the parents are present, the kids are sharing.
Standing to the side, there is an onrush of emotion for Kaye.
“I think it’s just such a privilege to be a parent, it comes with so many challenges as well.”
Childhood and parenthood are nurtured together at Little Fitzroy Friends.
Like the natural world, our own internal landscapes shift in a constant cycle of ebbs and flows, growth and fallowness, movement and rest. Being outside for an hour each week at playgroup, surrounded by art and colour and chatter cannot help but enliven the senses and soothe.
And then the season of spring begins.
Read more Playgroup Champion stories here: playgroupchampion.org
Join the adventures and community at Little Fitzroy Friends: littlefitzroyfriends@gmail.com
Article by Sinead Halliday
Photography by Mylie Nauendorf, Jenny Aguirre, Kaye Henry and Sinead Halliday