Nature Play WA is dedicated to ensuring every Western Australian child has a childhood filled with the outdoor play and connection to nature that supports their physical and mental health, resilience, creativity, and emotional intelligence, and will help them thrive in a complex world.
Our expertise
Our innovative consultancy services help ensure that programs and developments delivered in public spaces provide the best possible play experiences for children and young people, and avoid becoming idle "green elephants" that make pretty back drops but remain largely unused.
As nation-leading advocates for the importance of unstructured play outdoors (nature play) we have a thorough understanding of the theory and research behind outdoor play, and designing and developing nature play spaces.
With this as our focus, we are able to provide insight at the concept development, design, or post-design phase, into how to maximise children’s interaction with spaces and the community.
Want to learn more about our work? Contact our CEO Dr Kelsie Prabawa-Sear at kelsie@natureplaywa.org.au
Our process
Creating nature play opportunities for children requires a collaborative and inclusive approach that involves consultation with both the community and the children themselves.
Our award-winning* consultation process involves engaging directly with children, the subject matter experts in the field of play, and this collaborative approach ensures that the final product reflects the shared vision of the community while catering to the specific needs and aspirations of children.
Our resources
In addition to consulting throughout the design and build phase of your project, our supporting resources provide opportunities to drive activation and engagement initiatives with children and the wider community, ensuring the ongoing success of your development.
Our consultancy team
Kelsie Prabawa-Sear – CEO
Kelsie has had the joy of a varied and rich working and academic experience in both Australia and Indonesia prior to joining Nature Play WA, having worked in State government, consulting roles and conservation work with not-for-profit organisations. Along the way she has entwined her work with post graduate research degrees, completed a Master’s in Environmental Education for Sustainability and a PhD on The Impact of Culture in Environmental Education in Java, Indonesia. When reflecting on this work, Kelsie's focus and passion has always been for nature, kids, and communities.
As a parent of three wonderful growing humans, Kelsie also understands the challenges of parenthood and the important role that we have as advocates for our kids’ childhoods. She personally adds “advocate for nature” to her list of responsibilities, as it is her view that we all have a responsibility to ensure that our kids not only get time in nature as little ones, but also get a future with nature.
Sarah McGowan – Learning and Engagement Manager
Sarah is a highly experienced and passionate educator with over 20 years of experience in the field. Prior to joining Nature Play Sarah worked as a teacher, specialising in literacy as the Ambassador for the Never Stop Reading Initiative. Her passion for early years education and play based learning developed in her roles promoting the Triple P program.
Sarah is dedicated to creating positive and engaging learning environments that foster growth and development, utilizing unstructured play activities to promote creativity, exploration, and imagination in young children. With a solid educational background, including a Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree Sarah possesses a unique blend of business acumen and communication skills that allows her to work across a wide range of industries. Sarah is committed to making a positive impact on the lives of children and the community in her role as Learning and Engagement Manager at Nature Play WA.
Vanessa Dow- Projects Executive
Vanessa is a highly experienced environmental educator and behaviour change specialist with over 20 years experience across, government and consultancies. With formal qualifications in environmental science, conservation biology, education and behaviour change, Vanessa is able to combine all her passions into her current role at Nature Play. Vanessa is currently managing the next phases of the Talk N Walk program to reach schools and community. Vanessa is a passionate advocate for protecting our natural environment and for consulting and engaging with young people to support them to make positive changes in our communities. Vanessa is delighted to be a part of the Nature Play team to design and deliver effective behaviour change programs to reach our vision for WA.
Jane Leow- Multimedia Officer
Jane has worked in the digital marketing and content industry for more than 5 years since graduating from UWA with a degree in landscape architecture. Her passion for hiking and the outdoors has led her to join the team at Nature Play WA, where she is responsible for managing digital projects, developing multimedia assets and creating digital content.
Jane is also a qualified UI/UX designer and uses her expertise to facilitate collaboration and communication in co-design projects. She believes that it is important for children to have “a voice in the design process” as it fosters a sense of ownership and empowerment; and ensures that their needs and interests are being met within the community.
* Nature Play WA was awarded the Not-for-Profit/Community Organisation App of the Year for 2023 at the Centre for Accessibility Australia‘s Australian Access Awards, and joint-winner of the Commissioner for Children and Young People's 'Best Practice in Children’s Consultation' at the 2022 IPAA WA Achievement Awards.