14 May Top 5 Outdoor Education Activities
Top 5 Outdoor Education Activities
Recreation and adventure are firmly set in the Australian outdoor lifestyle. However, we often see an emphasis on the “adrenalized” experience of the adventurer. This goes against the grain of what psychologists tell us is the best pathway towards developing humans capable of contributing to wider society. Whatever the problems we face, community is the answer. Therefore, for the development and flourishment of our young people in a community context, how do we approach outdoor education?
Outdoor Education programs are about building and enhancing functional communities. The most important person is not the one on the activity, it is the people on the ground making it possible. The opposite to automation means the whole group is engaged and taking responsibility for the safety and welfare of their mate. This concept of “looking out for your mate”, is a true community value in Australian culture. In these activities, participants need to work together to achieve favourable outcomes and it’s all on them. Irony often turns into harmony where playground protagonists and antagonists might find themselves responsible for the welfare of each other, a truly life-changing experience. Presiding over all of this is highly qualified, experienced and dedicated instructors working to the best-practice participant to staff ratios, on-hand to guide, teach and instruct. True outdoor education is worth the investment.
As you plan your camp for 2023, here are our top 5 outdoor education activities from 2022:
- Leap of Faith – One of the greatest challenges of all the activities at QCCC is the Leap of Faith. This activity is a high ropes activity involving climbing 11.5 meters up a pole to a platform. Once at the top, your goal is to leap out and tag a buoy that is suspended between trees in front of you, relying on your fellow group members for their help and support.
- Flying Fox – With both an 8 metre and 12 metre platform option, this high ropes activity is great for teams to be stretched, to share responsibility for each other, and enjoy a spectacular 110 metre ride down. The flying fox builds qualities such as trust, cooperation, and brings out the encouraging nature in participants.
- Giant Swing – With a maximum release height of 15 metres the students can choose their own release height – whether that be 2 metres off the ground or all the way to the top! This exciting high ropes activity element combine’s teamwork with individual choice.
- Aboriginal cultural activities – From bush survival skills, bush food and land cultivation, to traditional song, dance, and storytelling. There is a wealth of knowledge to be learnt and understood from the Aboriginal culture and tradition. Students come away from their school camp with a new appreciation and recognition of reconciliation and a heightened cultural awareness of Queensland’s First Nations People.
- Mud Challenge – The activity has been developed in association with Triballink to give an underlying indigenous cultural experience to a fun challenge, tracing the steps of Aboriginal People journeying to our Blackall Range for the Bunya Festival. With play-based learning, a central focus for the younger years is to gradually introduce team-building challenges and obstacles. Depending on the complexity of the course required, this activity generally involves our giant mudslide and mud pit, an obvious popular activity with students.
For more information on all the outdoor education activities available at each QCCC campsite, please check out the following links (not all activities above are available at all QCCC sites):
The QCCC mudslide and mud pit are popular with students