Cubbies is having a party on Saturday 18 October 2pm-5.30pm to belatedly celebrate its’ 50th birthday.
Generations of local children have enjoyed playing and hanging out at Cubbies. In the early days they built cubby houses, cooked on open fires and kept pets.
“There was never a time you could pinpoint as the time where the kids took over, probably because that’s what they did right from the start, while we, the all-knowing adults, bumbled along blithely, imagining we were in command”, says Cubbies founder Joan Healey.
Whilst the kids were getting on with the business of play, staff were battling to keep it open. “I didn’t think it would last five weeks! Security and tenure didn’t exist”, says Joan. The fact that Cubbies is now celebrating 50 years is a testament to its founders’ commitment and the community’s ongoing desire for places like this to exist.
Today Cubbies finds itself in an increasingly risk adverse world. Children are spending more time than ever under adult direction, both in and out of school, doing structured and adult led activities.
At Cubbies children are encouraged to take risks, try new things and lead their own play. The Venny Inc’s Honorary Principal, David Kutcher, says “Children require exposure to setbacks, failures, shocks and stumbles in order to develop strength and self-reliance”.
The original cubby houses from the 1970s are long gone so the Cubbies kids of today have started to design new ones. Building will start soon, as will the construction of a fire pit and animal enclosures. What hasn’t changed is that children are still in control at Cubbies, directing their own play and thriving.
Cubbies 50th birthday will be a celebration of child-led play and an opportunity to connect and share stories with past and present users. There will be food, music and entertainment. Everyone is welcome.
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