Celebrating 50 years of Kings Park Education
2026 marks fifty years of Kings Park offering nature-based education to the children of Western Australia.
Kings Park has been a popular destination for excursions and school activities since the 1930s, but demand to get children out in the park really took off in the 1970s, with close to 4,000 students taking trails through the Western Australian Botanic Garden in 1975.
To assist teachers in organising and conducting excursions in the park, the first permanent Kings Park Education Officer was appointed by the Education Department in 1976. Fast-forward to 2026 and our education offerings stretch far beyond excursions, encompassing bush kindy for the youngest of nature-lovers, right through to wellbeing programs for people well into their 90s.
Originally operating out of Kaarta Gar-Up, overlooking the Derbal Yerrigan/Swan River, the first Education Officers had a strong focus on touring school groups through the Western Australian Botanic Garden. Botanical and cultural history was offered through traditional “walk-and-talk" and worksheet style learning, with the Pioneer Women’s Memorial Fountain and later, the Lotterywest Federation Walkway providing excursion highlights.
An evolution in delivery style saw Kings Park Education move away from directed learning and towards storytelling and theatre-based education. The Ivey Watson Playground was a favourite location for younger students to enjoy bespoke stories made just for the Kings Park setting, including Annie the Tree Doctor, Mygalomorph the Brave and The Great Aussie Garden Show. Kings Park’s beloved mascots, the Adorable Florables also emerged from this period, and can still be spotted during one of their special event appearances today.
The arrival of Kings Park Education’s first purpose-built facility in 2011 – Rio Tinto Naturescape – drove another evolution, with hands-on nature experiences coming back to the forefront. Today, our education delivery focuses on reconnecting children with nature through enquiry and discovery-based learning. A healthy balance of encouraging a sense of wonder, and allowing children to direct their own play in Naturescape’s bushland setting, aims to foster empathy for nature, ensuring it is cared for by future generations.
In 1976, almost 6,000 children attended Kings Park for an education program. Today, that number has grown to over 25,000 children per year. With immersive learning experiences covering areas of STEM, cultural heritage, HASS and wellbeing, there is something for every school student and teacher, plus the wide range of community programs reinforce that appreciation of nature is a life-long learning journey.
Happy 50th anniversary to Kings Park Education, and may the next 50 years continue to reconnect people of all ages with the joy and importance of our natural environment.
