The water play is back at Mini Q. Photo: Questacon.
For many Canberra families, it’s the ultimate Questacon experience – and it’s back, brighter and splashier than ever.
Mini Q, the National Science and Technology Centre’s early childhood gallery, reopened this week after its first major overhaul in more than 20 years.
The popular space – home to the mini kitchen, the playground and, of course, the water-play station – has been completely demolished and rebuilt as Mini Q: Where Little Scientists Set Sail.
The new gallery is designed for children aged 0 to 6, and said to “blend immersive play with scientific exploration”.
It keeps many of the elements loved by generations of Canberrans – including water play and role-playing – through a Barrier Reef-themed playground, a mangrove water table, and the ‘InQuestigator‘. The model research ship consists multiple spaces including a play kitchen, science lab, and a ladder to the top deck with its wheel and bell.
Even Pooh’s Corner makes an appearance in the arched entrance, in a mural inspired by the drive down Clyde Mountain.
Questacon executive director Jo White described the finished result as “world-class”.
“Mini Q is more than an exhibition – it’s a world-class learning environment where children begin to see themselves as scientists, explorers and storytellers,” Ms White said.
“We had a report through in 2022 that we needed to do a major upgrade to modernise Mini Q, and we were very fortunate with government funding in the May 2023 budget which allowed us to upgrade our galleries – and this is the first.”
At the helm of the InQuestigator. Photo: Questacon.
Behind the scenes, the project was shaped through partnerships with the University of Canberra’s STEM Education Research Centre (SERC), Community Early Learning Australia, and First Nations leaders.
Exhibition developer Ellen Sima said Mini Q had always been one of Questacon’s biggest attractions and the team wanted to make sure there was plenty for first-time – and repeat – visitors to take in.
“We know a lot of the visitors that come to Mini Q are coming for the first time and may never visit again – and we think this is a fantastic experience for them,” she said.
“But we also had in mind the local audience coming sometimes weekly, sometimes multiple times a week. So we really thought about how we could build lots of detail and diversity into the experiences from that end to make sure it felt fresh…”
Aside from the ship, the playground stands out as another major feature.
“We worked really hard with Community Early Learning Australia to understand how to create experiences that really suit our target age bracket of 0 to 6. They spoke very highly of risky play as something that really challenges kids.
“We wanted kids to come here at one and two, not be able to do everything, and then as they revisit and get older and stronger and more confident, actually make it to the top of the climber for the first time.”
Professor Ilyse Resnick from the University of Canberra said every activity was grounded in research about how children learn.
“STEM is an umbrella term for different spatial skills. Imagine an object rotating in your mind… Children have to do that when they’re playing with blocks and seeing how they fit together – just like organic chemists have to do when they’re trying to determine symmetry,” she said.
“A lot of these skills are learned and improved through play. So if we give children opportunities to play Lego or do puzzles, their spatial thinking will go up. When their spatial thinking skills go up, it directly or causally improves their numeracy.”
Mini Q: Where Little Scientists Set Sail is open to the public every day from 9 am to 5 pm. Visit Questacon for more information.
