Little Big People Early Learning acknowledges the Turrbal and Yuggera/Jagera peoples as the Traditional Custodians of the land on which our centre stands in Durack, on the Country of Meeanjin (Brisbane). We pay our deepest respect to Elders past, present, and emerging, and honour their enduring connection to this Country.
Walk through the gates of Little Big People Early Learning on any morning in Durack and you will see them: families in all their wonderful, varied, irreplaceable forms.
A grandfather in a high-vis vest dropping off his granddaughter before an early shift. Two mums holding hands with a toddler between them, lingering a moment before the day begins. A dad navigating the gate with a baby on one hip and a kindy bag on the other. A foster carer, newest member of a child’s life, learning the drop-off routine for the first time. A grandmother who has raised her grandchildren with the quiet, steady love that requires no explanation.
Each one is a family. Each one belongs here. Each one is, in the most complete and important sense, exactly what a family is supposed to be.
This May — as Mother’s Day falls on Sunday, 10 May 2026 and we move into a season of appreciation, warmth, and celebration — we at Little Big People Early Learning want to pause and say clearly and joyfully:
We see you. All of you. And we celebrate you.
What Is a Family?
It is one of the most important questions a young child ever asks — and one of the most important answers early childhood education can offer.
A family is not a shape. It is not a number or a structure or a diagram from a textbook. A family is the people who love you, show up for you, protect you, know your name when you wake up in the morning and are glad to see you do it.
In Australia today, families come in an extraordinary diversity of forms:
- Two-parent families — with two mums, two dads, or a mum and a dad
- Single-parent families — raising confident, capable children with remarkable strength and love
- Blended families — bringing step-parents, step-siblings, and bonus family members into a wider circle of belonging
- Grandparent-led families — where grandmothers, grandfathers, or other extended family step forward with extraordinary generosity
- Foster and kinship families — who open their homes and hearts to children who need them most
- Multicultural families — where languages, traditions, foods, and stories from across the world enrich every day
- Families with a sole carer — navigating the beautiful, demanding business of raising children with creativity and determination
In the Durack community — one of Brisbane’s most culturally rich and diverse suburbs — our families at Little Big People reflect the full, vibrant spectrum of what it means to raise children together in south-west Queensland. We are proud of every one of them.
Why Family Diversity Matters in Early Childhood
What children learn about families in their earliest years shapes how they understand the world for the rest of their lives. When young children see their own family structure reflected, named, and celebrated in their early learning environment, they develop a foundational sense of identity, confidence, and belonging that research consistently links to positive long-term outcomes across every area of development.
The Queensland Government’s Inclusion Ready framework — which guides early childhood services across the state — is explicit on this point. Being an inclusion-ready service means ensuring that children and families across Queensland, from all social, cultural, community and family backgrounds, and of all identities and all abilities, are welcomed at their local early learning service and are able to learn together in a safe and supportive environment that celebrates diversity.
At Little Big People Durack, this is not a policy we follow reluctantly. It is a value we hold with genuine conviction — because we have watched, year after year, what happens when every child sees their family celebrated: they stand taller, they speak more freely, they connect more deeply with their educators and peers, and they carry into the world a sense of themselves as worthy of love and belonging.
That is exactly the kind of confident, creative, capable young person we are here to help raise.
Family Appreciation at Little Big People: What May Looks Like
Throughout May, our program is alive with activities, experiences, and moments designed to celebrate the families of every child in our care. Here is what that looks like across our rooms:
🏡 The Family Portrait Gallery
Every child is invited to create a portrait of their family — in any medium they choose, in any form that feels true. Some children paint elaborate scenes of their whole household, including the dog. Some create a simple figure study: two shapes, holding hands. Some make a collage from materials that remind them of home — a scrap of fabric, a pressed leaf from the garden, a colour that means something.
These portraits are displayed in our learning spaces with the same care and pride we bring to all children’s work. Every family portrayed is celebrated. No family looks more or less complete than another. Because in our gallery, they are all perfect.
🍽️ Family Food Celebration
Food is one of the most powerful expressions of family culture there is. Our on-site chef has worked with families across our community to build a May menu that celebrates the culinary traditions of the diverse families at Little Big People Durack — dishes inspired by the foods our families eat at home, the flavours that mean celebration and love and Sunday afternoon at someone’s house.
Children who see their family’s food on the menu don’t just enjoy a meal. They receive a message: your home matters here. Your family belongs here. You belong here.
💌 The Thank-You Project
Children across all our rooms are invited to participate in The Thank-You Project — creating a personalised expression of gratitude for the special person or people in their family who care for them. This might be a painted card, a dictated letter, a drawing, a photograph, or a small handmade gift.
Every child chooses who to thank. A mum. A dad. Two mums. A papa and a grandma. A foster carer. An older brother who does the school runs. A grandmother who knows all the songs.
Whatever the shape of the family, the message is always the same: thank you for loving me.
🌍 Family Story Time
In our library and reading spaces throughout May, we curate a collection of picture books and stories that reflect the beautiful diversity of family structures — books where children see themselves, their families, and their stories in the pages.
The Queensland Government encourages reading together as one of the most powerful ways families can build early bonds and support language development. In our family story time sessions, educators read these books with children and invite them to share their own family stories in return. Every story told is a gift of language, identity, and belonging.
Celebrating Multicultural Families in Durack
Durack is one of Brisbane’s most beautifully multicultural suburbs, and the families of our community reflect the linguistic, cultural, and spiritual richness of people who have come to south-west Queensland from across Australia and the world.
At Little Big People, we celebrate this diversity actively and joyfully. Our Inclusion Ready commitment means our program acknowledges the languages spoken by children at home, honours cultural celebrations and traditions, and creates genuine space for families to share who they are with our whole community.
In May, we particularly invite our multicultural families to share with us:
- Words for “family” and “love” in their home language
- A food, song, or tradition associated with celebrating family in their culture
- Stories of where their family has come from and what brought them to Durack
This kind of sharing is not tokenistic “show and tell.” It is the living curriculum of an inclusive, community-centred early learning environment — and it is, we believe, one of the most important educations our children will ever receive.
A Word About Mother’s Day
May brings with it Mother’s Day on Sunday, 10 May 2026 — and we celebrate it warmly and with great joy.
But we also want to acknowledge, gently and sincerely, that Mother’s Day is complicated for some families. Some children have lost their mothers. Some children are raised without a mother in the picture. Some children have two mothers, or no mothers, or someone who plays the mothering role without that title. Some mothers are far away — in another city, another country, another part of their child’s story that has not yet found its way back.
At Little Big People Durack, every family is included in our Mother’s Day celebrations — by ensuring every child has someone to celebrate, and ensuring every form of love and care is honoured equally.
We never leave a child without someone to celebrate. We never leave a family feeling invisible.
If your family has particular circumstances around Mother’s Day that you would like us to be sensitive to, please speak with our team. We are here for you, in every sense of that phrase.
The EYLF and Family Belonging: The Framework Behind Our Practice
Everything we do in our Family Appreciation program is grounded in the Early Years Learning Framework (EYLF) V2.0 — the national framework that describes the vision for Australia’s children as one of Belonging, Being, and Becoming.
The EYLF is explicit that inclusion involves taking into account all children’s social, cultural and linguistic diversity, including family circumstances, in curriculum decision-making processes. The intent is to ensure that all children’s experiences are recognised and valued, and that all children have equitable access to participation and opportunity.
At Little Big People, we live this principle every day:
- Outcome 1 – Strong sense of identity: Children develop a confident, positive sense of self when their family — whatever its shape — is reflected, respected, and celebrated in their learning environment.
- Outcome 2 – Connected to their world: Understanding and appreciating the diversity of families around them prepares children for life in one of the world’s most diverse, multicultural societies.
- Outcome 3 – Strong sense of wellbeing: The Queensland Government recognises that positive relationships between children, families, and educators are the foundation of children’s safety, happiness, and overall wellbeing. When families feel seen and valued, children thrive.
- Outcome 4 – Confident and involved learners: Children who feel they belong learn better, take more risks, collaborate more freely, and develop the creativity and resilience our program is designed to foster.
- Outcome 5 – Effective communicators: Hearing the words, stories, and languages of diverse families builds rich, flexible communication skills and a genuine capacity for empathy — the deepest form of human communication.
Family Appreciation at Home: Simple Ideas for Durack Families This May
The celebration of family doesn’t have to stop at our gate. Here are some simple, joyful ways to celebrate your family at home this May:
- Make a family tree together — It doesn’t have to be traditional. It can be a tree with as many or as few branches as your family has. Let your child decorate it with drawings, photos, or natural materials. Hang it somewhere they can see it every day.
- Cook something from your family’s history — A recipe passed down from a grandparent, a dish from the country your family came from, a meal that means home. Cook it together, talk about where it comes from, and share it as a family.
- Interview your family member — Sit down with your child and let them “interview” the special person in their life. What is your favourite food? What makes you happy? What do you love about our family? Write the answers down. These tiny oral histories are treasures.
- Take a family walk in your neighbourhood — Durack has beautiful parks and quiet streets perfect for an afternoon walk. Walk together, point out what you love, talk about the neighbourhood you share. This is belonging — to place, to each other, to the community you are building together.
- Read a family story — The Queensland Government recommends reading with children as one of the most powerful ways to build bonds and support early literacy. Choose a book that features a family like yours — or one that features a family very different from yours and use it to talk about the many ways families look and feel.
Join the Little Big People Family
We are more than a childcare centre. We are a community — a small but warm gathering of families, educators, and children who are, together, building something that matters.
We believe in play. We believe in creativity. We believe in the particular magic that happens when a child is seen, known, and loved by the people around them — at home and at our centre.
Every family who walks through our gates becomes part of the Little Big People family. And we do not take that lightly.
📍 56 Durella Street, Durack QLD 4077 📞 07 2111 4187 ✉️ enrolmentsdurack@littlebigpeople.com.au 🌐 littlebigpeople.com.au 🕐 Open Monday – Friday, 6:30am – 6:00pm
Sources
The following Queensland-based sources were used in the research and writing of this blog post. No other early childhood or childcare services have been cited as sources.
- Queensland Department of Education – Inclusion Ready earlychildhood.qld.gov.au – Inclusion Ready — Queensland Government framework for early childhood inclusion, stating that children and families from all social, cultural, community and family backgrounds, and of all identities and abilities, must be welcomed and celebrated in Queensland early learning services.
- Queensland Department of Education – Positive Relationships with Children earlychildhood.qld.gov.au – Positive Relationships with Children — Queensland Regulatory Authority guidance on the role of positive, inclusive relationships between children, families, and educators in ensuring every child’s safety, wellbeing, and sense of belonging.
- Queensland Government – Resources for Parents and Families qld.gov.au – Resources for Parents — Queensland Government guidance for families on supporting early development through reading together, family connection, and everyday activities at home.
- Queensland Government – Early Childhood Education qld.gov.au – Early Childhood — Queensland Government information on the EYLF V2.0, Queensland Kindergarten Learning Guidelines, and the role of inclusion, belonging, and respect for diversity in early childhood education.
- Queensland Department of Education – Resources for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Communities earlychildhood.qld.gov.au – Resources for ATSI Communities — Queensland Government early childhood inclusion resources supporting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children, families, and communities in accessing culturally safe, welcoming early learning environments.
- Early Childhood Australia – Queensland Committee earlychildhoodaustralia.org.au – Queensland Branch — Queensland’s peak advocacy body for early childhood education and care, providing research and resources on inclusion, belonging, family diversity, and culturally responsive practice in early childhood settings.
- Queensland Government – The Many Benefits of Music earlychildhood.qld.gov.au – The Many Benefits of Music — Queensland Government early childhood guidance on how shared music, song, and movement support family bonds, language development, and children’s emotional wellbeing in the early years.
- Sunshine Coast Gallery (Sunshine Coast Council, QLD) – The Impact of Art on Children’s Development gallery.sunshinecoast.qld.gov.au – The Impact of Art on Children’s Development — A Queensland-based cultural institution providing evidence on how creative expression, including family portrait-making and collaborative art projects, supports cognitive, emotional, and social development in young children.
Little Big People Early Learning is a trusted, play-based early learning centre in Durack, QLD, welcoming children from 15 months to school age and offering OSHC. We include meals, nappies, sun-smart hats, and sunscreen in our daily fees, and our on-site chef prepares fresh, nutritious food every day. We are open Monday to Friday, 6:30am to 6:00pm. We acknowledge the Turrbal and Yuggera/Jagera peoples as the Traditional Custodians of the Country on which we stand, and we pay our respects to Elders past, present, and emerging. To enquire about enrolment, contact our friendly team today.