Funky Monkey Bars® popped up in my Facebook news feed back in 2017 and having a child who loves to play outside and swing and climb, I HAD to find out more.

Funky Monkey Bars® are an Australian company started by Perth Dad Shane Roberts, who made a set of monkey bars for his own kids back in 2009. Of course they were a massive hit, not only with his own kids, but also with their friends and local kids, and it was there that Funky Monkey Bars® was born.
We were SO lucky to be given to set up at home and try out and IT. IS. AWESOME! It’s like having a playground in your own backyard! We’ve had our kid now for over 4 years and now 5 of the KIA families own a set of their own Funky’s!

I have to admit, when the boxes arrived from the courier I was a little concerned with how easily 10 flat pack boxes was going to turn into a 5m x 3m set up BUT I’m being totally honest when I say that it took my husband and I just over and hour from start to finish. What looked like quite a process was very well explained in the instructions and actually pretty straight forward.

Funky Monkey Bars® are all free standing – so there is no need to cement them into the backyard and you can move them around the yard if you need to. They’re made from galvanised steel they are tough enough to withstand lots of kids, Australian weather conditions and last for generations.

There are over 20 frames to choose from available in 6 colours. Prices start from just over $1000.

One of the best features of Funky Monkey Bars is that you can customise them to suit and grow with your family.  There is a fantastic and HUGE range of that you can add on. There’s a range of swings to suit kids of all ages, swinging cubbys, flying fox, climbing nets, jungle ropes, ninja grips, fitness gear for bigger kids and us adults, sports add ons like netball hoops and cricket/soccer net and gymnastic add ons including aerial hoops, roman rings and silks. We’ve added to ours for almost every birthday and Christmas since 2017! Our set up is now pretty epic!

Here’s what we love about Funky Monkey Bars®

THEY’RE FREE STANDING There is no need to cement a Funky Monkey Bar into the ground. The unique patent Funky Monkey Bar design with its twirly – whirly bars provide the stability – just peg it down on grass.
IT’S ADJUSTABLE As kids grow in size, skill and confidence the height adjustable Funky Monkey Bar can grow with them. Height adjustable anywhere between 1.2 to 2.3 m so they’re fun for parents too!
BUILT TO AUSTRALIAN SAFETY STANDARDS All Funky Monkey Bars® playground configurations are designed to Australian Safety Standard AS4685.1 with certified load ratings between 552kgs to 2.2T.
QUALITY MATERIALS All Funky Monkey Bars® are made from Australian galvanised steel tube and coloured with Dulux outdoor powder coating – it’ll withstand the weather and last for generations.
AUSTRALIAN MADE All models are all proudly Australian designed and made.
EASY TO ASSEMBLE AND INSTALL Funky Monkey Bars come flat packed, with full instructions and all the tools to easily assemble and install in the backyard – just add a little muscle.
AFTERPAY IS AVAILABLE – play now, pay later.

Here’s what you need to consider before investing in some Funky Monkey Bars®

1. You’ll need some space. The smallest frame “Cheeky Little Monkey” has a footprint of 3.5m x 2.3m and from there you can go up in size to suit your yard.
2. Although the building process was WAY easier than I thought, it still does take some time, some tools and some muscles to put together. So if you’re considering asking Santa for a set make sure he knows that he’ll need to hang around for an hour or two to help build.
3. If you want it for Christmas you’ll need to order before the end of NOVEMBER for guaranteed delivery.
4. Be prepared for your kids to spend way more time outside, in the fresh air, being active and having FUN!

If you had plans to get the kids a trampoline for Christmas or their next birthday STOP! Use that space in the backyard for something different, something new and something way more fun for ALL the family……including you! It’s a great way for families to get outside and get active together. Kids can swing and play on the monkey bars while Mum and Dad sweat out a few rounds of boxing!

Funky Monkey Bars® are available to order online from their website at

Like them on | Follow them on

I received my Funky Monkey Bars free of charge for the purposes of this review however as for all reviews from Kids in 91������ý the above is honest and in my own words

Here is a list of all the ways we love to play in nature!

Create a mud kitchen – Grab a few bowls, spoons, jugs, saucepans – anything in the kitchen that you don’t really need and add dirt and water. Instant mud kitchen! Grab some nature items so that your mud pies look amazing! We love to hit up the op shops to find some really cool jugs, tea pots, mixers and pots.

Get creative with clay or playdough – Set up your dough with flowers, herbs, shells, seed pods and pinecones for some amazing playdough or clay play!

Paint with nature – Add your favourite nature odds and ends to the painting table. We love painting on rocks and putting them around our garden. Another alternative to nature painting is giving them a paintbrush and water- they can ‘paint’ with water on the bricks, side of the house or pavers!

Draw with Nature – Same idea as above, but use pastels, crayons, or chalks (less mess too!)

Pinecone Weaving – Collect pinecones and add string or wool, for a fun weaving experience.

Start a Nature Collection – Starting a collection is fun! It gives you something to look out for when you visit parks\beaches and forests, and you can end up finding amazing things! My daughter loves to collect pretty pieces of driftwood.

Make flower potions – Either buy or grow some flowers and add them to your mud kitchen. Give your child some water and containers and they’ll have a blast creating pretty flower mixtures!

Make a muddy puddle – Find a spot in your backyard that you don’t mind getting messed up and add water. If your backyard is not muddy puddle friendly, go to the local park while it’s raining and dress for splashing!

Water Play – Anything to do with water is always a winner. From puddles to play trays and jugs full of water, kids will love dancing in the rain and playing in the water.

Nature Hunt – Make a list of things for your children to find in the back garden, from colours to leaves, clouds or even snails. Who doesn’t love ticking off a list?!

We used the story ‘wombat stew’ to inspire our nature play in the mud kitchen, adding gumnuts, leaves and feathers to make the ‘stew’. You can never get too creative with nature play!

Autumn is the season of colour, and by far my favourite. I remember I used to go out of my way to step on a crunchy leaf, and for some reason it still brings out the child in me!

These activities have been created with young children and preschoolers in mind, but they’re equally as satisfying for older age groups too (ahem, even really big kids at heart!). They’re easy and quick to put together and especially great for keeping those toddlers busy while you get something else done, or better yet, sit down and have a cuppa, or read that magazine you bought three weeks ago that’s still sitting on the kitchen counter!

Contact Art

You will need:

• Clear contact
• Black card or brown paper, cut into a trunk and then some branch shapes.
• Homemade leaves (you could pre paint/fingerpaint some autumn colours with your child and cut it into leaf shapes)
• Or craft leaves from a variety shop
• Sticky tape

To begin… Cut some contact off the roll and round off the top. Then pull off the paper backing. Stick this (with the sticky side of the contact facing outwards) to a window, wall or sliding door with sticky tape on the edges (you’ll only need a little.)  Press on the trunk and branches!

Pop the leaves in a bowl and let your child enjoy adding them to the tree!

This activity is very easily adapted for other themes! You could make a basket instead of a tree and decorate with homemade cardboard glitter eggs for Easter, or a Christmas tree with round painted baubles or even a snowman made with cotton balls!

I found the autumn tree worked a charm, our leaves even fell off a few times which made it look like a real tree dropping leaves!

Sensory Zip Lock Art

You will need:

• Two pieces of coloured card
• One zip lock bag
• Sticky tape
• Red, Yellow, Orange and Brown paint

To begin…

• Trace around a large leaf or freedraw and cut out the two pieces of card, so that they are the same. It’s easiest to cut one and use that as a template for the other.
• Place small squirts of each paint colour in the zip lock bag and zip it shut.
• Place the bag in between the two pieces of card and tape the edges.
• Attach to a window with tape at the top and bottom.

Watch as your little one discovers the joy of mess free painting!

This activity can also be adapted to different themes. Easter eggs, trees, stars, suns, moons… the ideas are endless!

HOT TIP: For crawlers, this is a brilliant activity to tape to the floor or high chair!

Broccoli Leaves

Every child loves to stamp, and for some reason using vegetables or fruit makes it extra fun! This activity is extremely quick to set up and will bring you much needed quiet time as your child enters that relaxation ‘zen’ mode whilst they paint! Bliss! Beware! It could get messy, so it’s a great one to do before a bath!

You will need:

• Large piece of paper
• Red, Yellow, Orange, Brown paint
• Broccoli
• Pencil or texta

The only prep required is to pop the paint on a paper plate or a palette (if you have one) Draw the tree trunk and branches. Then chop up the broccoli!

You may need to do a quick little demo to explain the activity to your child! Just dip the broccoli in the paint and add the pretty leaves to the tree!

Adaptation: If you don’t have broccoli you could also use cue tips, bubblewrap, fingerprints, toilet roll ends squashed into a leaf shape, flowers, cotton ball paintbrushes (cotton balls held by a peg)

Ah the 2000s. What a decade. We somehow survived the Millennium Bug just in time to carve it up at The Planet and Joplins, or was Time Warp at Heaven more your thing? No matter then venue, my dancing was shite and consisted of nothing more than an awkward shuffle and maybe ‘the sprinkler’ ….a timeless move. What a time to be alive and thank god there was no social media for most of that because….well that would just be bad OK. So. So bad.

There are some absolute belters in movie land that you need to get your kids into from the 00s. It was when the Queen herself, JK Rowling, gifted us with Harry Potter. Pixar and Disney kept doing their thing and my future hero Robert Downey Jr kicked off the Marvel Cinematic Universe with Iron Man (Love you 3000 RDJ).

So sit back, get ready to search across the 78 streaming sites you now need to subscribe too and enjoy our top 13 family movies of the 2000s (Oh I picked 1 each of Harry, Disney and Pixar…don’t hate me)

13) Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs – My quirky CGI pick that you may have forgotten about. Watched this 412 times and it was either really funny, or it became really funny on the 412^th viewing.

12) City of Ember – Humans move to underground city due to war or something. Kids work out how to escape a few hundred years later. Really cool, steam punk style with a really different plot. A fave of mine. Kids may find it a bit slow, but stuff them. They don’t have to go to school anymore, so they can’t have everything.

11) Holes – Similar to no. 12, Shia Lebouf digs a heap of holes in a desert. Full of plot twists, treasure and Shia Lebouf as a kid before he climbed on cages in Sia music videos, the kids will love it.

10) Ice Age – They made more of these than they did Land Before Time movies. I think I stopped watching after the 2^nd one but its worth a watch just for Scrat the squirrel thing.

9) High School Musical – Going to be honest here, can’t recall ever watching all of this in one hit. But saw snippets of it enough that eventually pieced together, forms a full movie. If you have now teenage daughters, you can feel my pain. Relive that pain again or for the first time during iso!

8) The Grinch – An absolute classic which gets a run again every Christmas. Jim Carrey is hilarious and Taylor Momsen stars as the kid (and has since gone onto be absolutely bonkers which is the answer the Fantale question in case you were wondering)

7) Night at the Museum – If your kids haven’t seen this yet, they will LOVE it. Such a cool concept, unless your kids are scared of things coming to life at night. Then maybe not such a good idea. Exhibits in a museum come to life each night thanks to magic things. My kids always said I reminded them of the giant Easter Island head.

6) Kung Fu Panda – Brilliant, hilarious and totally re-watchable. That is usually how I describe the 2007 AFL Grand Final but it also applies here too. Jack Black plays a cartoon panda version of himself.

5) The Chronicles of Narnia: Lion Witch and Wardrobe – If Liam Neeson as Aslan doesn’t make the hairs on the back of your neck stand on end, I don’t know what will. Step into the world’s largest wardrobe, complete with its own ice queen. Never really got into the sequels….I am easily confused.

4) Shrek – Forget the 17 crap sequels, the OG is by far the best. Sort of the first of the “kids movies with the subliminal adult jokes”, you can impress your kids with your ability to put on a dodgy Scottish ogre accent.

3) Elf – I am a massive Will Ferrel fan and this is one of his best. Still laugh out loud funny no matter how many times you see it.

2) Harry Potter and Goblet of Fire – OK this was a hard call, but I nominate Goblet as my fave HP movie of the 00s, actually of the lot to be honest. It was my favourite book (yes I was a ‘line up on release day for the books’ kind of guy) and my fave movie (If Cedric’s death doesn’t bring a tear, you are as evil as Carole F*cking Baskin)

1) Wall E – Pixar owned the 00s. This could have been either The Incredibles, Up or Finding Nemo. But Wall- E comes up top for me, not least because future humans sitting in a chair day after day watching a screen kind of reminds me of my iso life right now. Pretty much movie perfection, make sure your kids see this asap.

There you have it peeps. My fave family movies of the 00s. Do you agree, disagree? What did I miss?

11) The Garbage Pail Kids – I put this on here because it is absolutely mind blowing what was classed as kids entertainment back in the 80s. How on earth did I turn out so well? I don’t even know how to describe this. How was it ever made? Kid finds weird garbage bin friends and they do stuff. Shut up and take my money.

10) Willow – Truly weird AF when you look back at it. What is cool is watching this and realising that Warwick Davis (Willow) has been in so many insanely cool movies over the past 30 years. Harry Potter, Star Wars and some really scary ones that it turns out I was too much of a sook to watch. See if you can spot Val Kilmer.

9) The Wizard – Probably a bit of an unknown this one, but as a kid I LOVED it! Fred Savage (If you don’t remember The Wonder Years we cannot be friends), who is like the Diet Coke version of Macaulay Culkin when it comes to 80s/90s child stars (I mean he was good but nowhere near the original), hooks up with a video game genius and 8 year old me just ate this up.

8) The Explorers – 3 young kids create a working space ship out of junk and go on an adventure. 2 out of the 3 kids ended up being famous. Probably don’t tell River Phoenix’s story to your kids, they have enough scary stuff going on at the moment.

7) The Goonies – No 80s list is complete without The Goonies. I re-watched this (because I have no life) about 3 months ago and yeah look, it hasn’t aged well. But you will recognise a lot of memes and also Thanos is in it. Tell that to your kids. Also tell them if they don’t like it you will lock them in the basement like Sloth.

6) ET – If you ever told your kid they couldn’t have a pet, maybe skip this one because they will want an alien friend next. Drew Barrymore was in this when she was about 5 years old too. Feel old yet?

5) Labyrinth – Scary looking dude with monster mates breaks into house and steals baby, so he can try and lure teenage girl into his lair. Now if that isn’t the plot line for a sure fire kids classic then I don’t know what is! The epitome of weird and awesome and brilliant. A classic.

4) The Princess Bride – I loved wrestling as a kid (and as a slightly older, more adulty kid) so to see Andre the Giant on screen with Forrest Gump’s girlfriend was something I wasn’t going to miss. Everyone watches this once every 5 years or so, get onto it during Iso time.

3) The Never Ending Story – Just reading those 4 words then made you immediately go ‘aaaaah oooooh, aaaah oooooh’. Another ‘damn 80s kids movies are insane’ entry where they thought ‘you know what kids love? Horses dying in the swamp’. God dammit why did they do that to Artax! He deserved better.

2) Flight of the Navigator – This movie just gets me. Even now I just bloody love it. Kid makes friends with an intelligent space ship and go on an epic adventure.

1) Back to the Future – Of all the movies about a time travelling teenager who almost pashes his mum, this is my favourite. One of the best movies of all time, not just the 80s.

1. It’s got to be kid-oriented and age appropriate (eg. no origami or glass blowing!) . This year my kids are 3 and 2 (and 10 weeks, but he doesn’t really count this year- sorry little man!).
2. It should be an activity that the kids can do the majority of themselves so they can work on their fine motor skills, creativity and imagination. Some activities may require difficult scissor work, which may need adult help. The photos I’ve added in this post are the efforts that look most like what I expected! A lot of the craft we completed looked vastly different from one to the next, which is fine too. 🙂
3. It should be inexpensive to do (eg. no fancy paint brushes, sequins or cartridge paper)
4. The mess should be as minimal as possible (eg. paint is fine, but glitter is NOT IDEAL). I’m fine with mess as long as it’s not permanent!
5. The art and craft activity should ideally use things I already have in the pantry or craft boxes

So here are some of the craft ideas we’ve completed so far…

Dyed Eggs: This one was pretty easy. Grab some eggs, boil them, then put them into food colouring with a drop of vinegar. We drew our initials and some patterns on the eggs with white crayon first to add extra effect. This was a more parent-oriented activity with the kids choosing the colours they wanted their eggs, and doing the crayon part. Obviously the hot water and food colouring was an adult responsibility. The more food colouring the more vibrant the eggs will be.

Here’s a link the might be helpful:

Popstick Chicks: These were easy and fun! Glue, colourful feathers, popsticks, googly eyes, coloured paper and you’re done! My kids made many more that were less chicken-coloured, but this photo shows the more traditional ones!

Links here for more pop stick instructions:

The craft idea from was simple and quick. We wrote on ours and will give them to grandparents on Sunday for Easter (lucky grandparents! Haha.).

Our was great because we got to use our endless supply of recyclables to create it. Plus, it didn’t require much paint. Hit the link for more instructions.

Balloon Bunny

No explanation needed for this one! We’ve had a whole family of balloon bunnies in our lounge room this week!

If you need a dessert to take to your family Easter catch up, something to take with you on a school holiday outing, or you just want to do some cooking with the kids over the long weekend, this is the perfect recipe for you!

Here’s the recipe:

STEPH WOON’S MASTERCHEF EASTER EGG BROWNIES

Ingredients:

• 200g 70% Dark Chocolate
• 150g Unsalted Butter
• 3 Egg
• 225g Brown Sugar
• 1tsp Vanilla Extract
• 60g Plain Flour
• 30g Dutch-processed Cocoa Powder
• ½ tsp Baking Powder
• Pinch of salt
• Approx. 20 mini Easter Eggs

Steps:

1. Preheat oven to 160 degrees (fan forced)
2. Line a 8”x 8” tin with baking paper
3. For the brownie, melt the butter and chocolate in a microwave at 30 second increments until combined.
4. Whisk the eggs with the brown sugar until pale with a hand mixer (or stand mixer if you have one) then add in the vanilla extract and melted chocolate.
5. In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking powder, cocoa powder and salt.
6. Sift the dry ingredients onto the chocolate batter and fold until well incorporated.
7. Pour batter into prepared tin and spread evenly.
8. Gently push the chocolate easter eggs into the batter.
9. Bake for 20-25 minutes at 160 degrees.
10. Leave the brownie in the tin for 10 minutes before removing from tin. Let the brownie completely cool before serving.

Yummo! Be sure to tag us in the photos of your creations – or deliver some to us!

Here are some great ideas for creating an inexpensive and fun playroom.

Choose fabrics and rugs that are durable and easy to wash. A playroom looks much cosier and more comfortable with a range of different textures, fabrics, and rugs. Just be aware that they will get dirty easily, so make them easy to quickly throw in the wash.

Use rugs to “define spaces”, this encourages children to keep toys in one area. An example of this would be to have a special “Lego area” and the Lego gets played with only on that rug, making it easier for clean-up and avoiding the old stepping on Lego issue that we have all experienced at some point!

Storage! Having clever storage ideas are a must! We like to use low storage shelves with baskets, so that each item is easily accessible and easy to pack up. Children can see what they have to play with at a glance which can prevent them tipping EVERYTHING out on the floor.

Create little “pockets of play,” Children love cosy little spaces to curl up and play in. Create a little book corner, or a soft space for cuddling up with soft toys. We used to drape a sheet over chairs so my daughter could play tea parties in peace away from her noisy car-mad brother.

Think outside the box! Have you ever noticed how children love playing with things that are not traditional toys? Well, visit your local op shop, get down to Kmart, visit your local park for nature items or check garage sales for real items for children to play with! A stainless-steel tea set (or a real one, if your child is gentle with breakables) add a whisk and saucepan to a play kitchen. Full up baskets with pinecones and seed pods and watch their imagination take flight!

Declutter. Regularly go through your child’s toys and pass on anything that they do not play with. Or alternatively, store it away and rotate the toys every few months to keep children interested. Having an uncluttered playroom can make the difference between chaos and calm.

An old baby bath, a clam pool and a hose with a changeable pressure and water distribution nozzle are some of the things we find handy, as well as some old cups, bowls, spoons or what ever you might have that can be well, sacrificed.

Before we kick off, it would be negligent of us not to throw in a reminder that drowning can occur in very small bodies of water. Always supervise waterplay for young kids and always ensure you flip buckets or tubs over so as they are empty when you finish.

Now let’s get to it……

1. Hose play. You control the hose, the kids run around like maniacs. Get them running with a nice cold squirt on the back. Make water bridges for them to run under, water hurdles for them to jump over, make it ‘rain’, swirly big circles for them to jump through and see if you can write their name in the air. It’s mandatory that you get involved and let the kids squirt you also.

2. Play catch out doors with water soaked sponges. Turn it in to a game of ‘brandy’ for older kids.

3. Let the kids fill the bath with tepid water and play. Throw in some toys, lego and a pair of goggles or goggles and a snorkel. No bath? see f they can tolerate a cold shower and throw some toys in o the floor. (Set a time limit for this one)

4. Pick up a slip and slide, its surprising how little they cost. Add a fw drops of body wash for extra slip and a longer slide.

5. Water balloon fights, catching and relays are always a hit. Tuck a packet away for the next ‘I’m bored’ moment on a hot day

6. Got a trampoline? Add some water balloons and then jump. Place a sprinkler under or on top of the trampoline.

7. Invest in one of those long green soaker hoses that spray a long line of fine mist. You should get one for under $20 and they are epic woven over clotheslines or in top of trampolines.

8. Fill the laundry trough or a bucket and pull up a stool. Get the kids to wash toys, bath dolls or wash the Lego and lay it out neatly to dry.

9. Let the kids water the garden (early or late is best). Give them full control of the hose and see what happens.

10. Run under the sprinkler. Simple but fun.

11. Get the kids to wash the car. Give them a couple of buckets a sponge, so soap and a hose. Might need a stool, some basic instructions and let them go for it. Please ensure the car is locked, in park and has the park break on.

12. Freeze some dinosaurs, cars or other toys ice block trays or larger containers. Take them outside for the big melt. Let the kids race each other by blowing on them with straws. Bigger is better for this one so as little people are not tempted to put ice blocks in their mouth.

13. Using ice cubes spoons and an out door table, sit one each end and play ‘ice hockey’. Make some goals each end or make up rules for scoring.

14. You are neve too old for an old fashioned water pistol fight.

15. Paint with water. Set the kids up with a jug of water and paintbrushes. Paint what ever they like outdoors. Can they paint their name before it dries. Paint the ground, paint the fence, the windows the dog kennel or just make pretty patterns on the concrete or pavers.

16. Ice cube art. This one can get a bit messy. make a tray of ice with a drop of paint or colour in each cube. Use hands to ‘water paint’ on thick paper or card

17. Make paper boats to float in the sink, and old baby bath or the pool. There are some great clips how on you tube, like this one

18. Make coloured or bubbly soup. Use a bucket, trough or old baby bath. Make bubbles with dish liquid or bubble bath. Perhaps throw in some cups, a tea pot or a soup ladle.

19. Make music with glasses or jars filled to different levels of water. gently tap on the sides of each vessle to make different sounds. We like chop sticks for the tapping.

20. Wash the dog

21. Play does it float or does it sink

22. For older kids or kids who love science, collect water by condensation. There are loads of instructions if you give it a google, here’s one example

23. Make seas salt for your hot chips! This one does require a beach visit, but its something my kids will never forget doing and ask to do all of the time. Collect some clean salt water in a clean jar when you are at the beach. At home tip it into a clean large shallow tray and place it n the sun where pets wont get to it so as the water can evaporate. Depending on the depth and the weather it might take a day or more to evaporate. Eventually you will be left with some fine gritty salty residue. My kids take great pleasure in ordering hot chips with NO SALT (or bake in the oven at home) and rub them in the salty pan as you consume.

24. Don’t underestimate the fun kids can have in one of those clam shell pools. They are inexpensive and can be used for a whole heap of play. These need to be emptied as soon as you are finished. Even bigger kids wont be able to resist getting in for a cool off.

25. Get the kids to do a sink full of kitchen dishes. No dishwasher. Little ones will need a step. Prepare to inspect for quality control and re wash. Remove sharp or breakable objects.

In closing, you don’t need a fancy pool or big budget blow up water castle to have a lot of cool water fun this summer. We hope these ideas help keep your little people busy, learning and cool. We always love being tagged in your photos on social media or drop us a comment below if we have missed you favourite activity!