I did AgQuip with small children and lived to tell the tale....

For anyone in agriculture, and many who are not, AgQuip at Gunnedah is a must-do event. Managing small children during the field day/s presents its own challenges so we sought advice from a supermum:

Take spare clothes… all of them!

There is certainly something special about this time of year at Gunnedah. Come August, it really is the Melbourne of the North West, so it’s not at all far-fetched to take a bit of everything for the little ones. Long sleeve, short sleeve, oilskins & gumboots (let’s hope we need them this year). A gear bag full of clothes to rival any Kardashian is a staple!

There are lots of toilets but not many baby change stations.

So if you’ve got little tooshes to change, practice your special forces commando-like pram or lap changing skills before you go. Dress them in something easy to change in tricky positions.

The Red Cross Parents and Nursing Mothers Room.

This little oasis is set up in Pavilion Number 2 (first row of stalls) every year and is a parent’s haven from the rush and bustle outside. It’s a quiet, private place to sit with a teeny tiny mini me to have a feed in comfy chairs, usually with some of the brilliant Red Cross volunteers supplying refreshments! It is one of the few places where you can put your special forces bottom changing skills aside and use an ample change table and facilities.

Sometimes the best prams are not prams at all.

There comes a point in every child’s life where they hit the “too big for a pram, too small to walk for 8 hours straight” stage. Enter the green garden trolley. The sale of these trolleys over the past few years at AgQuip has increased rapidly and I’m 99% convinced it’s because most families have figured out that a rolled up oilskin on the bottom of the trolley makes a fantastic cushion and you can fit at least two small children, a box of hose fittings, two rolls of electric fencing tape and 3 wheelbarrow tyres in them. Kids can see everything so they’re happy and boom - you’re no longer trying to carry two tired little legs plus all your shopping back to the car prematurely.

There’s plenty to see and do.

If your little ones have even only a smidge of interest in animals, tractors or bikes; not to mention collecting stickers, balloons and free gift bags - they’ll be entertained all day. But if the novelty wears off, there’s nothing like a packet of zip ties to play with and hold them over the last hour or two!! Most of the big displays have plenty of kid sized merchandise these days. Some of them even with very generous freebies. Track the school groups for the hot tips on merchandise as they are drawn to the best hi-vis, fake tattoo, fancy reusable bag, free face painting stalls like moths to a flame!!

When it’s all said and done, apart from being a stand out display of agriculture it is a fantastic family day (or days) out as well!

Thanks Ellen, and good luck with the littlies this year!

Posted on Sunday, 12 August 2018
in Latest News

AgQuip Supermum

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I did AgQuip with small children and lived to tell the tale....

For anyone in agriculture, and many who are not, AgQuip at Gunnedah is a must-do event. Managing small children during the field day/s presents its own challenges so we sought advice from a supermum:

Take spare clothes… all of them!

There are lots of toilets but not many baby change stations.

The Red Cross Parents and Nursing Mothers Room.

Sometimes the best prams are not prams at all.

There’s plenty to see and do.

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