The Creativity & Joy Conference

Toni Christie is truly an Early Childhood Education Icon- setting up the Childspace institute in 1993 and building an organisation rich with purpose and passion. She has been at the forefront of advocacy and change making for the lives of children and conditions of educators in New Zealand.  

This year, Childspace is hosting their 20th conference- ‘The Creativity & Joy Conference’ and Angie from Phoenix support spent some time with Toni discussing the significance of this milestone.  

Esteemed. Dynamic. Exciting. Innovative.  

All words on a loop in my mind as Toni and I chat about her keynote speakers and workshops that will feature at the 20th Childspace conference in Wellington NZ, on October 10-12, 2025.  

So, how did she decide on the theme of Joy and Creativity? 

Politics, paperwork, advocacy is all important in our work as Early Childhood Educators and Teachers, and its so easy to get bogged down in that work. But if we all take a moment to reflect on what drove us to this profession, if we question why did we study education? For most of us its because joy and creativity are central to our beings. Playful people are really attractive to children, playful people will always have a better day with children, so it’s really a timely reclamation of the importance of joy in our work. 

Too often, adults will preface an act of creativity with “but I'm not very good at this” What can we learn from children about embracing creativity and how will the conference help with this? 

People who say “i’m not creative” are never under 5- children know they’re creative. A child knows they’re a singer, a dancer, a painter, a scientist. I actually think from about age 8 we start comparing our work to others and deciding that one is better or worse. We should never deny ourselves opportunities to embrace our creativity- and the conference is full of hands-on opportunities for all participants to be involved in the learning and making of something.  

Australian pedagogues still have so much to learn from our NZ colleagues regarding authentically embedding culture into our practice- what will inspire us throughout this conference? 

Our culture is embedded into everything we do and educators will see this during the conference- there's Waiata (song) and dance after every session, we have sessions on Rongoā Māori, natural medicine and collecting from the bush ingredients for wellness. There’s a session on Raranga (weaving) with flax. When we think about our framework, Te Whāriki is a bi-cultural document and is over 30 years old. We don't think about it very much, it’s just who we are. Aiming for cultural competence is a journey- when you didn’t start with a treaty you have a longer path to walk. Just coming here helps you do half the learning- there are sign posts in Māori, our traffic lights have Haka characters, its something that you will feel, be in, and understand.  

So across 2 days, you have 6 keynote speakers and 18 breakout sessions- Is there anyone who is new on the scene or a session that you are feeling particularly excited by?   

Memory Lyon will be discussing continuity within transition to school as the Principal of a small country school. In the lineup I've got some real blue sky thinkers with some incredibly important messages- Josh Allen is speaking on whakamana (empowerment) for children to have agency and choice. He is dynamic and will capture the audience- definitely one to watch! Bobbi- Jo Burkitt is leading a session discussing nature pedagogy that she leads in our WildSpace. We are also running a dynamic 7x7x7 session- 7 speakers, 7 sessions for 7 minutes each- tapping into adult creativity, joy, generosity, Re-Cognition, Courage. Its a group of people who I much love and admire and they’re our closing keynote that I feel will lift everyone.     

So if we miss out on tickets to the Conference in New Zealand, but we can snag a spot at the Yeah Baby conferences around Australia, what can we expect?  

Yeah Baby has been going in NZ for over 20 years. We use a new line up every year, with new information but ALWAYS specifically for children under 3. 8 years ago we decided to bring it to Australia, and we make sure to share the love around the country.  We specifically wanted to create a one-day only conference on a Saturday so everyone from the team can attend and share the information. We also host it at a service so that delegates can have an opportunity to see other sites.  

Ultimately, If we can get consistency and continuity of care for those children under 3, we know that they’ll end up better off, We are striving to move people beyond that model of baby room to toddler room, and the children move on, to thinking ‘you are an expert on these little people, and you should stay with them until they go to school’ We’ve been practicing that way in Childspace for a long time. At all sessions, we open with a session on respectful people, places and things. 

What does respect look like for infants and toddlers? What do spaces and environments look like when we respect children? If children are constantly learning from people, places and things we need to make sure those people, places and things are the best they can be.  

In an act of pure national pride and love of your country, finish this sentence, come for the conference, stay for the??? 

Stay for the centre tours!  

Stay for the culture!  

If you came all the way from Australia, it’d be definitely worth it to jump on the bus and come and see all of our sites, including our Childspace institute, and our Wildspace, which is a teepee on 10 acres of bushland.  

If you are excited by this opportunity, jump on the links below to find out more, book tickets and immerse yourself in the richness offered by the team at Childspace. 

Author: Angie Freeman