My toddler son loves diggers, or excavators. He can spend hours watching a digger at work, piling earth into a dump truck.

So when I saw there was a discount for Dig IT at Mount Tamborine, a mini excavator park for children in the Gold Coast Hinterlands, I pounced on it. It is celebrating its “birthday”: one year of operations.

Located at Thunderbird Park, Dig IT is accessible via a bridge over a bubbling mountain stream. It is advisable to arrive with time to spare, as we got a bit lost on the premises and had to backtrack to the main carpark to the left of the entrance. Participants are asked to arrive half an hour prior to their session.

A ticket entitles you to two hours of exploration. Children under 5 must operate the 1.7-tonne excavators on the lap of a parent or guardian. As there is no charge for a guardian or for observers, we only purchased a single ticket.

(The lady at the front desk was kind enough to let our toddler daughter take turns with her brother, which was fortunate as our son saw the sandpit full of toys and refused to budge from it for quite some time.)

After receiving a hard hat and fluorescent vest (though our toddlers refused to keep the hard hat on), all participants sit through the safety induction. Each digger is supervised by a staff member, who blows a whistle to indicate when time is up.

Each participant is provided with an “induction card” depicting each activity and stating:

“This certifies that the above named construction worker is officially inducted into the Dig IT worksite on [date] and is qualified on all the Dig IT machines. Welcome to the Dig IT club!”

Along with the Dig IT sticker that the child receives, the induction card is a nice little souvenir. You get a hole punched in the card at each zone, along with a sense of accomplishment.

To Your Stations!

There are four fenced-in challenge zones: the Dig Zone, where you scoop up some earth and deposit it on a nearby pile; the Demolition Zone, which involves knocking over a tower with a wrecking ball; the Claw & Croc Zone – two stations where you aim to pick up tyres or floating crocs and move them; and the RC Zone, with radio-controlled miniature diggers, bulldozers and dump trucks.

With the sandpit and another play area full of toy tools, bricks and balls, there was plenty to fascinate our toddlers for two hours.

There was ample seating for spectators, and even a QR code at the sandpit for parents to order a bite from the nearby restaurant. Upbeat music plays in the background, so you don’t hear just the clanking of machinery.

As it was the school holidays, the session was quite popular, and we had to wait a bit to participate in each station. Towards the end, I accompanied the toddlers in the sandpit while hubby waited in line.

All in all, it was a memorable experience – but perhaps better appreciated by older children. Our toddlers were happiest with just a bucket and a pile of sand!

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Image courtesy of Adobe.