About Us

Proudly Australian Owned and Operated since 1999

Wisdom Activities is an Australian owned and run Recreational Therapy resource specialist shop. We have a large range of leisure and lifestyle products selected and tested by Degree qualified Recreational and Diversional Therapists to cater for seniors and those living with disabilities within residential, hospital and community settings.

Wisdom Activities was established in 1999 as an online aged care activities retail shop. Today, we remain 100% Australian owned and operated, selling products both nationwide and around the world. Our main goal is to provide Recreational Therapy professionals with evidence-based products to ensure best practice and improved client outcomes.

 

Our History

Wisdom Activities started in Western Australia by Occupational Therapist Nicolette Whittington in 1999bwho was working in aged care at the time.  She saw a great need for appropriate activities for those in aged care as well as in the home and so she started the business from scratch in the second bedroom of her home. Once the business gained momentum, she resigned from her OT role and went full time with Wisdom Activities and moved to a shop front in Perth. Nicolette would go travelling around the country to various Conventions - which she loved.

Then came the first basic Wisdom Activities website.  Nicolette bought a storage facility (very small) in Adelaide which allowed her to keep stock there and not cart it backward and forwards to the east coast. She would fly into Adelaide, load up the stock and drive to Sydney and Melbourne - stopping off at facilities as she went, leaving catalogues and doing displays - a bit like Tupperware!!  

After 15 years, Nicolette sold the business to Kate who had a background in small business. She relocated the business to Melbourne which she said was quite the task. During the next 8 years, Kate introduced a larger range of products which by 2022 had grown to over 600 products all specially selected for use in aged care.

In July of 2022, Kayla Garside, who at the time was Executive Officer of Diversional and Recreational Therapy Australia (now Australian Recreational Therapy Association) bought Wisdom Activities. She later stepped down from EO position and returned to a voluntary board position by January 2023 so to work on Wisdom Activities full time from home while looking after her preschool aged children. Kayla is a degree qualified Diversional/Recreational Therapist and has worked in several residential aged care facilities in NSW and Victoria for 15 years as well as owning her own private practise Access Therapeutic Recreation. As a practicing Recreational Therapist, Kayla hopes to expand Wisdom Activities into Disability and Mental Health and continue to develop amazing activity resources.