Out-of-the-box school holidays ideas for kids and parents
- Written by Victorian Government
From circus performances to pottery making, from family-friendly wine tours to rap jumping off buildings, from Muppets to penguin-loving Maremma dogs – these out-of-the-box spring school holiday activities will give kids something to boast about.
Escape roomsPerfect for tweens, teens and adults alike, Escape Rooms are a thrilling experience that families can enjoy together. These real-life puzzles see two or more players locked in a themed room, working together to solve brain-teasers and escape before time runs out. Rooms range in difficulty with themes including: Prison Break, Biohazard Spills, Vampire Chronicles, Safari Jungle, Endless Dreams and Wonderland. Slick, fully immersive and great fun, rooms can be booked at a variety of places around town such as Escape Room International, Escape Hunt, Escape Room Australia and Escapism.
Rap Jumping For kids who like to live on the edge. Rap Jumping – which sees participants running face-first down a seven story building – will surely be the holiday experience that impresses the kids back at school. This unique adrenaline-pumping thrill combines abseiling with bungy jumping and takes place in Melbourne’s Southbank overlooking the city skyline. No previous experience is required, kids must be aged seven or more and all children under 18 years old need to rap jump with an accompanying parent or adult.
Melbourne Fringe FestivalThe Melbourne Fringe Festival (16 Sept – 4 Oct) features a jam-packed children’s program with circus, puppetry, comedy, theatre – and even a lesson in how to be a rock star. Kids can learn dance moves from around the world, as well as enjoying acrobatics, juggling, trapeze, hula hooping, and shadow puppet performances featuring sneaky chickens and flying ninjas.
MuseumsWith kids getting in for free at the Immigration Museum, Melbourne Museum and Scienceworks, school holidays are the perfect time to visit all three venues. The Immigration Museum will be home to a ‘Self Portrait Studio’, where kids can explore their own sense of identity, while over at Melbourne Museum, they can add a building, tree or house to the city scape with Mini Melbourne, and meet the Connies – Victoria’s famous comedic tram conductors who will be roaming the Museum. Dinosaur fans can enjoy a range of T-rex inspired activities at Scienceworks including augmented reality interactions, testing their strength against the bite force of a t-rex’s, or becoming a Dinosaur Detective in a live show that sees them digging up the past.
Federation SquareDelight, challenge and inspire the kids at Federation Square with a packed program of free family entertainment. Fun-filled programs run on selected days throughout the holidays including giant board games, the Itty Bitty Book Van that provides music and story-telling, scarecrow making workshops, an outdoor cinema, meditation, illustration and dance workshops for kids, silent disco tours and more. Families can also explore the shops and galleries, grab a bite to eat at the restaurants and cafes, visit the Koorie Heritage Trust and even take a tour around town with Rentabike.
ACMI Also on at Federation Square is Muppets, Music and Magic: Jim Henson’s Legacy (21 Sep – 11 Oct), at ACMI which lovingly explores Henson’s wonderful experimental films, commercials, animations and probably the most famous and influential of all television programs – Sesame Street. The program includes screenings of Jim Henson’s Muppets documentaries and kids’ films, through to workshops that will see kids create their own sock character cartoon, or their own movie studio, including pitching their ideas, writing a script, producing a storyboard, acting, directing, and operating a camera.
NGVThe National Gallery of Victoria has an interactive program for kids of all ages these school holidays. Children can make their own pottery with Melbourne artist Jessilla Rogers, create and direct a stop-motion animation video using the mini film sets in Open House: Tromarama for Kids, meet the renowned Hermannsburg Potters in their children’s exhibition Our Land is Alive: Hermannsburg Potters for Kids and decorate their own papier mache pots.
I Heart Melbourne ToursA designated driver is not required with specialised family tour company I Heart Melbourne Tours. Parents can enjoy a day of eating, drinking and visiting boutique producers through the breathtaking Yarra Valley, while the kids are entertained with games on the lawns, optional visits to an orchard where they can go fruit picking, as well as tractor rides, cheese and chocolate sampling. Flexible itineraries to this region can also include a visit to Healesville Sanctuary where families can get up close and personal with some of Australia’s native wildlife including koalas, kangaroos, emus, wombats and dingoes.
Sovereign HillTake a trip back in time at Sovereign Hill and discover what life was really like in the goldfields during the 1800s. Girls and boys aged seven to 12 are able to enlist in the British Army’s 40th Regiment of Foot in Ballarat to become a Redcoat and will be assigned uniforms and camp duties, learn a soldier’s drill, army doctoring and learn how the Redcoats fire their muskets. Other school-holiday experiences include close encounters with baby animals, sheep shearing demonstrations, a Snow White Pantomime, and a good old–fashioned School of Etiquette performance.
OddballGet some popcorn and visit the cinemas to see Oddball – the story of a Maremma dog who finds his calling protecting a colony of fairy penguins. Families can then take a trip along the Great Ocean Road and follow the real life story all the way to Warrnambool, taking a visit to Middle Island where the penguins come in to roost nightly. Kids can get up close with the current duo of Maremmas responsible for protecting the penguins from their foxy predators on a Meet The Maremma Guided Island Tour.
Werribee Open Range ZooKids can come face to face with rhinos, giraffe and zebra on an amazing journey through Africa at Werribee Open Range Zoo. Little explorers will receive a map and an official Zoo Passport to choose their own adventure through the Zoo, marking off animals as they visit them and collect official passport stamps at each checkpoint. The fun continues at Ranger Kids, the indoor play space where kids transform themselves into rangers and vets as they monitor the herds out on the savannah and bring injured giraffe and zebra back to the field tent for treatment. Kids under 16 are free every weekend, during school holidays and public holidays.
Melbourne SEA LIFE AquariumFamilies can drop into the Melbourne SEA LIFE Aquarium to see the new Ice Age: No Time For Nuts 4-D (19 Sept) a mammoth new fully immersive, high energy, 4D theatrical experience. Kids can then spend time exploring the aquarium where they can see the Gentoo penguins nesting their eggs, create their own colourful sea life that will then be released in a virtual aquarium and even become an Ocean Ranger for Aquarist for a day. Visitors can of course walk underwater through the glass viewing tunnels to see Australia’s marine life like never before and come within inches of huge sharks, rays and turtles and see some of the remarkable marine and freshwater animals.
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