Bored with the beach and over Santa? Here are some ideas to keep little ones happy and parents sane.
Most of your bigger botanic gardens run school holiday programs where visitors can get up close and personal with creepy crawlies, build their own cubbies and more. At the Rio Tinto Naturescape in Perth’s Kings Park (pictured), for example, there are rock painting classes where you create cosy garden oasis for them to live in as well as nature noughts and crosses.
Try out those new toys or just perfect the moves - with appropriate safety gear of course - at a challenging skatepark. Hit up skatermaps.com, input your state and you’re away. There are even parks in Bali listed.
If your clan is more into riding a wave, URBNSURF has now opened locations in at Sydney’s Olympic Park and Melbourne’s Tullamarine. Here you can learn to hang ten on consistent waves with expert tuition or just a sesh in the green room.
If you want to get your kids into the real spirit of Christmas, check out the programs offered by organisations like Kids Giving Back. At its Helping Hands For The Homeless program they cook meals and assemble items for people experiencing homelessness and tough times.
With the women’s comp kicking off in November and the men’s launching on December 15, the Big Bash 20/20 cricket comp is a condensed three hour high energy version of the game complete with dancers, music, mascots and fan zones.
If there is an aquarium in your home town or wherever you are holidaying, chances are they have a school holiday program in action. At the very least, there will be a hands-on touch pool and the always popular shark exhibits never fail to enthral.
While the Gold Coast crams in more parks than anywhere else in Australia, the likes of Luna Park in Sydney and Melbourne, Kryal Castle in Ballarat, WA’s Adventure World and Jamberoo near Wollongong all offer excellent days out.
Remember those interminable days you spent at the museums on school day trips? They are well and truly a thing of the past. There are a multitude of options nowadays. Using Melbourne for example, there’s the dino-mite Melbourne Museum, Scienceworks, the Immigration Museum and the Royal Exhibition Building. Sydney meanwhile boasts the Australian National Maritime Museum, Justice and Police Museum, Museum of Sydney, Museum of Contemporary Art, Powerhouse Museum, Australian Museum, Qtopia and the Sydney Cricket Ground Museum.
Your local council is about way more than just getting the garbage and charging rates. Many offer a range of school holiday activities often centred around local libraries. As an example, Sydney's Inner West council splits its program between youth and children's programs, with the former including pop up choirs and live readings from authors. Check your local council to see what they have on. After all, you're pretty much subsidising it.
NSW: December 23, 2024 - January 30, 2025.
Vic: December 20, 2024 - January 28, 2025.
WA: December 13 2024 - February 4, 2025.
SA: December 14, 2024 - January 27, 2025.
QLD: December 14, 2024 - January 27, 2025.
ACT: December 18, 2024 - February 2, 2025.
NT: December 14, 2024 - January 28, 2025.
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