Your guide to cheap kids’ activities in Cairns over the school holidays

Here’s your quick summer holiday guide to keep kids entertained on a budget this festive season.

The festive season has arrived and Cairns shopping outlets and organisations are helping families keep up the Christmas cheer throughout the school holidays.

Most major retailers are hosting free and inexpensive Christmas activities to help keep the kids occupied.

DFO Cairns is one of many shopping centres with festive activities available for the rest of the month, and Thursday was no exception.

Santa arrived at DFO Cairns in style on Thursday via a shiny red convertible, much to the delight of onlookers, bringing along a small parade of carollers and roving Christmas characters including Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer and Drummer Teddy.

Families will be able to take photos with Santa from 10am until 2pm every day starting from today until Christmas Eve.

Marketing representative for DFO Cairns Laura Perkins said these were just a handful of sights and activities for families to enjoy at the centre including free snowcones, cupcake decorating, face painting, pet photography and Christmas carols from the Nintiringanyi choir.

Ms Perkins encourages families to book their Santa photos online, but said families are still welcome to join the queue as a walk-in.

Santa stopping by DFO Cairns in his flashy red convertible. Picture: Sandhya Ram

“Our cupcake decorating has been booked out but people are still welcome to walk-in and join,” she said.

“Cairns Ice Skating Rink which is located in the centre is doing a lot of family friendly activities, including toboganning but we’ve also been hearing a lot of families have been going out and playing minigolf and doing other family friendly activities outside the store.”

Affordable family activities around the region include spending time in the great outdoors, adventuring into nature or chilling out in the aircon.

Check out the list below for fun family ideas to enjoy during the holidays.

Shop for a bargain

At Cairns Central, kids can write letters to Santa which will be posted directly by Twinkle the Elf from the ground floor, or they can have their photo taken with Santa himself, also located on the ground floor.

At Earlville Shopping Town, kids can enjoy Christmas cupcake decorating at the playground or a visit with Santa at the Santa Set near the food court.

Enjoying the Great Outdoors

Kids love having fun in the sun, especially over the summer holidays, so spending time in the great outdoors is a must-do for nature-loving families.

Swimming spots are a great way to keep the kids cool this summer, and the Cairns region has an abundance of them including Goomboora Park, The Rocks, Stoney Creek and Crystal Cascades.

Day at the Beach

The pride and joy of Far North Queensland are its beautiful beaches. Some favourites include Kewarra Beach, Holloways, Ellis Beach and Palm Cove.

If that’s too close to home, try Four Mile Beach near Port Douglas or head south to the incredible views of Mission Beach – just make sure to suit up and mind the stingers.

The Esplanade Lagoon is also a popular site for families.

Explore the Northern Beaches at your own pace by walking, biking or e-scootering through Palm Cove and head south to follow the Northern Beaches Leisure Trail all the way to Yorkeys Knob.

Adventure into nature

With free entry, the Cairns Botanic Gardens an easy way to keep the kids entertained while learning about the natural world.

With many native and exotic plant species to enjoy, the Botanic Gardens make a great place to spend a few hours.

Wander through Centenary lakes where you can enjoy walking through a rainforest boardwalk, find Amazon pond lilies, and the occasional dozing croc.

Chilling out inside

While there is plenty of fun to be had outdoors, there is also plenty of ways to keep entertained while chilling out in the aircon.

Cairns Regional Council libraries have plenty of free family activities to choose form these holidays with programs ranging from reading clubs, film clubs to Christmas crafts and origami.

Originally published as Your guide to cheap kids’ activities in Cairns over the school holidays