Active school holiday options to keep ’I’m bored’ at bay
GET the kids out of the house and burning up some energy with these action-packed school holiday options.
Parenting
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GET the kids out of the house and burning up some energy with these action-packed school holiday options.
MELBOURNE SPORTS HUB
WITH parents or without, Melbourne Sports Hub is a guaranteed winner for school holiday fun. Families can visit the Melbourne Sports and Aquatic Centre to swim, slip down the waterslide, ride the waves in the wave pool, bomb into the diving pool, surf the FlowRider or navigate the inflatables and have a high-energy action-packed time.
Or enrol in the Planet Sport school holiday program which includes the use of all of the MSAC’s amazing sports, aquatic and recreational facilities including swimming and stadium sports.
Each day active 5 — 12 year olds will try a selection of different activities including swimming, surfing the FlowRider, aerobics, tennis, table tennis, badminton, water polo, yoga, basketball, cricket, volleyball, soccer, athletics and more. You’ll definitely have more fun than mum and dad if they’re at work!
30 Aughtie Dve, Albert Park
RAMP CAMPS
Grab the scooters and BMX’s from the garage and let the tykes shred to their heart’s content at Rampfest Indoor Skate Park.
Rampfest runs school holiday programs where gnarly dudes can learn cool tricks, basic skills and techniques, skate park safety and etiquette, how to use skate park obstacles then have a rad time shredding the course. Ramp Camps for all ages and abilities run for three days (10am to 3pm daily) with morning and afternoon coaching and lunch included. The three-day camp starts from $99.95.
And if you don’t want a camp but want to shred it up anyway, Rampfest is open daily over the school holidays from 9am
1/47-85 Hillary St, Braybrook
JOIN THE CIRCUS
RUN away for a day at the circus, or just try circus life for three hours, with school holiday courses at the National Institute of Circus Arts.
Try the trapeze, tackle the tightwire, see how many balls you can keep in the air juggling, jiggle your hips with the hula hoops, try some acrobalance and learn many other circus skills. There’s three-hour morning classes for children aged five to 12, and on selected days this age group can spend the whole day tiring themselves out with workshops and fun circus activities.
There’s a program for teens in the afternoons giving them the chance to learn new skills, build confidence and try things they never thought possible.
NICA: cnr Green and Thomas streets, Prahran
BIG BASH EXCITEMENT
THE KFC Big Bash League is a quick, sharp and explosive three hours of cricket excitement. With big hits, fireworks, music and non-stop action each game is guaranteed to keep kids on the edge of their seats.
With two Melbourne teams, the Melbourne Stars and Melbourne Renegades, there are plenty of matches to choose from.
On January 1 and 7 the Stars and Renegades take each other on in a massive action-packed local derby, with the excitement and energy levels ramped up even higher with a women’s BBL match on during the afternoon before the men take to the field in the evening.
The Melbourne Big Bash calendar has games on December 22, 29, Jan 1, 7, 10, 12, 17 and 21.
COOL DOWN ON THE ICE
When the weather heats up outside there’s no better way to cool down and burn off some energy than ice skating at O’Brien Group Arena.
Santa will be cooling off inside the arena every weekend until December 31, taking to the rink on his own ice skates so you can skate with the man of the moment and see whose ice skating skills are supreme.
Then in January, there’s an on-ice obstacle course that is sure to test your skating skills, and a craft zone as part of the endless summer fun.
If you’ve never wobbled your way across the ice on skates, you’ll be gliding gracefully in no time with free lessons for beginners every hour from 11am to 2pm, and if you’ve mastered moving forwards you can get lessons in how to skate backwards to improve your skills.
And if you’ve got tiny skaters in tow, there are special under 8’s ice fun daily from 9am to 11am with toys, games and music plus snow play areas so parents and children can have fun.
Pearl Harbor Rd, Docklands.
CLIMB A MOUNTAIN
It’s not as daunting as it sounds! There are plenty of great bushwalks around Melbourne that involve scaling a mountain that children of all ages can reach the top of under their own steam.
Pack a snack and drink bottle and head off for a bushwalk to enjoy some time in nature and spectacular views along the way.
Mt Cooper at Bundoora Park is perhaps the easiest mountain to scale (or you can drive to the top), with great views of Melbourne’s skyline from one of the highest points in metropolitan Melbourne — 137m above sea level. Walk through Bundoora Park to the peak, which is actually a volcanic vent that erupted 9.2 million years ago.
A little further out of town, try the walk up Flinders Peak in the You Yangs for views of the planes landing at Avalon and over the western suburbs to the city, across the bay and Geelong, park the car and walk to the summit of Mt Dandenong, or head to mysterious Hanging Rock near Gisborne which is not technically a mountain but an enjoyable walk with great views!
TEST YOUR SKILLS AGAINST ELITE ATHLETES
Test your goalkicking skills against AFL players, compare cycling speeds and test your reaction times against elite athletes at Game On! In the National Sporting Museum at the MCG where you can also try archery, netball and other sports to find your favourite.
The National Sporting Museum tells the story of Australia’s sporting history and its highlights. If there are no events scheduled at the MCG you even have the chance to step onto the hallowed turf.
ON YOUR BIKE
Pump up the tyres and head out on a family bike ride to explore a patch of Melbourne you haven’t seen from two wheels. Choose one of the many bike trails around Melbourne that pass playgrounds, cafes or even an ice-cream parlour and everyone will be happy.
Great family rides that tick all the boxes include the Bay Trail along the edge of Port Phillip Bay (with the added attraction of a cooling swim at the end of your ride), the Hobsons Bay Coastal trail with playgrounds and coffee stops along the Williamstown and Altona foreshore, and Jells Park in Wheelers Hill with its wide family-friendly trails and cafe in the centre of the park.
LEARN TO SAIL
Feel the wind in your hair and the spray in your face as you learn how to sail. Children aged seven to 12 can take part in a Little Tackers course offered at many yacht and sailing clubs across Victoria.
Most clubs run the program over a five day week with experienced yachties and instructors teaching children all they need to know to set their own sail. And there are different levels of Tackers programs so once kids have mastered the basics they can gain more experience.
They don’t need to have any sailing experience and don’t have to be a member of a club to participate, and all equipment including boats is provided.
Close the city, Little Tackers programs run over the summer holidays at Albert Park Lake, Royal Melbourne Yacht Squadron, Elwood Sailing Club, Sandringham Sailing Club, Williamstown Sailing Club, Royal Geelong Yacht Club and more.
BOUNCE, CLIMB AND FLY
Kids won’t know what to try first when they don their grippy socks and head into Latitude, a massive indoor aerial superpark.
There’s trampolines, an obstacle course, rock climbing, basketball lanes, dodge ball, wall jumps and an area especially for younger children.
Bounce, climb, fly, flip, race and slide and if when the energy rubs out, grab something from the cafe to refuel and go again.
Unlike your average trampoline park Latitude also has 14 unique rock climbing walls and a sky-high obstacle course 8m above the ground that will challenge the courage of any-age child.
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