Summer Fun Guide: Activities for kids over the school holidays
TRYING to keep the kids entertained for weeks in the summer holidays can be difficult. Try these activities to keep the kids occupied and happy, writes Mikey Cahill.
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TRYING to keep the kids entertained for weeks in the summer holidays can be difficult. Try these activities for kids with varying interests.
From baking cookies and cherry picking to arts and crafts, this guide caters to outdoor kids, tech wizards and bookworms alike.
— Pick up your 16-page Summer Fun Guide in the Sunday Herald Sun this weekend
OUTDOOR KIDS
1. TUBE SLIDING
Totally tubular. Tube sliding is best when you can choose from heaps of slides. Try three big twisters, two straight giants and one kids-only slide. It’s like a snow-free ski run, where participants use brightly coloured tubes to glide down the slope, laughing like crazy. While you’re there, try the mazes, bush adventure scramble, canopy walk and, of course, the tree surfing.
55 Purves Rd, Arthur’s Seat. Mon-Fri, 10am-6pm, Sat-Sun, 9am-6pm. $20/$30. enchantedmaze.com.au
2. CHERRYHILL ORCHARDS
Cherry-picking sounds like fun, right? It’s also nutritious and gets kids and families outdoors, away from the imminent cabin fever. Pick Your Own season is now open and the trees are
literally bursting with an abundant crop of delicious, extra-sweet and large, red cherries.
Cherryhill Orchards,
474 Queens Rd, Wandin East.
Daily, 9am-5pm. $6 to $12, families, $35.
3. BALLARAT WILDLIFE PARK
Look, it’s Charlie with an alligator, he’s the next Steve Irwin. Or maybe you are. Get up close and personal with some of Australia’s cutest and most interesting native animals: little penguins, Crunch the 660kg Super Croc that’s 5m long, Victoria’s only Komodo Dragon, roaming kangaroos, koalas, Tasmanian devils and even a giant tortoise.
Free guided tour daily at 11am with a keeper and you can book an animal encounter or one of their VIP tours.
Cnr of York & Fussell streets, Ballarat East. Daily, 9am-5pm. $28.50, $35, families $95. Under 4 free.
SCIENCE AND TECH
4. JUNIOR CODING ACADEMY AND IROBOTICS
Are you a student passionate about science and technology? Do you dream of building robots? Well step right up and get involved in these programs.
Choose from Junior Coding Academy and iRobotics and make sure you have some days free in January to learn about the future and how you can be a vital part of it.
Junior Coding Academy, Grade 1-9, Burwood, Jan 15-16; Lynbrook, Jan 15-19; Seabrook, Jan 15-19; $179. iRobotics, Grade 5-11, Burwood,
Jan 17-18, Lynbrook, Jan 15-19, Seabrook, Jan 15-19; $299 (free robotic kit). aeroboticsglobal.com/new-students
5. CODE CAMP
Kids who can code are gonna go places. Choose from three different levels these holidays. Spark is for first-timers, grades 2-6. They’ll get their own app playable via the Code Camp App store on iOS, Android or any web browser, a new found love for coding and passion for technology, a T-shirt and hat, access to a range of video tutorials so they can continue coding at home.
Ignite is for returning students who receive all the same tuition plus experience with both drag and drop and some line coding. Blast is for advanced students who will gain a solid understanding of JavaScript.
Haileybury City, 383 King St, West Melbourne. Dec 18-20. $349. codecamp.com.au
COOKING
6. ITSY BITSY CHEF
Don’t climb up the waterspout, get cookin’! This school holiday program offers hands-on chef experiences for children 5-13 years old. Then they eat with their friends and take home the rest of the spoils to their loved ones.
They’ll be making honey and ricotta bundt cake, chicken souvlaki with homemade bread, monkey-face biscuits and pork dim sims, ricotta puffs with petit salad and more.
147 Liardet St, Port Melbourne & 219 Esplanade E, Port Melbourne. Jan 15-25. Mon-Fri, 9am-1.30pm. $80.
7. GINGERBREAD MAKING WORKSHOPS
Ever since Shrek came out, there’s been a resurgence in the popularity of gingerbread men. Isn’t it time we had gingerbread women, too? It’s nearly 2018 after all.
You can make your own modifications at these free gingerbread decorating workshops. Kids will be extra helpful with the Christmas preparation when they bring home customised little critters. Sessions run by Ferguson Plarre.
The Glen Shopping Centre, 235 Springvale Rd. Dec 16, 23, 10am, noon, 2pm. Free. theglen.com.au
BOOKWORMS
8. NGV KIDS ON TOUR
Coming soon to a venue near you. Fiona Hall: Who Lives Here? activities invite children to create paper collage animals in their natural habitat, Everybody Play is a trivia board
game challenging impromptu performances, Nonsense sees Olga Chernysheva getting children to draw different parts of an animal to create creatures never seen before, Everybody Draw sees kids and teens invited to create their own portrait.
It’ll look great on the fridge. Throughout Victoria, various times/prices.
ARTS & CRAFTS
9. BENDIGO ART GALLERY
Encounter the secret treasures of Bendigo Art Gallery’s remarkable collection during the summer school holidays, with freestyle creative activities and events, and a kaleidoscope of inspiring and perspiring workshops. Designed to encourage kids to express their individuality through making, drawing and designing, Bendigo’s specialised art happenings are perfect for families with kids aged 4-14.
Bendigo Art Gallery, 42 View St. Until Jan 21. Various times. $7.90/$11.20. www.bendigoartgallery.com.au/Home
10. ACCA’S WORKSHOP WEEK
Nothing tricks kids into work like a workshop. The Australian Centre for Contemporary Art (ACCA) is hosting artist-led workshops to coincide with their fantabulous Big Picture Summer exhibition, Unfinished Business: Perspectives on art and feminism.
Morning workshops will be for kids and families and afternoons for teenagers (up to 17 years old).
It will involve a tour of the exhibition plus lots of opportunities to make work under the guidance of contemporary artists.
ACCA, 111 Sturt St, Southbank. Jan 23-25, 10am-2pm. $10 to $20.
MUSICAL
11. TINKERBELL AND THE DREAM FAIRIES
Kids just love fairies. They can dress up as a fairy or elf and see this lively production full of activities, acrobatics, and charm that will enthral young ones and have them squealing that fairies are real.
There’s singing, dancing and a special adventure to Bubble Land where nobody ends up with soap in their eye. Come and play in this interactive theatre. Ages 3-8.
Geelong Botanic Gardens, 1-49 Garden St. Dec 29, 11am, 2pm. $15.90/$20, families $80. shakespeareaustralia.com.au
TEENAGERS
12. ESCAPE THE GAOL
It’s time to enter prison … then break out of it. This brand new experience will see you become inmates then explore the Gaol to discover all the necessary clues to create the perfect escape plan, without being discovered by the prison guards.
Each ‘prisoner’ will be given a notebook containing a number of riddles, which must be deciphered in order to receive directions to hidden clues. Ned Kelly couldn’t bust out, can you?
377 Russell St, city. Starts Dec 26-Jan 26. Daily, 9.30am-5pm.
$15 to $28, families $48.
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