Melbourne & surrounds
Kids Drop In: Screen Safari @ ACMI
Children from 8-12 can adventure like the animals of Madagascar at this drop-in green screen workshop at the Australian Centre for the Moving Image (ACMI). Play your part in an exciting expedition as it unfolds across a series of exotic locations inspired by the Madagascar movies. Just like Alex, Marty and Melman, you never know where you’ll end up!
Sessions are free. Drop in ten minutes before the hour, for sessions beginning at 11am, 12pm, 2pm and 3pm.
Visit ACMI for details
It’s show time!!
The Royal Melbourne Show is Victoria’s largest annual community event, bringing together the very best of entertainment, agriculture, attractions and fine food – along with thrilling carnival rides, live entertainment, spectacular nightly fireworks, showbags and much more!
It’s on at the Showgrounds from 20 September – 1 October.
Is science fiction our future?
Are you ready for science fiction to become a reality? If you thought teleportation, holograms, invisibility and mind control were only in the movies – think again! Science Fiction, Science Future allows you to move objects with your mind, turn invisible right before your eyes, be mimicked by a life-like robot and see augmented reality in action. This amazing exhibition runs at Museum Victoria until 9 March 2015 and is perfect for the school holidays.
Visit Museum Victoria
Meet the Octonauts!
Sound the Octo-alert! Dive into action with the Octonauts at SEA LIFE Melbourne Aquarium from 20 September to 5 October! With daily appearances by Captain Barnacles and Kwazii from 11am to 2pm, and 12 amazing zones of discovery to explore, there’s something for the whole family to enjoy these school holidays.
Book online and save!
Marvel at the lemurs at IMAX Melbourne Museum
There’s so much happening at IMAX during the school holidays! Watch ISLAND OF LEMURS: MADAGASCAR 3D and go on a spectacular journey to Madagascar to the amazing lemur. Narrated by Morgan Freeman, this movie is sure to please the entire family!
Tickets: adult $18, concession $15, child $13, family (2 adults & 2 children) $55.00
Add a visit to Melbourne Museum with your ticket purchase for a discounted rate of $5 for adults.
Fly into spring at the Melbourne Star!
Visit the Star these school holidays and enjoy Melbourne’s sunshine from above.
Kids who take a flight on the Star these school holidays will also receive a free Star Kids activity book, full of games, crossword puzzles and colouring pages. There’s also free face-painting and balloons for kids on 28 September, 4-5 October.
It’s all about bugs at Melbourne Zoo!
This spring, bring the kids to Melbourne Zoo for the chance to discover a world of bugs like no other.
Start your journey by trekking the bug trail on a self-guided tour around the zoo. Visit a number of bug species along the way and learn all about the amazing ways they escape being eaten!
Visit Melbourne Zoo
Melbourne is abuzz with school holiday fun
Find ways to entertain the whole family over the school holidays. There’s always heaps happening in the city, including plenty of free kids’ activities.
See Frank’s Survival Guide to Freedom – a unique blend of puppetry styles, interactive technology and general cleverness creates a playful celebration of one rooster’s unexpected bravery.
Enjoy Storytime for Preschoolers at the State Library of Victoria, with stories, songs, rhymes and activities designed to stimulate imagination and language development in preschoolers.
For more information on all the school holiday fun visit thatsmelbourne
Big Screen at Fed Square
Treat your kids to a unique multimedia activity these school holidays with Outdoor Cinema + Big Screen Gaming. In this exciting new Big Screen series, kids can watch Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2, The Lego Movie and High School Musical 3, and then play the movie heroes with XBOX gaming!
Visit Fed Square for details on the great range of school holiday activities.
Out of town
Spring into adventure on Phillip Island
Phillip Island is famous for the Penguin Parade, but there’s so much more to see and do! No visit to Phillip Island is complete without a magical trip to A Maze’N Things. It is a whole world of optical illusions, mazes and puzzles that will entertain, intrigue and amuse adults and children for hours.
There’s the brilliant 19 hole maxi mini golf and a large and colourful café, specialty retail shop and outdoor facilities such as playgrounds, BBQs and picnic areas.
Visit visitphillipisland.com
Take your kids to meet the ‘kids’ at Sovereign Hill
These school holidays, Sovereign Hill will come alive with the sounds of bleating and baa-ing, as children can learn about animals on the goldfields with baby animals including lambs, chickens and piglets.
Three times daily from Saturday 20 September – Sunday 5 October, there will be a roving tour at Sovereign Hill for children to visit the animals.
There’s lots happening, like the Black Beard pantomime, crafts and gingerbread decorating and more, so visit Sovereign Hill to get a piece of the school holiday fun.
See the stars at Ballarat Observatory
Explore the secrets of comets these school holidays and learn how spacecraft are trying to decipher these secrets! Kids can build their own models of a comet-catching spacecraft, journey through the solar system with a 3D documentary and view the night sky through the telescopes! Enjoy the wonders for space from 22 September – 2 October.
Bookings are essential, so call 0429 199 312 or visit the Ballarat Observatory for more information.
Have a sweet time with the kids
The Yarra Valley Chocolaterie and Ice Creamery has some ‘sweet’ school holiday activities this spring! Kids aged 6 – 12 can join the hands on 45 minute Junior Chocolatier classes in the ‘parents-free’ zone, learning to make their very own chocolate creations with the help of European Chocolatiers.
The $30 class fee includes a chef’s hat and apron, name badge, graduation certificate and three chocolate creations to take home. Plenty of tastings are also part of the fun!
Unleash your inner artist at the Bendigo Art Gallery
The art activities this spring are inspired by the current international exhibition, The Body Beautiful in Ancient Greece. Younger students will make helmets and shields along with their own version of the Greek sphinx, while older students will have the chance to design and decorate a Greek terracotta pot.
Click for more information
It’s all about Minecraft at M.A.D.E!
These school holidays get along to the Museum of Australia Democracy at Eureka (M.A.D.E.) for some hands on fun with discovery worksheets, craft activities and story time all based on the popular Minecraft game. M.A.D.E will also have Minecraft available to play on a selection of digital devices. Even if you’ve never tried the game before, you’ll enjoy the easy-to-play, creative, block building world!
The free daily program includes:
Minecraft themed exhibition worksheet.
Minecraft play using M.A.D.E’s laptop and tablet devices.
Minecraft themed papercraft activities.
Cyber Storytime (11am & 2pm)
Spring School Holidays – national
What’s On NSW
What’s On QLD
What’s On SA & WA
What’s On ACT, TAS & NT