Melbourne & surrounds
Santa’s Magical Kingdom is back!
Take the kids to see all the magic of Christmas at Caulfield Racecourse.
Santa’s Magical Kingdom returns in 2014 bigger and better than ever, with the wonder and joy of a traditional Christmas. This interactive walk-through is an enchanting experience that includes everything that you love about Christmas. Get ready to be amazed as you see the magic of Christmas come to life!
Open until 23 December, Santa’s Magical Kingdom will deliver a Christmas wonderland full of activities that will capture the imagination of families everywhere.
Tickets are available through the Booking Office 1300 307 740 or ticketek.com.au
Go over the ‘Edge’ at Eureka Skydeck!
Let vertigo take over the summer school holidays with a visit to Eureka Skydeck, for a twist on the iconic Edge experience.
Eureka Skydeck’s green screen installation, Eureka VERTIGO, is a specially constructed set allowing guests to have their photo taken with the illusion they’re falling through the glass floor of the Edge and are trying to hold on for dear life, 285 metres above the streets of Melbourne.
Let your imagination run wild while creating and capturing your Eureka VERTIGO photo. The 9” x 6” photograph comes with a digital copy ready for upload to Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. The Eureka VERTIGO experience costs $12.00.
Family fun at the circus with Beyond
Take the family along to see Beyond by modern Australian circus ensemble Circa. The show Beyond explores the fine line between human and animal behaviour and will appear in Melbourne for the very first time from 3 – 18 January at the Arts Centre Melbourne.
Breathtaking, surreal and unexpectedly moving, Beyond blends dynamic circus acts like trapeze and Chinese pole with giant fluffy rabbit head costumes, Rubik’s Cubes and blindfolds.
Tickets from $35-$39 (family tickets available)
Visit artscentremelbourne.com.au
Make a movie @ ACMI
In this three-day hands-on creative and technical filmmaking workshop for kids aged 9 to 12, participants work in a small group to learn the basics of writing, directing, acting in and editing a short film. 12 – 14 Jan and 19 – 21 Jan 2015.
Visit ACMI for details
Join the hobbits at IMAX Melbourne Museum
There’s so much happening at IMAX during the school holidays! “The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies” brings to an epic conclusion the adventures of Bilbo Baggins, Thorin Oakenshield and the Company of Dwarves. Having reclaimed their homeland from the Dragon Smaug, the Company has unwittingly unleashed a deadly force into the world…
Tickets: adult $28, concession $24, child $21, family (2 adults & 2 children) $62.00 Add a visit to Melbourne Museum with your ticket purchase for a discounted rate of $6 for adults.
Visit imaxmelbourne.com.au for details of all the fun activities for kids.
Make a splash with Art Aquarium!
Kids can see hundreds of amazing tropical fish, then bring their own ideas to life in the amazing Art Aquarium – Melbourne’s biggest and newest interactive experience at SEA LIFE Melbourne Aquarium.
Each day throughout the school holidays, with Crayola textas in hand, children can use their imagination to create their very own sea creature and watch it come to life as it’s magically released into the huge nine-metre virtual aquarium! With special presentations, interactive animal encounters and 12 amazing zones of discovery, you can also spend hours learning about how fish swim, what they like to eat and how they survive in the wild.
Book online and save at melbourneaquarium.com.au
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.
Meet furry friends at the Melbourne Star!
From 12 – 16 January, two and four legged furry friends will star at Melbourne Star, with a menagerie of farm animal favourites – including lambs, goat kids, piglets, rabbits and ducks as part of the summer school holiday program.
Visit Melbourne Star for details.
Venture into Lion Gorge at Melbourne Zoo!
Dare to enter Lion Gorge and come face-to-face with the magnificent African Lion bachelor group. Try your hand at designing beadwork that can help to protect lions in the wild.
See the African Wild Dog pack settling into their new home and learn all about this alert and agile hunter. You’ll also be able to test your skills as a predator, searching for prey through a series of challenges.
Plus, this summer only, Melbourne Zoo will be transforming historic Main Drive into a stunning gallery of wildlife photography, and our presenters in the Keeper Kids play space will be telling stories and running special fun activities with bite!
Visit Melbourne Zoo to see what else is on this summer!
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.
During summer you can experience the Royal Botanic Gardens like never before with the Disney Fairies Trail. Download the app and start looking for Disney Fairies hidden in the Gardens, until 28 Feb 2015.
Look for Tinker Bell and her winged friends as they flutter among the garden beds, giant trees, and sparkling lakes.
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 – runs until 31 December 2014.
For more information on all the school holiday fun visit thatsmelbourne
Scarecrows at Fed Square
Bring the kids to the Fed Square’s rooftop veggie garden, Pop Up Patch, and help them make their very own scarecrow to take home. On until 20 December, so don’t miss out!
Visit Fed Square for details on the great range of school holiday activities.
Out of town
Summer by the Sea in Gippsland
Inverloch will be buzzing with hundreds of free, guided activities. Kids will be able to explore and discover Victoria’s marine and coastal environment with a range of exciting activities lined up over the school holidays. Taking a step back in time, they can go on a dinosaur exploration, unravelling the mystery of dinosaurs living around Inverloch or, explore the rocky shores of the Bunurong Coast and what lies beneath the ocean with Rockpool Ramble.
Summer by the Sea happens from 2 – 26 January 2015 at multiple locations across Inverloch and Gippsland.
Spring into adventure on Phillip Island
Phillip Island is famous for the Penguin Parade, but there’s so much more to see and do! Experience the excitement and adventure of scaling high above the island with the opening of Sky Trail. Standing at three stories high, the intricate rope course and adrenalin pumping challenges are the first within Australia making it a must-see and do experience for thrill-seekers. Combined with other A Maze’N Things activities, guests can enjoy 25% off for a fun-filled family day out.
Puppet magic at Sovereign Hill
You never knew what you’d find on the goldfields – life was a wild, high-speed adventure full of very strange characters – like the mad Tinker, with his crazy time-travel contraption and his amazing, larger-than-life puppets. With his magical heart of gold, he turns the everyday into the extraordinary – and the impossible walks the earth!
There’s always lots happening, so visit Sovereign Hill to get a piece of the school holiday fun.
Fun for the kids at Ballarat Observatory
In January, science meets art in a 2D and 3D workshop at the historic Ballarat Observatory, making artworks that are out of this world. Children of all ages have the chance to participate in a mural with talented local artists, and have fun with hands-on construction of take home spaceships and sci fi drawings. Rocket launching is available on site and it’s lots of fun for the children.
Bookings are essential, so call 0429 199 312 or visit Ballarat Observatory for more information.
Festive fun at the Chocolaterie
Discover the Christmas inspired chocolate creations in the showroom at the Yarra Valley Chocolaterie until 24 December. There’s over 15,000 sweet things to choose from, including hand crafted chocolates to adorn your Christmas table or tree to wonderful gifts that will delight chocolate lovers of all ages.
Meet Santa and his helper, Miss Plum Pudding at the Chocolaterie after school from 4pm-5pm Monday to Friday and 10-2pm Saturday and Sunday.
Unleash your inner artist at the Bendigo Art Gallery
The biannual drop in and draw family day is on again on 18 January 2015! The Big Draw features an exciting range of drawing activities both in and outside the Gallery, as well as special artist led workshops. Activities are for all ages.
Click for more information