Many of us are familiar with the school holiday dilemma of trying to find entertaining, engaging activities that will keep your kids from spending the whole two weeks glued to the Xbox. Once you’ve exhausted the tried and true excursions of movies and bowling, what’s next? The good news is that Melbourne is full of amazing things to do for kids of all ages.
Below are our top 5 picks for things to do during these first term holidays. Don’t forget that most places are limiting numbers due to Covid restrictions and you should make sure you pre-book so you don’t miss out.
MCG Tour
Age: 10+
Your budding Glenn Maxwell or Dusty Martin will love taking a look behind the scenes of Australia’s most iconic sporting stadium! They can sit in the media room and imagine what it would be like to face the onslaught of reporters’ questions after a big win and find their favourite players locker in the change rooms. They’ll enjoy a peep into where the coaches sit, tearing their hair out and biting their nails! Best of all, they’ll stand on the ground where memorable moments such as the Bulldogs 2016 premiership win and Shane Warne claimed his 700th test wicket.
Naturally, we think the best way to do the MCG tour is on our Sports Lovers Walking Tour! We also include a walk around the sporting precinct with lots of stories about memorable moments and a photo opportunity on one of the show courts at Melbourne Park, home of the Australian Open. We’re offering a 25% discount off the walk during the school holidays, so this is the perfect time to go.
Use the code Easter21 for your discount.
Website and bookings: www.showmemelbourne.com.au/sports-lovers-walking-tour
ACMI (Australian Centre for the Moving Image)
Age: 10+
There’s always something on at ACMI! Their centrepiece exhibition The Story of the Moving Image has plenty of interactive exhibits and things to watch to keep kids engaged. From shadow puppets to YouTube, see how moving images have transformed our world. You can make a flip book of yourself, create a movie from a variety of snips of popular movies or have a movie projected onto the palm of your hand! An extra cool feature of this exhibit is that you can collect a cardboard disk called a Lens when you arrive and you can use it to collect your favourite images and creations to explore again when you get home.
Website and bookings: https://www.acmi.net.au/whats-on/story-of-the-moving-image-exhibition/
Kids Day Out Treasure Hunt
Age: All ages
Get your Sherlock Holmes (or Blues Clues?) hat out! The Kids Day Out Treasure Hunt will take your whole family to 10 key locations around the city, with a treasure map, searching for answers to quiz questions. When you’ve correctly answered the questions, you’ll solve the puzzle and go into the draw for daily gift card prizes, or the major prize of a family holiday!
The Treasure Hunt is being run in support of the Royal Children’s Hospital Good Friday Appeal and is only on until April 11th.
Website and bookings: https://www.goodfridayappeal.com.au/treasure-hunt/
ArtPlay
Age: 0-13
ArtPlay, located at Birrarung Marr, offers children fun, innovative ways to express their creativity with a variety of artist led workshops. This school holidays there are a series of workshops where children can paint their own skateboard deck, use their creative thinking skills to solve an escape room and create a sound-based time capsule with assistance of a professional musician. Each activity has clearly defined age ranges and a more comprehensive outline so you can choose the best activity for your child. And all the programs are extremely affordable!
Website and bookings: https://www.melbourne.vic.gov.au/arts-and-culture/artplay/whats-on/Pages/default.aspx
Jurassic World by Brickman
Age: All ages
Anyone who watched Lego Masters would be familiar with the professional Lego builder Brickman (aka Ryan McNaught). Now is your chance to see his latest amazing creations in person! Brickman has recreated Jurassic World, the blockbuster movie in Lego form. Located at the Melbourne Convention Centre, you will enter the exhibition through the 4 metre high Lego gates to a Lego paradise of over 50 large scale dinosaurs, props, scenes and activities made from over 6 million Lego bricks. There are a further 2.5 million Lego bricks for your children to take part in hands-on activities.
This will be the largest Lego exhibition in Australian history, and definitely one I’ll be checking out! If you can’t get to this during the holidays, it’s on until 31st May.
Website and bookings: https://exhibition.thebrickman.com/
By the time you’ve got through all of that, chances are you’ll need a holiday yourself! Stay tuned for our follow up blog – 5 things for parents to do to recover from the school holidays! I’m pretty sure at least one suggestion will include a day out with alcohol!