sydney - school holidays spots
Sydney October School Holidays Edition - Saturday 29th Sept to Sunday 14th Oct 2018
FREE activities
Chatswood Chase - To be advised closer to the school holidays.
Forestway Shopping Centre - To be advised closer to the school holidays.
Macquarie Centre - Free Pot of Colour Workshop and Silly Putty Workshops. Kids can enjoy two weeks of school holidays from 2 to 5th Oct and 8th to 12th outside of Big W. Kids can colour their own pot plant or make their own silly putty. Free but bookings essential. More info here.
St Ives Shopping Centre - Free classes. Free Pasta Making Class, Free Cupcake Decorating Class, Kids Computer Coding Workshop and Sandtastic Art. Bookings recommended. More info here.
Top Ryde City - Free Workshop and Crafty Zone. Kids can attend a spring garden workshop. from the 2nd to 5th Oct or Join Wally and his friends at the Where's Wally? Happiness Hunt Exhibition and Craft Zone on 8th to 12th Oct between 11am - 2pm on either week on the ground Floor near Sheike. More info here.
Warriewood Square - To be advised closer to the school holidays.
Westfield Chatswood - To be advised closer to the school holidays.
Westfield Hornsby - To be advised closer to the school holidays.
Westfield Warringah Mall - To be advised closer to the school holidays.
art galleries & libraries
Art Gallery of NSW - Enjoy various free art making workshops. Various dates & times. More info here.
Museum of Contemporary Art (MCA) - Let your imagination run wild as you and your little one fly into a realm of new worlds and fill them with fantasy creatures. Draw out your own flying machine or character and or go on an adventure through the Creative Studios, making friends along the way. Drop in as many times as you like throughout the week with your family ticket. Ages 4+. 10:30 am to 4pm. Tuesday 02 October 2018 to Saturday 06 October 2018. Family Ticket $19.90, $15.85, Concession $15.85 and Add a child $2.15. More info here.
attractions
Sydney Opera House - Junior Adventure - Uncover mysterious secrets and unusual facts with this jam-packed journey through the Sydney Opera House. The Junior Adventure Tour is filled with interactive activities and games for the whole family: explore with our expert guides, and inspire your inner performer to become a Sydney Opera House star. Only during school holidays. Adult $32 and Child $22 for kids 5 to 15. Children under 5 are free. 29th Sep 8th Oct. More info here.
Sydney Opera House - Utzon’s Universe - Make mini models and daring constructions with the whole family! Utzon’s Universe is a series of free workshops for kids, based on the book Utzon’s Universe written by Denmark’s finest architectural educators Malene Abildgaard and Julie Dufour. Artists will help kids produce wonderful creations based on the architectural principals of Jørn Utzon. This is a FREE event but registration is necessary. Great for kids 5-12 years. 13th & 14th Oct. More info here.
event
Fambo - The inaugural queer contemporary arts festival for families - Fambo will launch during the upcoming school holidays on 29th September. A first of its kind, Fambo offers a unique opportunity for children and families to engage in queer contemporary arts and culture. Fambo will roll out an exciting program of workshops, activities and performances led by LGBTIQA+ artists to celebrate the queer experience through connection, creation, participation and play. 10am to 6pm. Free to $10. More info here.
Play World - Play World is the ultimate event for children between the ages of 4 and 12 years coming up the International Convention Centre (ICC) on Saturday 29th & Sunday 30 September. PlayWorld will feature your child's favourite toy brands in one interactive exhibition inviting youngsters to play on Nintendo gaming devices, with Star Wars & Peppa Pig toys, Beyblades, paper planes and more. From Star Wars Jedi training to slime DIY, coding workshops to car racing, and Nintendo Switch battles to ultimate Nerf Wars, Play World has something for every kid. And on the same weekend, Oz Comic-Con is on too - back for another awesome event! This year's event will feature exciting multi-genre content from across the spectrum – appearances by film and television stars, comic book artists and voice actors; gaming demonstrations and cosplay competitions; creative workshops and master classes; and hard-to-find, exclusive merchandise from vendors. More info here.
Spot On Children’s Festival - Riverside Theatres Parramatta. The Festival will feature a fantastic line-up of theatre, musical performances, film and free activities that are guaranteed to keep the kids entertained these October school holidays. Children and families can explore the world of the arts, delve into stories of magical creatures and places near and far, and experience the power of live theatre and dynamic cinema. Tues 9th to Sat 13th Oct. Dates & Times and Prices Vary. More info here.
gardens
Centennial Parklands - School Holiday Programs - From lego robotics, Wild Play Bush School, Pizza Party in the bush, Wild Play kids vs wild, Wild Play Bush Rangers, CSI Forensics with Fizzics, Gross and Gory, chemical concoctions, and more. Ages, dates and prices vary. More info here.
Royal Botanic Garden - School Holiday Programs - Choose from a range of sessions from Create and Play!, Kids Veggie Patch, Indigenous Olympics, City Slicker Critters, Botanic Beats - Garden Disco and Garden Grubs. Ages and prices vary. More info here.
museums
Australian Museum - Dinosaur Festival - The Dinosaur Festival is back by popular demand and its lineup is roar’some! Enjoy the Drop-in Activity Room: Dino Dioramas (kids 5+ yrs), Scientist for a Day: Palaeontologist program (kids 8 to 12 yrs), Geology Rocks activity (kids 5 to 8 yrs), the Dinosaurs in the Sky interactive theatre show, a Kids Theatre Workshop: Prehistoric Playground (kids 8 to 12 yrs), the Screening: Monters in the Outback documentary, The Dirt on Dinosaurs and the T.rex Autopsy Gallery Talk. It’s going to be pretty epic and dinosaur lovers will go crazy for this festival. The Australian Geographic Nature Photographer if the Year and the 200 Treasures of the Australian Museum exhibitions will also be running throughout September and October for parents and children alike to enjoy while visiting the museum. More info here.
Elizabeth Farm - Kids in the Garden. Come for a tasting tour of Elizabeth Farm. Hunt for edible flowers in the kitchen garden and try your hand at creating your own refreshing iced tea spring drink. Various dates & times. Ages 5 to 12 years. More info here.
Justice & Police Museum - The Justice & Police Museum is a great place for primary school children, teenagers and adults to read up on, understand and appreciate the rich history of the buildings and underworld Sydney. The Museum is only open weekends and the Mock Trial is only on once a day on Saturday and Sunday so make sure you attend during those times. Kids can play dress ups and follow a little trail to find their missing friend provided at reception. Read our review here.
Museums Discovery Centre - The Museum Discovery Centre is throwing a Family Day on Friday 12th of October. Become a botanist at our microscope tables, an engineer by making your own paper plane and exploring the physics of flights, or even an architect by using our range of Lego blocks and craft materials to build your own creation at the MDC Family Day. Children under 5 will delight in the centre's dedicated tactile play zone. And be sure to take a tour of the centre afterwards. Bookings required. Full info here. Our review of the centre here.
Powerhouse Museum - School Holiday Programs - Enjoy a range of different workshops and sessions these holidays at the Powerhouse Museum. Ages and prices vary. More info here.
Rouse Hill House & Farm - Rouse Hill House & Farm in LEGO® Bricks exhibition. Explore models of the iconic Rouse Hill House, outbuildings, stable and barns constructed from LEGO® bricks with breathtaking architectural detail and accuracy by the Southern Hemisphere’s only LEGO®-certified professional, Australia’s Ryan McNaught. Kids can get hands-on with over 200,000 loose LEGO® bricks too. Adult $12, Concession $8, Family $38, Member free. Wednesday to Sunday. Our review here.
Rouse Hill House & Farm - Earn your tucker. Help feed the chickens, collect the eggs, grind the corn, make the butter and pump the water. At the end of the program, you’ll sit on the verandah for some well-earned tucker! Sunday 14th Oct 10:30 am to 12:30 pm. Prices vary. Bookings essential. More info here.
Rouse Hill House & Farm - Boomerang Art & Throw. Boomerangs play a significant role in both traditional hunting and in traditional ceremonies. They are sometimes used to tell the didgeridoo player when to start playing, to keep beat and rhythm for dancers, to scare the birds out of the trees or for hunting kangaroos. Various dates & times. Ages 5 +. Bookings essential. More info here.
Rouse Hill House & Farm - Morning Kites. Come to Rouse Hill House & Farm and spend our opening hour flying kites before embarking on your day’s adventures! Various dates & times. Ages 5+. Bookings essential. More info here.
Rouse Hill House & Farm - Family Tours. Head to the farm these holidays and find out about the fascinating history of Rouse Hill House & Farm! Take a farmyard tour to explore the stables and meet the chooks, ‘Pudding’ the cow, and our horses Larry and Ziggy. Included in museum entry. Daily in the school holidays. There are also family tours at Vaucluse House, Elizabeth Farm, Elizabeth Bay House, Meroogal and Rose Seidler House. More info here.
Susannah Place Museum - Playing Shop. Do you know how to wrap an egg, weigh out goods on a scale or count in pounds and shillings?
With Playing Shop children become shopkeepers and get behind the counter of Susannah Place Museum’s re-created c1915 corner shop. Ages 5+. Various dates & times. Bookings essential. More info here.
Vaucluse House - Kids in the Garden. Explore the pleasure and vegetable gardens and taste local honey. Then make a scrumptious traditional dessert and iced tea to enjoy in the wonderful surroundings of Vaucluse House. Ages 5 to 12 years. Various dates & times. Bookings essential. More info here.
performing arts
Giggle and Hoot's Hootastic Concert - The new show sets off on an exciting pirate adventure to find Mini Hoot and along the way encounters the self-proclaimed “World’s Greatest Magician” Jimmy Giggle-ini. All tickets $32.50. More info here.
Justine Clarke - The homegrown queen of children’s entertainment, JUSTINE CLARKE, is getting ready to perform a show with her fans this coming September - October on the Silly Songs Tour! How do you make a Silly Song? Saturday 22nd Sep at Sydney Opera House. All ages. More info here.
Monkey Baa Theatre - Big Bad Wolf 2018 - He’s the most misunderstood character in fairytale history. Put simply he has no friends. But then he does have incredibly sharp teeth, yellow eyes and his own ideas about personal hygiene, and he is the infamous Big Bad Wolf after all. No one likes him. Luckily one girl is brave enough to double check this wolf ’s bad press and an unlikely friendship is born. 3rd to 6th Oct. Various times. Adult/Child $29, family of 4 $104, family of 5 $125). Relaxed performance on Thu 4th Oct. Ages 5+, duration 50 mins. More info here.
PJ Masks Live - ICC Sydney - The NEW live musical show PJ Masks Live! is based on eOne’s top-rated animated TV series PJ Masks which airs daily on Disney, Junior and ABC Kids. There is no doubt PJ Masks is a phenomenon amongst Aussie kids, launching as the Number 1 show on Disney Jr in Australia in 2016, and the top TV show for pre-schoolers on ABC in 2017. Mon 1 & Tue 2 Oct. 27 shows around Australia. More info here.
Sydney Opera House - The Helpmann Award-winning Bambert’s Book of Lost Stories will enchant children and parents alike with the story of an impossibly small man that loves to write. Reinhardt Jung’s internationally lauded novel is brought to life through delicate puppeteering as the loveable and tiny Bambert sets his stories free on miniature balloons. Will anyone return his call? 29th Sept - 6th Oct. Ages 8+. More info here.
Sydney Opera House - The perfect show for little ones with big imaginations, The Snow Dragon arrives in the Playhouse these holidays in the form of a festive forest filled with fantastic creatures. This toe-tapping musical adventure that will have you humming for weeks after, follows Billy the goat on a New Year’s Eve adventure as he awaits the annual visit from the legendary Snow Dragon. 3rd to 12th Oct. Ages 3+. More info here.
Sydney Opera House - Retelling the story of the famous cow who jumped over the moon, Yo Diddle Diddle is a hilarious hip-hop infused adventure that explores resilience, determination and the power of friendship. Families can bust a mooo-ve with this guaranteed crowd pleaser in the Studio. 10th to 14th Oct. Ages 4+. More info here.
The Very Hungry Caterpillar - One of the most-read and famous children’s books of all time, The Very Hungry Caterpillar Sho will emerge off the page in a masterful theatrical experience for the whole family at Seymour Centre these holidays on October 13th and 14th. This spectacular and colourful production takes audiences on a journey through a pop-up-like version of four of Carle’s stories – The Very Hungry Caterpillar, The Artist Who Painted a Blue Horse, Mister Seahorse and The Very Lonely Firefly – brought to life with a menagerie of 75 loveable puppets. More info here.
programs
Brassie Bread School Holiday Baking - Wave goodbye to the winter blues, Spring is here - have you read the news? Flowers bloom and summer's closer, come bake with us - this October! These holidays, your kids will be celebrating everything Spring. We will turn our bread dough into lots of imaginative spring-themed creations, from crawling garden snails to sesame & cheese sunflowers! Ages 5 to 14. 1.5 hours $40. More info here.
Bricks 4 Kidz Northern Beaches - School holiday Programs - Choose from a range of great school holiday workshops. Kids can have fun with friends creating cool BRICKS 4 KIDZ® models with LEGO® Technic, building 3D characters, or making craft projects and other activities that center around our SUPER FUN themes. (Shhh… they’re also educational, but the kids will never know!). Or sign them up to one of their robotics workshops to create and learn to program their own ‘bot!. Ages and Prices vary. A full list of workshops taking place in Balgowlah is up on the blog. More info here.
Northern Beaches Council - Kids on the Coast School Holiday Activities - A Jam-packed Coastal Environment Centre program offers kids the chance to explore the world of science, try their hand at cooking some tasty treats, be a marine biologist for the day and so much more. Ages 6 to 12 years. $61 per day. More info here.
Northern Beaches Council - Checkout various activities taking place these holidays at Northern Beaches libraries, vacation care programs, kids on the coast holiday program, Glen Street Theatre and Manly Art Gallery & Museum. More info here.
zoos - aquariums - farms
Taronga Zoo - Zoo Adventures - Taronga’s Wild Squad Zoo Adventurers is a fun, educational holiday program for children aged between five to 10 years of age, where they are taken on an exciting zoo journey, learning about animals and the environments they live in. Ages 5 to 10 years. Prices vary. More info here.
For more ideas on what to do with the kids in Sydney, head to our blog, our daily spots list or pools & beaches or playgrounds list. And for a full list of parents rooms around Sydney, head to our parents room page.