The summer school holidays are a wonderful time for families and friends to come together. You have Christmas, New Year and almost two months of time to spend together for an entire season of fun. Ok, we know what you’re thinking. Two months! How am I supposed to be the source of entertainment for that long?
For short attention spans, especially in younger families, run of the mill activities can get boring pretty quickly. Planning ahead with the best school holiday activities is the best way to ensure that no one (including you) is secretly praying for the start of term.
The Best Melbourne School Holiday Activities
This article will explore fun school holiday activities in Melbourne, providing you with some fresh ideas that will ensure everyone has a summer they’ll never forget, from spending more time outside to family days out.
Read on to discover our top 10 best Melbourne school holiday activities.
- Try something different with an escape room
- Prepare yourself for indoor activities
- Take up a new sport
- Travel locally in Victoria
- Go on a scavenger hunt around the city
- Visit Melbourne Museum
- Seek thrills at a theme park
- Go stargazing on a camping trip
- Take a trip to Collingwood Children’s Farm
- Explore a different culture
1. Try Something Different With An Escape Room
Many of the traditional school holiday activities are played out, repetitive, expensive and have long queuing lines to endure. This summer, find cool school holiday activities in Melbourne that break the mould and provide new forms of entertainment.
Proven to be popular with adults, there are now child-friendly escape rooms in Melbourne too. Your kids will get to work in teams through challenges and puzzles designed to stimulate the mind in a fun environment. Our Flemington escape room is our most family-friendly room that will test the skills of kids 8+, You can also take this to the next level with Mine Escape, an escape room that’s great for older kids, featuring a range of mind-boggling puzzles that are sure to be talked about for weeks. The good news is that these activities will also be available all summer long, no matter the weather. This can also apply to children who want to have an escape room birthday party, for those wanting to celebrate over the summer holidays.
2. Prepare Yourself For Indoor Activities
The increasing presence of the El Nino and La Nina weather patterns means that Australia can be destined for a very hot or very wet summer. Parents can prepare for this by having a range of indoor family activities ready to go.
You could think ahead to arts and crafts projects, and have puzzles, board games and other family activities up your sleeve. Prepare cooking or baking afternoons where you and the kids can get creative together. Pre-purchase all of the materials you need to make the best indoor cubby house. Have some movies ready to go – you could even buy your own cinema-style popcorn machine.
The last thing you want is to prepare for your school holiday activities, only for weeks of extreme weather to wash away your fun. Prepare for it so you won’t have little (or bigger) ones nagging you about how bored they are stuck inside.
3. Take Up A New Sport
The summer holidays are a great opportunity to introduce your children (especially the young ones) to a range of different sporting activities, to see if they want to take them up in the new year.
Sports and athletics are a great way to keep the whole family active, develop teamwork and coordination skills, and get fit and healthy at the same time. Summer is the perfect time to pack a kit bag and head to the park with the kids and a picnic, trying all the different sporting options available. Your children may end up making new friends before term starts again, or find a club to join for regular coaching sessions.
4. Travel Locally in Victoria
Summer is a golden opportunity to see some of the major regional attractions in Victoria. You’ll be able to experience plenty of fun, family-friendly school holiday experiences right here in the state, saving hassle and money than travelling further afield.
Jump in the car and head to the coast down The Great Ocean Road, or travel into the forests along the lesser-known Great Alpine Road. Board the ferry and spend a weekend on Phillip Island, admiring the beautiful landscapes and nature of the wildlife park. Or, check out the views from the Dandenong Ranges and climb the 1,000 steps (but be sure to check the fire danger rating beforehand). In Victoria there’s so much to see and do, you’ll feel like you’ve barely scratched the surface by the time term starts back up again.
5. Go On A Scavenger Hunt Around The City
The good old days of outside entertainment are still within reach. Kids love fun challenges, and there’s nothing that tickles the innate spy in all of us more than an outdoor scavenger hunt. Make up your own or find templates online, then set clues around your neighbourhood for your kids to find, which lead them along an adventure trail.
Hide your clues at different heights, and make the puzzles and questions just difficult enough that solving them comes with a genuine sense of satisfaction and pride. Your kids will be guaranteed to give you at least a couple of hours of peace with this big scope for school holiday activities.
6. Visit Melbourne Museum
A day at the museum is not what it used to be… memories of walking around endless corridors in harsh lighting looking at dense blocks of text in silence. These days, exhibitions and exhibit rooms are much more geared towards younger audiences, especially around the school holidays.
Keep an eye out for special events or activities in your child’s age range, or just wait for a rainy day and see what’s on at the time. You’ll find plenty of immersive experiences to captivate young, inquiring minds, and you’ll also come home having learnt something new.
7. Seek Thrills At A Theme Park
Pick from Gumbuya World or Funfields Theme Park for the destination of your adrenaline-filled family outing. A day at the theme park is guaranteed to bring laughter, hours of fun, and potentially some screams. With summer holidays in full swing, you can beat the weekend queues by picking any overcast day for your thrill-seeking. Pack a lunch box, make your way over, and all the entertainment is done for you.
Pick a friend with a child similar in age to your own to join you, and have a catch-up whilst your kids run around tiring themselves out.
8. Go Stargazing On A Camping Trip
Pack up the car and head out to the countryside, or as close as you can get. Wait for a clear night and experience the magic of camping, from the family-bonding exercise of setting up a tent together, to roasting marshmallows over a fire, to stargazing and pointing out the stunning constellations of the Southern Hemisphere.
And if there’s nothing we can say that could romanticise family camping for you, just set up a tent in your back garden, cover it in cushions and blankets, and have an equally cosy night watching a film, before retiring to the comfort of your own, warm bed.
9. Take A Trip To Collingwood Children’s Farm
Tucked alongside the Yarra River is a friendly little farm that’s perfect for small hands curious to learn more about animals. You can start the day doing a lovely temperate walk along the river where it’s cooler, and then turn up to learn about the work the farm does with the animals to promote their business and sustainable farming methods.
Wander around the independent market stalls in the old Abbotsford Convent a short walk away afterwards, and enjoy the day spent outside, ditching the iPad for a couple of friendly pigs.
10. Explore A Different Culture
One of the great things about Melbourne is just how multicultural it is. All around the city, you’ll find nationalities from across the world, and a trip to Prahran Market will offer foods and delicacies from more countries than you can think of.
Whether it’s a country your family is personally connected to, or somewhere brand new your children don’t know anything about, pick a place on the map to explore, and spend the day learning about it. Everyone can learn something new, and have fun whilst doing it.
The Final Word
With a bunch of boredom busters in Melbourne such as the 10 we’ve just been through in this article, your little ones will have plenty to do during the school holidays. What do you normally do to keep your kids entertained during the school holidays, and have any of the suggestions on this list given you ideas for something new to try?
Reach our friendly team today and book an escape room experience and we’ll get started on figuring out how we can help you enjoy fresh and new school holiday activities that will provide fun for the entire family.
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