The 50 best things to do with kids in Australia

For stargazers and budding astronomers, you can’t go past a trip to the planetarium. Housed in Mt Coot-tha’s Botanic Gardens, the planetarium hosts a variety of affordable kid-friendly shows for ages three and up. Most of the immersive shows take place in the Cosmic Skydome – a 12.5-metre-diameter pod that projects the planets, stars and constellations visible in Brisbane on that particular night. 

These mega funlands are the perfect place to hide out on a rainy day. Your little ones could spend hours playing in the arcade of retro games, aiming for a strike in the bowling alley and chasing their mates in the laser tag zone. Inside, some venues also offer bowling lanes, mini golf, escape rooms, an interactive 3D theatre ride, dodgem tracks and a bar for parents.

Would you believe kids as young as three can do indoor skydiving at iFLY locations across Australia? It’s all about the "look mum, look dad" here, as the indoor skydiving takes place behind glass in the middle of the venue – so even being a spectator is fun. They also have a camera taking pictures throughout your ‘dive’ so you can purchase your most impressive pose – complete with g-force cheeks.

Keep the kids entertained for a solid two or three hours at IMAX. These super-sized movie theatre screen a fun mix of classics and new releases, so there's bound to be something to suit your mood. If you're looking to get the title of coolest parent ever, a seat in one of IMAX's private pods or recliner chairs might just bring you one step closer.

Tourists are often surprised to discover that Canberra boasts the longest alpine slide in the Southern Hemisphere, delivering high-speed thrills for both the young and young at heart. In summer, the mountain recreation area is all about that silver toboggan, where an automated pulley tows you up a steep hill before you zoom down a series of curving slopes. Kids under eight must ride the Alpine Slide with an adult, but their ticket is just $10. 

Canberra's popular children’s science centre with interactive exhibitions and live shows is renowned for putting the fun into science, technology and innovation. Learn about everything from the Earth and space sciences to robotic technologies and the fundamentals of physics. In ‘The Shed’, you can tinker away with everyday objects to tackle a problem or simply create something memorable. Don’t leave without plunging down the two-storey-tall freefall slide. 

Take the little ones on a trip back in time – 700 million years, to be exact – with a visit to the National Dinosaur Museum in Gold Creek Village. Over the past 30 years, this interactive museum has built Australia’s largest permanent display of dinosaurs and prehistoric fossils. Kids can try to squeeze their heads into the mouths of 23 life-size dinosaur skeletons, including Stan, Canberra’s larger-than-life T. rex, who is 20 metres long (half the length of the museum!) and towers above the entrance at a lofty six metres tall.

If the kids need to burn off some energy, the National Arboretum Canberra has 250 hectares for them to run wild. There are more than 44,000 rare and endangered trees planted across 94 forests, with bike paths and walking trails snaking throughout. But good luck pulling the kids away from the award-winning, nature-themed Pod Playground at the Village Centre, where giant acorn cubbies, nest swings and banksia pods promise hours of fun.

Even the little ones will feel like giants when roaming Cockington Green Gardens, a miniature village in Nicholls. Set within beautifully manicured gardens, this fantastical attraction features meticulously crafted tiny buildings from all around the world. While you’re there, hop aboard the miniature steam train, peek inside the 34-room doll's house ‘Waverley’, and finish up with scones in the Garden café. It’s small in size, but mighty big on whimsy and wonder!

If you have animal-obsessed kids at home, treat them to a day at one of the best zoos in the country. Taronga Zoo is home to more than 5,000 animals from 350 different species around the world. You can get up close with the curious creatures during daily keeper talks, feeding sessions and flight shows – mostly included for free with your Zoo entry. Make sure you check the timings for each animal show – they get crowded, especially during school holidays. 

The Australian National Maritime Museum knows exactly how to cater to enquiring minds. Their school holiday workshops are pretty awesome, with past hits including a shipwrecked torchlight tour, underwater drones, musical storytellings of the sea and fossil model making. There are free educational trails all around the museum and the Kids on Deck section is free with a heap of interactive activities. There are also fascinating exhibits to check out throughout the year, including the popular Ocean Photographer of the Year. 

Game on, Sydney. Australia’s very first interactive gaming rooms in Darling Harbour offer full-scale, immersive versions of Squid Game, Angry Birds, Ghostbusters and a whole lot more. Little ones aged five and up can come for the adventure, too, with light-hearted games featuring beloved characters from Paw Patrol and Floor is Lava. You can find Immersive Gamebox next door to Sea Life, with sessions running daily from 10.30am until 6pm from Sunday to Thursday, and 9pm on Friday and Saturday nights. 

Kids aged six and up can begin their surfing journey in a safe and controlled environment under the close supervision of coaches and lifeguards at Urbnsurf. The "Bays" offer safe, gentle, rolling green and whitewater waves perfect for those who are learning to play in the waves. You can also book your kids in for a Boog in the Bays session, which are a great way for them to build confidence on a bodyboard while developing the basic, fundamental skills.

No childhood is complete without a walk through that famous giant grinning mouth at Luna Park, with theme parks in Melbourne and Sydney. From the moment you walk through you're exposed to a world full of carnival fun; older kids will love the rollercoasters, while the family-friendly ferris wheel and carousel are best for the little ones. Classic carnival treats are on offer, and you can get the cheapest tickets by booking in advance.

Take your youngsters on a ride through the hills of Victoria's Dandenongs, from Belgrave through to Emerald Lake, aboard the historical steam train Puffing Billy. It may not be speedy (once a year, you can actually race the train 13 kilometres by foot – and win), but ol' Billy will take you through the countryside in style. Even better, the time-honoured tradition of "sitting on the sills" i.e. sitting on the window sills of the open carriages and dangling your legs out (you must be four years or more) has returned to the train. 

Bringing the country to the city, the Collingwood Children’s Farm in Melbourne gives urban kids a chance to give farming life a go. Each day, new activities are posted by the barn on arrival. Your kids could try their hand at milking the cows, feeding the chooks or playing with the goats and guinea pigs. At other times, they could learn from one of the farmers in an information session, including getting buzzy about bees at the farm’s apiary. The best part? Collingwood Children’s Farm is a not-for-profit organisation, which means that your entry fees will go back into caring for the animals, conserving the farmland and supporting inclusive community programs.

Located in Melbourne's Chadstone Shopping Centre, the brick-filled Legoland Discovery Centre will delight little and big Lego fans. The space is packed with more than two million Lego bricks and features attractions, including Miniland Melbourne, where the city's best-known landmarks have been recreated out of thousands of Lego bricks. There are also play zones for the kids, Lego-themed rides called Kingdom Quest and the Lego 4D Cinema.

Are you kids currently obsessed with all things castles, knights, wizards, princesses and dragons? Make a trip to Kryal Castle, a medieval fantasy wonderland just outside of Ballarat (about 90 minutes' drive from Melbourne CBD). Watch a live jousting tournament, escape from the twisting dragon's labyrinth, sign up for Knight School or an axe-throwing session, or learn the art of archery. Kryal Castle also offers overnight stays and can host your kid's birthday party. 

Sovereign Hill, located 90 minutes by car from Melbourne, is where history comes to life. The ten-hectare outdoor museum is sort of an antipodean version of Westworld, sans the homicidal robots and hedonistic atmosphere. Sovereign Hill genuinely makes learning about Victoria’s gold rush history fun, whether you’re panning for gold in the creek or dipping your own candle. It's almost a rite of passage for Victorian kids to visit Sovereign Hill – make sure you get a jar of raspberry drops as a souvenir. 

Young Melburnians have fond memories of Scienceworks. It's not surprising – the interactive science and technology museum is geared towards getting children excited about science through first-hand experiences. There are guided tours, changing exhibitions, demonstrations and special activities daily. The Planetarium, with its huge domed ceiling replicating the night sky, is always a huge hit, too.

ArtVo describes itself as an immersive art gallery where you and your family are actively encouraged to ham it up in front of the camera lens. Every room at ArtVo features life-sized, hand-painted murals that use perspective to come alive. Want to pretend you’re tiding a giant swan? Or dashing across icebergs in the arctic? How do you fancy meeting King Kong on the side of a cliff? ArtVo’s murals put you front and centre in a bunch of wacky situations and are a whole bunch of fun for all ages. Psst! There's also an ArtVo on the Gold Coast. 

Beerenberg Farm in the oh-so-picturesque Adelaide Hills’ village of Hahndorf welcomes one and all to their sixth-generation family plot to pick your very own strawberries. There’s no better way to convince the kids to eat their daily dose of fruit either – it tastes better when it’s hand-selected, right? At just $13.50 per kilogram of strawbs, plus $5 entry for those aged 13 and over, you can pick to your heart’s content during harvest season – typically between November and April each year. However, it’s best to check Beerenberg Farm's website to ensure that it’s business as usual.

It’s all about feeling warm and fuzzy at Cleland Wildlife Park – in more ways than one. Head up the hill to Mount Lofty Summit Road in Adelaide to encounter native fauna in their natural habitat. Mosey around the 35-hectare bushland locale and interact with over 130 species of Australian critters, including emus, kangaroos, wallabies and wombats – with a chance to pat and hand-feed them. Moreover, the park is one of the only places in the world where cuddling a koala is the norm – in fact, there's a new, world-class Koala Loft that's been purpose-built as a home for them and as an educational venue. 

Take to the treetops of Adelaide (in Salisbury, Kuitpo Forest or the CBD, plus in other states) at TreeClimb’s ultimate outdoor adventure parks. Perched among the greenery are interconnected obstacle courses of nets, swings, zip lines, suspended rock-climbing walls, sky-high bridges and plenty more elevated paths that aren’t for the faint of heart. Rest assured knowing that participants are fully harnessed as they dangle at the problem-solving altitude, and take solace in the fact that TreeClimb is a screen-free activity – now that’s kicking it old-school. It’s all fun and games, although there are height and age restrictions in place that determine which course is most suitable (and safe) for the youngins and teens – all mentioned before booking.

A day at the museum is more often than not an excitement-inducing pastime, no matter your age. But considering we’re here to talk about the kids this round, North Terrace’s South Australian Museum is coming through with the goods. Along with a family-friendly, self-guided adventure trail through the halls, the museum has also added a new program to its repertoire for those aged five and under – The Crocodile Club – with nature, science and literacy at the forefront of its sessions. The Discovery Centre is an equally hot hit, where drawer upon drawer of bits and bobs await, plus, the working bee hive that’s been abuzz since 1933 demands your undivided attention. 

If you grew up in Adelaide anytime after 2006, you’d know that The Beachouse is the ultimate weekend outing. Sitting loud and proud on Glenelg’s foreshore, the indoor complex dishes out family-friendly activities of the dry and wet variety – ensuring that everyone is a happy chappy. Bring a pair of togs and try  three different waterslides; hold on tight at the dodgem carts and bumper boats; daydream as you whirl around the carousel; give a fair whack on the mini golf course; journey within the seven-storey play castle; or simply try your luck at the plethora of arcade games. It’s a smorgasbord of fun and there’ll be no settling for less after a day at The Beachouse.

If you grew up in Perth anytime after 1982, you’d know that Adventure World is as good as it gets when it comes to fun-filled times. To this day, the Bibra Lake theme park continues to facilitate the making of core memories with its roller coasters and rides, water attractions and slides, Grand Prix karting race track and 25 other activities to get amongst. Not to mention the longest, tallest and steepest funnel water slide in the world. Whether it’s thrill-seeking or lagoon-basking that’s on your mind, Adventure World never fails to top the amusement list for the kids of Perth.

With a mission to ‘inspire the entire state's collective curiosity’, Perth’s science and technological centre, Scitech, has succeeded in doing just that since 1988. The interactive emporium invites kids of all ages to put their thinking caps on and delve into the world of STEM with head-scratching contraptions, hands-on workshops, mesmerising planetarium shows and expert-led experiments in the gasp-worthy theatre – we certainly have a collection of our own Scitech childhood memories that aren’t going anywhere anytime soon. And not to worry if you’re accompanying kids aged six and under, the Discoverland instalment is designed to foster playful learning minus the big kid chaos. Rotating exhibits that are both visually and mentally stimulating are a Scitech staple too – you’ll never come across a bored child at this mind-boggling funhouse.

This one goes out to the daredevil children – Matagarup Zip Climb – a merrymaking venture for those partaking and a heart attack moment for onlooking guardians. This sky-high activity sees visitors zoom over Perth's Swan River from the top of Matagarup Bridge – that’s an elevation of 72 metres! The descent to the eastern side of the foreshore spans 400 metres and whizzes participants through the air at speeds that reach 75 kilometres per hour. Now, it’s mostly fun and games, the only kicker is that kids must be at least eight years old to have a go at Matagarup Zip Climb – along with a few height and weight requirements. But if everyone passes the vibe check, then it’ll be sure to provide a full dose of adrenaline for the entire week.

In the Noongar language, ‘boola bardip’ means ‘many stories’, and that’s precisely what to expect at WA Museum Boola Bardip in Perth Cultural Centre. The museum opened its doors in late 2020 and has since done a mighty fine job of sharing natural history, cultural heritage and a touch of science – all while keeping the youngins entertained and inspired. Their Curious Kids sessions are designed for kids under five and includes story time and STEM-related play. The museum also plays host to temporary, multisensory installations throughout the year, which are more than suitable for engaging inquisitive minds.

Situated in the outer northern suburb of Brighton, this safe haven for adorable native wildlife is loads of fun for kids – with the added bonus of teaching them a thing or two. Join a guided tour to pat wombats, laugh at hyperactive Tasmanian devils and coo over echidnas, make your own way through the park to find a shy spotted quoll, meet a 100-year-old cockatoo and hand-feed kangaroos and wallabies. Bonorong is a working sanctuary, meaning many of the animals have been brought in injured or orphaned, and the team regularly re-introduce these rehabilitated tenants into the wild. There’s even a wildlife hospital on-site with a viewing window, so curious kids can see vets hard at work saving these critters.

What better way to get a full-of-beans kid to work off energy than climbing an actual mountain? While a full summit hike of kunanyi / Mount Wellington may be slightly above your child’s skill set, there are loads of easier trails to follow in this very special area of Hobart. Entice your offspring with the promise of seeing an actual waterfall and head off to find Myrtle Gully Falls and Secret Falls – the latter sounds especially intriguing to kids. These are easy, gently inclining trails in the foothills of kunanyi, an enchanted oasis just 15 minutes drive from the city. Follow the two-kilometre return track into lush rainforest and you’ll encounter plenty of little detour trails to extend your adventure. Keep a keen eye out for Secret Falls, which is about ten minutes into the hike and isn’t signposted (hence its mysterious moniker).

Keen for a chilled evening with the kids in Darwin? Treat the little ones to a magical movie night under the stars at the city's famous Deckchair Cinema. Set against the stunning backdrop of Darwin Harbour, this open-air gem screens a mix of family favourites and Aussie classics every night during the dry season. The kids will love racing around the lawn flanked by lush tropical plants, until you lure them in with popcorn and ice creams from the kiosk.

Little animal lovers will love spending the day at Territory Wildlife Park – a 400-hectare park that's home to a mix of wild and captive creatures that are only found in the Top End of the Northern Territory. Whether it's saltwater crocs, sugar gliders, huge snakes, emus, wallabies or exotic-looking birds, this wildlife park has them all in a wild, natural setting. You can walk through a monsoon rainforest, see billabongs and buffalo trails, and walk at your own leisure on well-maintained outdoor paths (there's also an option to get a tiny train). 

Surf’s up at the Wave Lagoon, where you can splash around in the 4,000-square-metre supervised zone within the Darwin Waterfront Precinct. With ten different wave sets, there’s no shortage of thrills. Prefer to stay dry? Watch your little ones plop around in the shallow water play area, snag a deckchair under a broad umbrella or enjoy snacks from the kiosk on the tree-lined lawns. There’s also a man-made beach for sandcastle building and a basketball court for those keen to shoot some hoops.

Dare to swim with a saltie? This bucket-list adventure is not to be missed. Located in the heart of Darwin’s CBD, Crocosaurus Cove is home to the world’s largest display of Australian reptiles. You can gey up close with cold-blooded critters during one of the nine daily reptile shows or stare in awe as crocs chomp down huge chunks of meat during the feeding session. Teenagers aged 15-plus can even submerge in the Cage of Death, an iconic Darwin attraction and Australia’s only crocodile dive. 

A nostalgic favourite for Darwinites, Aquascene has been delighting visitors with fish-feeding fun since 1981. Open only at high-tide in the tranquil waters of Doctor’s Gully, this rare experience lets visitors feed a variety of Darwin’s fish species – including catfish, bream and milkfish – all keen for a carb-loaded feast of bread. After the fishy fun, let the kids loose on the playground or grab a bite from the Gully Café, where fresh bagels and sandwiches await.

A day at the museum is a surefire way to spark excitement, no matter your age. But when it comes to keeping the kids entertained, Darwin’s free Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory (MAGNT) is an absolute winner. Kick off your adventure with the Transformations exhibition, a permanent showcase perfect for young nature enthusiasts. Meet the dromornis, the world’s largest flightless bird that roamed Central Australia during the late Miocene epoch; learn about Cyclon Tracy; get up close to other curious megafauna; and be awestruck by the neon-lit box-jellyfish display. No trip to the MAGNT is complete without saying hi to Sweetheart – the 5.1 metre saltwater crocodile who’s been in residence since 1979.