Check out our school holiday activity guide and discover activities and attractions in Canberra that offer fun for all the family.
Federation Square: the perfect day out
Tucked away in Canberra’s historic Gold Creek Village in Nicholls is Federation Square.
Filled to the brim with family activities, delicious treats and boutique shopping, the precinct is the perfect day out this spring school holidays.
Start your day with nature. The Canberra Walk-in Aviary was developed by its owners to share their extensive collection of feathered friends and has more than 1,000 cubic metres of friendly, free-flying birds.
Next up, the premium educational tourist attraction, the Canberra Reptile Zoo and their 50 species of reptiles and frogs – and if you’re brave enough, you can even touch a python.
Take a break from all the action and grab a bite at the family-owned Gold Creek Café. They offer delicious meals for breakfast, lunch and whatever in between!
It’s a good idea to have a full belly before entering the famous The Lolly Shop. These are not your everyday chocolate bars, with candies from England, America and the Netherlands to tempt you. For the very lucky, The Lolly Shop’s range of Wonka bars contains 20 golden tickets, to a cash prize of $1,000.
Walk off your sugar-fuelled energy at Canberra’s newest mini golf course, they cater for all ages and events.
Now it’s shopping time…
With limited access to far off family and friends, sending parcels is a great way to stay connected.
Carlee Children’s Wear specialises in unique clothing and gifts. You’ll find a timeless collection of clothing, quality bedding and décor and a precious selection of gifts and toys, for the cherished little one in your life.
Support local business and indulge in gorgeous locally produced honey and garlic products at boutique gift and homeware store, The Bower Birds – proud stockists and promoters of Australian made and ethically produced products.
The perfect souvenir of your day at Federation Square is waiting for you at Flight of Fancy. Owner Linda Dale has carefully curated their range of wall art, decorator lamps, crystal lamps, cushions, interesting decor pieces, exclusive jewellery, and fragrances for more than 30 years. If it’s a gift, Linda offers a free gift-wrapping service.
And be sure to check out Family Floriade: Reimagined Weekend at Federation Square on 19-20 September.
Federation Square, O’Hanlon Place, Nicholls
Facebook: Federation Square at Gold Creek
Play hard with B.Firm
The kids have worked hard all term at school, now it’s time for them to play hard with B.Firm’s school holiday program. The Battle Games, Delta Force, Battle Ninja and Special Ops are action-packed programs that are perfect for kids aged four to 15, and will see them take on obstacle courses and spend some time in the great outdoors enjoying the spring sunshine.
The Battle Games will see you navigate obstacles and work to withstand the threat of other teams, while the Delta Force program requires participants to conquer over 100 obstacles in the B.Firm arena. There’s also a chance to be named Canberra’s next Battle Ninja champion, provided you can eliminate the other contestants. Or, if you dare, conquer the Special Ops challenge, working in a team to complete 15 operational tasks each day – which no team has ever conquered before. Will you be the first to lift the trophy?
Contact the B.Firm team today for some serious fun this school holidays.
250 Narrabundah Lane, Symonston
Basketball ACT: camps cater for everyone
These holidays, Basketball ACT will run four school holiday camps at Belconnen and Tuggeranong catering for everyone aged 5-17 wherever they are on their basketball journey.
Former AIS coach Phil Brown will be running two camps at Belconnen Basketball Stadium – a specialist shooting camp from 30 September to 2 October, and a comprehensive super camp on 6-9 October.
Both of Phil’s camps are designed for junior basketballers aged 9-17 with some experience.
For boys and girls aged 5-15 years, TJ’s camps will offer the chance to hone their fundamentals, learn game play and have some holiday fun.
These sessions will run at Belconnen on 28-29 September, and at Tuggeranong Southern Cross Stadium on 8-9 October.
Canberra City Gymnastics Club: Give gymnastics a go!
Looking for something a little different for the kids for school holidays? Why not give gymnastics a go! Canberra City Gymnastics Club’s (CCGC) school holiday program will run from 28 September to 2 October, and 6 October to 9 October, 8.30am-5.30pm. The kids will get a chance to see what gymnastics is all about through sessions, games, free play, and a few other activities. The fun-filled program is suitable for children in Kindergarten or above and will run at both CCGC’s locations in Belconnen and Lyneham. Fees include morning and afternoon tea. Get in touch with the team to book.
85 Chandler Street, Belconnen
196 Mouat Street, Lyneham
Little Athletics Holiday Skills Clinics
Little Athletics Holiday Skills Clinics are back for another year and they are the perfect introduction to the Little Athletics season, whether you’ve been involved before or not.
Little Athletics is a foundation sport with so many crossover skills that can be applied to other sports, so if you’re a runner, a jumper or a thrower, we have something to suit you!
Our Holiday Skills Clinics are run by experienced and qualified coaches who are passionate about helping kids develop into the best possible sportspeople that they can be.
For further information, please email [email protected]
Perform Australia
This school holidays, Perform Australia host a variety of programs for young aspiring actors across a range of age groups and interests.
Two programs for primary school children aged 7-10 – the first of which is a three-day ‘choose your own adventure character acting workshop’ that will see children develop their own character around whom they will collectively build a play. The second is a two-day program called ‘Your favourite movie in six seconds flat acting workshop’, which will be largely improvisation based.
For teenagers aged 13-17, Perform Australia will host an Actors Bootcamp; students will take part in masterclasses and be introduced to a range of industry-specific information on how to become professional actors. It will also feature a Zoom Q&A with Sydney talent agent Naomi Jenkins and a guest talk with prominent Canberra actor Lexi Sekuless.
Spring Filmmaker Hero Workshop 2020
Sanguineti Media’s Spring Filmmaker Hero Workshop will give Canberra’s young filmmakers aged 9-17 the chance to produce a 2-4-minute short film over five days.
Run from 29 September to 2 October by Dan Sanguineti’s award-winning Canberra-based film and video production company, the workshop gives kids an opportunity to tell their stories.
“These are opportunities I didn’t get when I was younger, mostly because of technology … now it’s so much more accessible,” Dan said.
“The focus this school holidays is to make films about heroes in our society, not superheroes, just everyday heroes.”
Now in their fifth year, Dan said he’s inspired to run the workshops to nurture Canberra’s next generation of filmmakers.
“In 10 years, these kids who are loving this process will ideally be a part of our industry graduating from places like UC and CIT,” he said.
Upon completion, everyone’s short film will be live streamed for parents and then entered into the Canberra Short Film Festival.
This feature was created in partnership with these businesses. For more information on sponsored partnerships, click here.
