The City of Newcastle residents will hear cries of joy or sadness as we approach the end of school and the beginning of the winter school holiday period. For those that love school holidays, you may look forward to late morning starts, change of routine, no lunch boxes to pack and having the kids at home. For those that loathe school holidays, the good news is there is plenty on to keep the kids entertained these school holidays in Newcastle.
From creative workshops to musical theatre, you can schedule something everyday during the winter school holidays to beat the holiday boredom.
Check out some of the school holiday highlights below;
Celebrate NAIDOC Week with some great hands-on workshops
Join local Torres Strait Islander artist Toby Cedar as he leads an interactive storytelling and art workshop for children and families at Newcastle and Lambton libraries.
Kids are invited to a special NAIDOC workshop run by established artist Jakeob Watson at Playstate Curate Gallery. Jakeob Watson is a proud Gomeroi man with deep connections to Wonnarua country after being born and raised on country, in Maitland NSW. Through this workshop he will be combining his love of art and his cultural background to help educate and teach kids his Indigenous heritage.
Westfield Kotara have a schedule of activities planned to celebrate, learn and participate in NAIDOC Week. Don't miss Aboriginal art face painting, art workshops, tool and artefact talk and a stone knapping demonstration.
Learn more about the world of STEAM
Newcastle Museum Pop-Up Science workshops are back these holidays with the Museum scientist, Catherine. Come and talk about the future of food whilst munching on some locally grown whole roasted crickets, or cricket chips. There will be lots of other cool hands-on science at the holiday science tables, so come along and ask all your gnarly science questions and take some experiments to try at home!
Pop by the Newcastle Digital Library to create amazing artworks inspired by Pepper the Robot. These are then uploaded to the digital story wall for gallery display.
The Warabrook Community Centre is holding Engineers and Robotics camp where future scientists will learn about states of matter and how engineers use energy to make the world a better place!
Calling all coding experts! Newcastle Digital Library is holding a coding workshop using Edscratch. Use block chain coding to test the limits of our Edison bots. If coding is not your thing, how about a workshop where you can learn about the forces that make a paper plane travel the distance. Try some new techniques and test your prototypes.
Explore your creative side with some artistic fun!
Head to the Lovett Gallery at the Newcastle Library for an afternoon of cartooning fun! Go DRAWING MAD this winter as Toonworld invites you to come on a journey filled with creativity and challenges where you will meet fun characters and we will design our own wonderful heroes while defending the lands against the evil Rubbix and his rampaging stickmen army!
Mitch Revs Gallery is inviting kids 8+ to learn how to use paint pens on either a skatedeck or a canvas panel by professional artists.
LEGO is cool again and the Newcastle City Library are calling all master builders the chance to showcase their skills in a winter LEGO challenge. Build fast and furious in the timed challenges themed around all things WINTER.
Fun for the whole family
Enjoy some family play time in and around the Newcastle Visitor Information Centre (VIC). Get creative and make cars, planes and other cardboard marvels with local artist Ken O'Regan.
Meet in front of Lambton Library for a special tour of the Lambton Park Tale Trail, Max and Arnie's Adventures with artist, Dale Forward. Learn all about our Tale Trail, also known as a StoryWalk®, where you walk and read a story on a mapped-out tour. Hear Dale talk about the process of creating this great story that is now at Lambton Park.
Get your competitive hat on at the Family Trivia Night at Newcastle Library! Get together a group of 4-6 people at each table. There are questions for kids and adults so make sure there's a balance of ages in your group. Don't forget to bring along your own nibbles and non-alcoholic drinks to fuel your brains for this all-family challenge.
Pack up the family for a special Fascinating Family Tour of Never Be Late for A Parade and The Soft Library exhibitions with the Newcastle Library's Children's Literacy Specialist in an interactive all ages experience.
Get back to nature
Visit the Hunter Wetlands these school holidays to find out Who Ate the Dinosaur. View an exhibition featuring museum quality casts of fossils of extinct animals known to inhabit wetlands millions of years ago. It will include insects, labryinthodonts, amphibians, reptiles, birds and much more.
Take a trip to Blackbutt Reserve these Winter Holidays to visit the animals in their own habitats. Head to the reptile show on Saturday's at 11am where you will learn about each animal including diets, breeding, habitats and conservation strategies. Tickets available at the Kiosk.
Get up close to the emus and purchase a cone of food to feed them from the kiosk or test out one of the 7 walking trails on offer. Purchase an activity pack from the Kiosk and venture on a scavenger hunt at Carnley Avenue to solve the mystery phrase by using the clues to search the picnic area for the animals.
To see more school holiday activities happening over the winter school holiday period, click HERE!