5 Adventures the Kids Will Love These School Holidays

Whether it's the summer holidays, mid-year school break or a relaxed weekend, there are plenty of opportunities to get the kids out and about making memories.

Get wild with animals

Zoos and wildlife parks offer a host of blow-their-minds add-ons to take kids from spectator to participant. Why not get up close for feeding time with a rhino at Australia Zoo on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast or brave the lions overnight at Sydney’s Taronga Zoo with a Roar and Snore package sleepover? In the ultimate nature-lover’s bucket list item, Canberra’s National Zoo and Aquarium allows you to stay the night in a luxury treehouse where giraffes can poke their heads over the balcony for breakfast, giving new meaning to the phrase “wild night out”.

Star-gaze for the night

The Basin campground in Sydney’s Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park is the perfect escape for the camping curious. The journey there is an adventure in itself, with a ferry ride taking you across sparkling Pittwater to a sandstone-fringed cove.

In Queensland, Scrub Road remote bush camp sits on the outskirts of Brisbane and is accessed by a relatively easy four-kilometre walk. Set a step goal to keep the kids motivated (Spacetalk Smart Watches have an excellent step-counting function) and tell campfire stories among the ancient ironbarks for a sleep-out they won’t forget.

Stage a great escape

An escape room experience is perfect for school-aged kids and beyond, providing an hour-long opportunity to flex their logical thinking. The kids will have to work together as a team as they’re suspended in reality with some seriously impressive sets and effects.

Perth’s Escape This lets you choose your own adventure and out-think the clock with a bank heist, pirate adventure and more. Adelaide's Mindshift provides a similar suite of scenarios, with the family-friendly Wizard Quest offering the city’s only escape room designed just for juniors.

Activate pirate-mode

Nothing gets little imaginations firing quicker than a real-life treasure hunt, which is exactly what’s on offer from Let’s Roam’s guided scavenger hunts. Available in over 400 locations around Australia, you can explore the city sights, answering questions that can only be found in-person as they’re hidden on things like plaques and statues.

Older kids with a Spacetalk Smart Watch can have a little extra freedom to seek out their own clues, with GPS tracking and safe-contact calling offering peace of mind for parents at the same time.

Rock their world

There’s a surprising spark of determination ignited in kids when they tackle a rock-climbing course. With increasingly family-friendly options sprouting up all over the place, there’s never been a better time to give them a taster.

Perth’s Urban Jungle is ideal for kids of all ages, offering abseiling, bouldering and speed-climbing courses suitable for three-year-olds all the way up to seasoned adult climbers.

Adelaide’s Funtopia has game-ified the sport with interactive climbing experiences including a fire-fighting scenario that lets kids leap from building to building and a giant ‘beanstalk’ where aspiring giant-slayers can let their imaginations run wild. The Spacetalk Smart Watch fitness-tracking functionality will let them know exactly how fast the new heights got their heart beating.