Spring into school holidays with council online activities
With the school holidays fast approaching, Victorian councils are providing local families with a range of fun activities for the kids!
We know this has been a tough year for parents with home-schooling duties in addition to the usual parenting responsibilities. While the easing of restrictions and improving weather means playgrounds are now open and outdoor recreation is more appealing, in metropolitan Melbourne the public health advice remains to stay home as much as possible.
Luckily, councils have come up with creative, engaging online programs to support parents and kids throughout the spring school holidays.
Greater Dandenong Council is hosting a range of activities including cooking classes, dance workshops, an illustration workshop, a chemistry class and an online magic show. Many of the programs use everyday household items which kids can use to experiment with or create with.
Mitchell Shire Council’s ‘Create a snappy creature’ guide shows kids how to make a moveable cardboard crocodile with only a few bits of stationery. The guide includes a template and written and visual instructions on how to put it together.
Libraries across the state are holding online storytimes and click and collect is now available. Moreland City Libraries has a range of hands-on activities for kids such as making monster bookmarks and egg carton creatures, sing-a-longs to nursery rhymes and an online theatre show featuring a dinosaur.
To keep creative kids busy, Boroondara Council is hosting online arts activities and performances where kids can make an instrument, weave a mini wall hanging, or undertake poi making and paint by numbers.
Bayside City Council has partnered with Polyglot Theatre for the workshop My Shadow Self. Aimed at kids 5 – 12 years, Polyglot artists will take them through the simple steps to make a tiny shadow self and explore the giant landscape.
Although regional Victoria now has fewer restrictions, councils are hosting programs online for those unable to leave home. The Goldfields Libraries’ Colour Your World Spring holiday program is aimed at children of all ages and comes with activity sheets and Zoom video tutorials. Some of the activities include a juggling class, Lego and Minecraft challenges and bubble painting.
The City of Greater Bendigo’s new online exhibition celebrating First Nations artists ‘Sharing Process’ is holding workshops on making your own ochre and mineral paints, coil weaving and weaving with recycled materials.
Make sure to check your council’s website to see what else is happening during the holidays.