Its not easy for parents to try and balance work commitments and responsibilities with raising children. I remember how my parents would struggle to find time for school holiday activities when I was growing up. Now as an adult, I know how difficult it is to get time off work over the school holidays. While you have the best intentions to spend quality time with your children, planned school holiday activities often get panned.
To make the most of the precious time you do get to spend with your children over the holidays, Ill outline the best school holiday activities, that wont take up a full day, but will keep your kids happy for days. Best of all, theyre all located in the heart of the Gold Coast, at Surfers Paradise.
Are you ready? Heres our list:
7D Cinema
As a parent, youll find a number of reasons to love this school holiday activity. One of these is you dont have to sit in front of the big screen for hours. This is because each movie is good for only 8 minutes. After that, you can choose to watch another or move on to another activity.
But you may be asking, what can you possibly get from an 8-minutes viewing? Arent you short-changed? The 7D cinema is actually different from all the other cinemas in Gold Coast.
Its virtual reality taken to a whole new level. Perhaps youre familiar with 3D and youve watched a movie in 3D. This one is 7D, which means you also get to experience motions whether youre running away from a monster or getting through an exhilarating roller-coaster ride or moving into deep space. Currently there are 10 movies to choose from, but the cinema regularly updates its catalogue so youll always have something new and exciting to look forward to.
Price: $15 (normal admission), $13 (students/kids), $12.50 (family price, 4+ people)
Build-A-Bear Workshop
I admit, Im a little old for teddy bears, but children certainly are not. If your child is under 8 years old, you have to check out the Build-a-bear Workshop. Youll find the shop in Shop 121 near Esplanade and Cavill Avenue, which is also close to Surfers Paradise Beach (or at Robina Town Center in Robina).
This is the perfect school holiday activity to let your children be more creative and skilful as they have to build their own teddy bear. Well, they dont really have to assemble everything, but they get to be a part of the entire process, including choosing the animal, stuffing it, and even adding personalised messages and names to the bear. These bears can also be dressed up such as in Disney characters or Football players.
The store is open from 9:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. 7 days a week, so you can always find some time to squeeze this in your schedule. The entire workshop doesnt take an hour unless your kid enjoys staying here. A bear can cost around $30.
Gold Coast Bungy Trampolines
I have no doubt that your children will love this school holiday activity, I mean, who doesnt love a bungy trampoline? Its simply exhilarating! Just to give you an idea what it is, just imagine your children jumping on a trampoline. However, with the help of a harness, your kid can go as high as 6 metres and perform all sorts of tricks while still in the air such as a back flip. Isnt that exciting? Whats more, its healthy for the kids too since it helps build their muscles and improves their immunity by improving their lymphatic system. Most of all, theyll have plenty of fun.
I know that youre worried about safety, but this is 100% safe. The harness and all the pieces of equipment are designed specifically for the activity and for children. Theres also a professional around to personally oversee your children. You can also hire it and bring the trampoline right in your home. As far as school holiday activities go, they dont get much more fun than this!
Infinity Gold Coast
Do you want go crazy?and I mean really, really crazy? Then you have to experience Infinity! If youre wondering why this attraction is called as such, its because weve learned to bend time and space and create an illusion as if youre in an infinite universe. Besides, you will have endless fun and entertainment when youre in here.
Infinity is one of the coolest attractions youll ever see on the Gold Coast, and were perfect for entertaining you and your children these school holidays. We use a great combination of light, sound, and visual effects to create very interactive and multi-sensory exhibits?that means, you dont only get to see them, but you can hear and even touch them.
Your journey takes around 30 minutes or more depending on how well you can go through the mazes. This is ideal for children 8 years old and above since small kids may initially be a little anxious is the low light areas. However, if you can just hold their hands, you will both experience the thrill of Infinity together, which makes your visit here even more memorable.
Price: $16.10 if you buy the tickets online
(Infinity Gold Coast)
King Tutts Putt Putt
Can you imagine your children playing golf in ancient Egypt? Well, thats a little far off of an imagination, dont you think? But when youre at King Tutts Putt Putt, thats already possible or at least get the feeling that youre really in ancient Egypt or even way before that time.
This attraction is actually a mini golf course that is the ideal activities for entertaining your children over the school holidays. There are three courses you can choose from: King Tutts, Tutts Challenge, and Jurassic (where you and your kids can see some dinosaurs!). One of these is located outdoors and the two are indoors. This way, youll always have the chance to play golf regardless of the weather.
Price: $15 (adult pass), $35 (family admission), $10 (child), $12 (concession pass)
Planet Chill
One of the things youll probably love about Australia, especially if youre on the Gold Coast, is that the weather is amazing. We have plenty of sunshine all year round, so you can enjoy school holiday activities with warm sunny weather. However, theres one thing we never get to enjoy: snow.
Although we have winter, we dont get snow at all in Queensland. Fortunately theres Planet Chill.
Planet Chill is one of the newest icy attractions in Gold Coast. Its a large skating rink that you and your family can enjoy at any season, especially over the school holidays. You may think its just for kids, but its open for everyone including parents, so all of you can learn how to ice-skate all together. It already allows children as small as 3 years old. Theres also a chill zone for table games including foos ball and air hockey. Since it cannot accommodate a crowd, its best if you can buy your tickets beforehand. Dont forget to check their website once in a while too such as for any maintenance. Usually it means that Planet Chill is closed the entire day or for a few hours.
Price: $20
Racecentre
Would you like to drive a Ferrari or let your child be one of the hottest race car drivers in the future? Its never too early to start training them, and the best place for that is none other than the Racecentre. This is incredibly different from all the other simulated races you see in play centres. With this, your child really gets to sit in a race car and drive as if he or she is really in a competition in a real course. The sound and other special effects further heighten the sensation, and your child would like to drive a few more. To make it even more exciting you can race together and declare a winner. You can even join or form a league. This is one school holiday activity your children with go back to school raving about.
Strike Bowling Bar
For good old fashion family entertainment you cant go past bowling as one of the all-time activities to enjoy over school holidays, or even a regular weekend. Strike Bowling Bar makes bowling looks and feels really cool and hip especially for the teens. Whats more, for this school holiday until 28 January players can enjoy unlimited game play. For $15, they can already have unlimited bowling and karaoke.
If they are tired of these two, they have a few more choices to do. They can play laser tag or try any of the escape rooms where they get to act like detectives and figure out a case or a mystery before they can finally go out of the room. If they dont, well, they lose.
Conclusion
There are many school holiday activities you can participate in to get quality time with your children over the holidays, with the list above we hope it relieves the stress of finding things to do so you can concentrate on more important things, like which activity to do first! I highly recommend Infinity Gold Coast, not only because Im the manager, but because its affordable and its always a new experience for all. The sounds, lights, and other effects can stimulate the imagination, creativity, and curiosity of the little ones while teens and young adults would love to figure out the maze. Its also near many attractions in Surfers Paradise so its easy for you to plan your itinerary for the day.
