As much as we here at Urban List love good brewery tour, bottomless brunch and cocktail-filled dinner, at some point, we actually have to spend time with our kids/nieces/nephews/grandkids—but that doesn't mean we're willing to pay a visit to the same playground, over and over again. We're lucky enough here in Brisbane/Meanjin to have plenty of things to do with kids that will excite everyone in the family—mums, dads, siblings and grandparents alike.
When can't handle another episode of Cocomelon, you've exhausted the craft supplies and reached your limit of trips down the slide at your local park, here are the best things to do with kids in Brisbane.
Jump to:
- Best Museums And Galleries For Kids In Brisbane
- Best Outdoor Activities For Kids In Brisbane
- Best Animal Experiences For Kids In Brisbane
- Best Indoor Play Centres For Kids In Brisbane
- Best Indoor Activities For Kids In Brisbane
- Best Creative Activities For Kids In Brisbane
Best Museums And Galleries For Kids In Brisbane
QAGOMA
Stanley Place, South Brisbane
Did you know that GOMA has a dedicated Children’s Art Centre? You do now—as well as their often supersized, fantastical exhibitions that are just as visually stimulating for kids as they are for adults, the gallery usually has an exhibition just for them. Currently it’s 'The Castle of Tarragindi,' a dreamy blue and white space inspired by art history, filled with hands-on and multimedia activites.
Queensland Museum And Sciencecentre
Grey Street And Melbourne Street, South Brisbane
A surefire way to occupy young minds as well as their excited little bodies, The Queensland Museum and Sciencecentre always has something on for youngsters. From dino skeletons at the museum for the kids who somehow know how to say ‘triceratops’ but not ‘please’, or some good old fashioned scientific fun in the Sciencecentre, you could spend at least half a day here. Currently the major attraction is a massive Jurassic World LEGO exhibition, an unmissable adventure will be open until July 20224.
Workshops Rail Museum
North Street, North Ipswich
All aboard! Time to take a break from Thomas The Tank engine reruns, and go in search of a lifesized Thomas instead. Train-obsessed youngsters will be in literal heaven at the Workshops Rail Museum, which features old school trains, railway platforms, model train tracks and basically just a wealth of off-the-rails fun.
CrossRover Rail Experience Centre
1/151 Elizabeth Street, Brisbane CBD
Free to enter, the CrossRiver Rail Experience Centre is a deep dive into the tunnels and railways currently being consctructed under Brisbane, with exhibits including VR experiences, digital models and more that will keep both adults and kids enthralled. Even better, they put on free activities every weekend, from arts and crafts to LEGO building.
Best Outdoor Activities For Kids In Brisbane
DIG IT
Cedar Creek Falls Road, Tamborine Mountain
Image credit: DIG IT | Supplied
Tell the kids they’re going on a road trip, because just an hour away on Tamborine Mountain there’s a mini excavator park just for them. One for the digger enthusiasts who are ready to graduate from the sandpit and into a driver’s seat, this outdoor construction zone at Thunderbird Park features real CAT mini excavators—we can hear dirt-covered children all over Brisbane screaming in excitement.
After a quick training session, they’ll get to dig in the dirt using the excavator, smash towers with a wrecking ball, attempt to hook a croc and more. At $55 per child for a two hour session it won’t break the bank either, and honestly, who can put a price on the pure joy they’ll get out of it? Even better, book in during May when they'll be celebrating their first weekend with four huge weekends of fun, including celebrations, DIG IT cards to sign and real-size excavators visiting on 18 and 19 May.
You might also like:
- Brisbane's Best Pubs With Playgrounds
- Brisbane's Best Kid-Friendly Cafes
- Brisbane's Best Kid-Friendly Accomodation
Mini Golf
Various Locations
Get a bit of competition going amongst the kids with a friendly game of mini golf. There are so many great courses around Brisbane that we went ahead and made a list of all the best places to play mini golf in Brisbane, with both indoor and outdoor courses to check out.
Aqua Parks
Various Locations
If your backyard is sadly bereft of a swimming pool, but the house is heating up and as any good Queensland parent, you absolutely refuse to put on the air conditioning for anything below 37 degrees, you might want to check out one of Brisbane’s many aqua parks. There’s a heap of free parks that feature fountains, water jets, drop buckets, slides and more all over the city, all of them maintained by the Brisbane City Council Check them out and find your closest here.
Kid-Friendly Hikes
Various Locations
Image credit: Urban List | Supplied
Keen to have an actual reason to don your activewear? Get the kids out for some fresh air on one of Brisbane’s many kid-friendly hiking trails. You’ll find nothing too strenuous on this list, just gorgeous scenery, a chance to spot some wildlife and maybe even an excuse to pack a cheese board (for you—the kids can have peanut butter sandwiches, duh).
Treetop Challenge
Cedar Creek Falls Road, Tamborine Mountain
Got a youngun that’s been swinging off furniture since practically the day they were born? Put those skills to good use at Tamborine’s Treetop Challenge, a high ropes and zipline course through the trees. There’s a chiller section for three to eight year olds, or a trickier zone for families with kids aged eight and up that everyone can tackle. Make no mistake, this is a solid workout, and your shoulders will ache for days.
Gumtree Kids Sensory And Messy Play
Various Locations
Messy play is important for kids' development, but let's face it—no parent wants to clean that up. Gumtree Kids is here to fill the void with their weekly messy play sessions, which are so aesthetically-pleasing that even the grown ups will want to get involved. For less that $15 a session (which is what you'd spend on craft materials on Amazon anyway, let's be honest), you can let the kids get hands on and messy with different themed experiences every week.
Roma Street Parkland
1 Parkland Boulevard, Brisbane CBD
Venture into the heart of the city with your crew for a jam-packed day of fun at Roma Street Parkland, which is decked out with lush green lawns, bright flower gardens and playgrounds catering to kids of all ages. A sure hit for the whole family is a ride on the trackless Xpress Fun Train at just $5 a pop. Once you’re suitably tired out, kick back in one of the many shaded areas lakeside and indulge in a little treat from the cafe (you definitely deserve it).
Mt Coot-tha Botanical Gardens
152 Mount Coot-Tha Road, Mount Coot-tha
The Mt Coot-tha Botanical Gardens are one of our city’s prime paradises for kids, stacked with hours of fun times. The whole family will definitely sleep well after a day out exploring walking trails, wandering through the greenhouse dome, sensory gardens and bonsai house. Highlights include the Hide ‘n’ Seek Children’s Trail, a unique outdoor playground, and the Planetarium that host a 12.5 metre-diameter projection dome offering tours of Brisbane’s night sky. Afterwards you can refuel at the cafe, or bring a rug and picnic under a shady tree.
Best Animal Experiences For Kids In Brisbane
Travena Glen Farm
1100 Winn Road, Mount Samson
Get ready to feed, pat and cosy up to the furry and feathered inhabitants at the unforgettable farm adventure that is Trevena Glen Farm. Meet the pigs, donkeys, horses, alpacas and more, as the kids learn how to be a farmer for a day, feeding, grooming, washing and otherwise earning the morning tea they'll get served after their hard work.
Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary
708 Jesmond Road, Fig Tree Pocket
Image Credit: Urban List | Supplied
There are over 130 cute koalas living peacefully in the world’s first and largest koala sanctuary, as recognised by the Guinness Book of World Records, right here in Brisbane. Koalas aren’t the only cute animals at Lone Pine Sanctuary though. If the kids are lucky, they could feed a kangaroo, meet a dingo, be entertained by a platypus, and cuddle a koala all in one day.
Daisy Hill Koala Centre
253 Daisy Hill Road, Daisy Hill
With daily wildlife officer talks, a large outdoor koala enclosure and interactive displays, the Daisy Hill Koala Centre is a great place to learn about koalas and their conservation. You can spot the koalas from multi-level viewing platforms, and learn a heap of fun facts about the furry Australian animals through a multitude of interactive activities. Best of all, entry is totally free.
Best Indoor Play Centres For Kids In Brisbane
Bounce
40 Enterprise Place, Tingalpa | 544 Kessels Road, Macgregor
If your little gremlin is hard to pry off the trampoline at home, Bounce is well and truly for you—they’re essentially huge indoor trampoline playgrounds. They (and you, because you know you’re not letting them have all the fun on their own) can bounce across giant trampoline pads, dunk balls at the hoops and flip through the air into the soft fall pits. Hold my drink kids, mumma’s going to show you how it’s done.
Urban Xtreme
4/370 Nudgee Rd, Hendra
Got a junior ninja warrior at your house? Urban Xtreme is for you and yours. They have a whole-ass ninja course, a parkour run, indoor skiing and snowboarding, a huge trampoline section, laser tag, dodgeball, rock climbing walls, and even a playland for little ones all under one roof. Phew, what a lot. Hop in the car out to Hendra and experience it for yourself, but book before you head off which you can do here.
Area 51
51 Kingston Road, Underwood
Area 51 is Australia's largest indoor play centre. Yes, actually think about that for a second. It’s set up well and truly for all ages, with a multitude of courses, rooms and activities—think a giant ball pit for toddlers right next to the cafe and a huge playground for three to five year olds complete with huge slides, tunnels and ball pits, while over sixers score huge rock climbing walls, balance beams, obstacle courses, massive slides and foam pits. And yes, you’re absolutely allowed to join the kids, though you will need your own ticket.
The Jungle Adventure Play
31 Proprietary Street, Tingalpa
The Jungle Adventure Play in Tingalpa is the adventure centre of every kid’s dreamsThey have something for every age, all the way up to us oldies. A junior playground for the under twos, 800 square metres of playground for ages two to eight, and so much more for the older kids, including a seven-metre high free fall tower, a high ropes course, multiple climbing walls, and a ninja warrior course. It is also home to the longest electric flying fox in the Southern Hemisphere, The Hawk, which is available for anyone over four.
Best Indoor Activities For Kids In Brisbane
The Corner At The State Library of Queensland
Stanley Place, South Brisbane
Welcome to The Corner, a creative space made especially for families with children aged under eight years old. Drop in for a play anytime between 10am-3pm daily, with heaps of different toys, activities and crafts set up in the space. They also offer a stacked program of free events scheduled at various times, making it this perfect rainy day activity with kids.
Lasertag
Various Locations
Get them off the gaming console and out running for their life at one of Brisbane’s many laser tag venues. We don’t condone violence, but we do condone ganging up on your kids and keeping them so pinned down under laser fire that they don’t even have a chance to find a better hiding spot—that’s what they get for refusing to brush their teeth or turn the TV off when you tell them to. There’s a few venues around, but Laserforce in Woolloongabba, Strike Bowling in the CBD and Kingpin at Chermside are a few of the best.
Where The Wild Things Are Bookshop
191 Boundary Street, West End
Drop by Where The Wild Things Are Bookshop for their regular Story Time and Rhyme Time sessions, running 10am-10.30am on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday each week. There’s no need to register, just show up and spend quality time together reading (also a brilliant way to develop language skills). It’s a win-win situation, where you can come along to create precious memories while you meet other parents, bubs and toddlers.
The Pink Flamingo Circus Fun House
98 Bincote Street, Hamilton
Image credit: The Pink Flamingo | Supplied
No longer just for grown ups seeking a fun and feathery night out, The Pink Flamingo Brisbane has just launched their first-ever children's circus show. Featuring dazzling costumes, daring aerial stunts, breathtaking acrobatics and side-splitting comedy, this high-energy producting will have youngsters and adults alike glued to their seat in amazement—at least until they get home and try to recreate some of those stunts in the backyard. Show take place every Saturday at 11.30am, and you can book tickets here.
Ice Skating
Various Locations
Oddly enough, our steamy, sticky and just straight up hot-most-of-the-year city has a hefty list of ice skating rinks. So many, that we actually did a whole roundup on where to find them. While curious it may be that we have so many, they’re actually a godsend when looking for something different to entertain the kids rain, hail or shine.
Slideaways
870 Kingsford Smith Drive, Eagle Farm
Put the pedal to the metal and drift down to Slideaways, Brisbane’s own indoor go-karting behemoth. The track sprawls over multiple levels, bridges, and loops—as well as a spectating platform for your cheer squad. Their family sessions are made for those seven and up, with slower, easier to drive carts that won’t run away from learner drivers.
Spash Room Experience
Stapylton
Gather the family for a colourful splatter and splash room experience, perfect for your next weekend agenda. Here you can unleash your inner Pollock by flinging paint across the room (or at each other)—you can even wear a white shirt if you want something to remember the experience by afterwards. Make a mess without the stress of cleanup afterwards, all you have to focus on is having a blast splashing around, boogying to tunes of your choice.
i-Fly Indoor Skydiving
Chermside
Okay, don your flying suits and fasten your goggles, i-Fly is reaching new heights with their heart-pumping experience of feeling like you’re free falling at 14,000 feet. The twist is that it’s all from the safety of a glass wind tunnel, in the capable hands of trained flight instructors who are there to help beginners feel weightless without leaving the comfort of land. Anyone aged three and up can fly, so get in there.
Best Creative Activities For Kids In Brisbane
Class Bento Kid-Friendly Workshops
Various Locations
Workshop and class guru Class Bento offers a whole section on its website of activities that are specifically designed for kids, or even adults and kids if you want a little parent-child bonding. From terrarium workshops to pizza-making classes, you’re bound to find something that will keep them (and you) occupied.
Looking for more inspiration for things to do with kids in Brisbane? Head here:
- Brisbane's Best Escape Rooms
- Brisbane's Best Places To Go Rock Climbing
- Brisbane's Best Indoor Playgrounds
Image credit: Urban List | Supplied
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