The best things to do around Perth with the kids over the July school holidays

With school holidays rapidly approaching, you might be wondering what’s on offer around town to keep the tiny ones occupied (and give you a little breathing room).

Read on below for a few ideas, some of them for a limited time only, some of them good any time of the year!

Cosy @ The Quay

This weekend, Elizabeth Quay will transform into a winter haven brimming with warmth, joy, and community spirit with with Cosy @ The Quay, running from Thursday 4 July to Sunday 7 July. The free activation will be home to a giant igloo, family-friendly activities, licensed bar, live entertainment, winter games and loads more, including of course, marshmallow roasting! Get more info via the Facebook event.

School’s Out Winter Fest @ PCEC

School’s Out Winter Fest returns just in time for the school holidays, running from Saturday 29 June until Sunday 14 July and transforming the Perth Convention & Exhibition Centre into a winter wonderland. With everything from ice skating to snow slides, falling snow and carnival rides, the all-inclusive, value packed event has something for everyone. Get more info and book your tickets here.

Rocky Road Festival @ Margaret River Chocolate Company

As part of its ongoing 25th birthday celebrations The Margaret River Chocolate Company will be hosting its first ever Rocky Road Festival throughout the July school holidays! In addition to its five standard flavours of Rocky Road the company will be featuring six “limited edition” flavours that you can pick up from their Swan Valley and Margaret River locations.

Kids Winter Wonderland

On Sunday 30 June head on down to the Rhein-Donau Club in Myaree for a celebration of snow, winter and all things white and fluffy! DJ Brian will be bringing the beats and there’ll be a snow machine alongside their licensed restaurant and bar. More info/tickets here.

Freo Builds (and more) @ FOMO Freo

Head down to FOMO Freo for a week of school holidays excitement from July 1-7 as the precinct transforms into an action-packed hub of activities including: the School Holiday LEGO Trail from 10am-4pm daily; school holidays specials at Strike, Holey Moley and B. Lucky & Sons; and delicious treats from Nourish Health Freo, Varsity and Bubble Tea.

Karrinyup Sports Academy

From June 29-July 5 head down to Karrinyup Shopping Centre between 11am and 5pm daily where kids can take part in sports-inspired games and activities that will ignite the inner athlete in the whole family. You can also go in the running to win a ball signed by the 2024 Olympics 7’s rugby team – find out more here.

Torchlight Tours @ WA Maritime Museum

These school holidays the WA Maritime Museum has some fun Deep Ocean Adventures inspired by the James Cameron: Challenging The Deep exhibition. There are Torchlight Tours of the exhibition, Mini LEGO® marine adventures, 1912 Titanic costumes and loads more to keep the little ones entertained, including the Sunken Treasure Quest! Head to the WA Museum’s website for all the July school holiday activities and booking details here: museum.wa.gov.au/school-holidays.

To The Moon @ WA Museum Boola Bardip

Throughout human history, the Moon has been an object of intrigue, reverence, and curiosity, influencing cultures, driving science and fuelling the imaginations of millions. WA Museum Boola Bardip’s latest exhibition is going all in on our closest celestial neighbour with an immerse new exhibition covering lunar art, pop culture, planetary science, historical insights, the perspectives of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and much more. Get all the details here.

Check into the Hijinx Hotel

Funlab, the mad minds behind Holey Moley and Archie Brothers Cirque Electriq have just opened a wild new playground in Perth with Hijinx Hotel. The competitive playground features 10 challenge rooms that’ll test you and your friends inside a Wes Anderson meets Willy Wonka meets New York-style hotel.

Archie Brothers Fun Bundle

Speaking of Archie Brothers, Funlab are have another special this holidays. The Archie Brothers Fun Bundle helps family and friends have a blast, whether its bowling, arcade gaming, mini golf or games rooms! For $35 you’ll get a one-hour games card worth $15, plus two other activities of your choice! Get more info and get booking here.

Scitech

Alongside AQWA, Scitech remains Perth’s ultimate “have fun while you learn” location and as always they’ve got a huge lineup of exhibitions, workshops and more to keep the kids entertained this school holidays. Head to their What’s On page to plan your next adventure.

Bounce into… Bounce!

The indoor freestyle playground comes in at a whopping almost-3,000 square metres, and features 50 interconnected trampolines, cliff jumping, wall running, wall climb arena, giant inflatable soft-landing pit known as the Big Bag and adventure challenge course the X-Park, for the real thrillseekers. Head to the website for more info and to book a visit now.

Mini Golf

Perth is flush with a variety of fantastic options to suit kids of all ages (even the parents!). We did the homework for you and went on a deep dive to discover all the best courses around Perth – click here to find them all, including the epic new offering at Matagarup.

Take A Hike

Perth is filled with fantastic walking and hiking trails, both in the city and just out of it. Fortunately many of these walking trails are perfect to take the kids along to, and are guaranteed to at least tucker them out for one night! Here’s our list of kid-friendly walking trails to get you started.

AQWA

We have some fond childhood memories of visiting AQWA, so it’s always a relief to discover that the aquarium is getting better and better for each generation. Kids can marvel at the iconic marine life of WA in exhibits that closely replicate the natural environments – did you know that AQWA is one of only a few aquariums in the world that don’t use artificial coral? They’ve got heaps of year-round experiences to get close up to the marine life, plus a selection of extra activities scheduled for the school holidays, which you can check out here.

Rio Tinto Naturescape, Kings Park

Get in touch with nature at Rio Tinto’s Naturescape in Kings Park. The dedicated naturespace offers an incredibly engaging way for kids to experience and understand the Western Australian bush. Covering six hectares, it features the likes of large aerial walkways, a creek and waterhole for wading in, a cubby-building area, tunnels, rocks, climbing rocks and more. Once you’ve conquered it pop over the Synergy Parklands for an awesome nature playground and huge dinosaurs to climb on.

Nostalgia Box

Nostalgia Box is the perfect spot to show your kids what gaming used to be about! Having relocated to West Perth from their OG Northbridge home, it’s home to over 100 video game consoles dating all the way back to the 1970s, providing incredibly detailed histories for all of them. Most importantly, there’s an interactive area where you can play a bunch of old games like Mario Kart, Space Invaders, Pong and more. It’s important to BOOK AHEAD, where you’ll find kids passes are only $13.20 (adults $18.70).

Playground Playdates

Late last year we went on a little hunt to find the best kids playgrounds around Perth, and managed to dig up 20 that are not only great (one even has a volcano), but will keep the tiny ones occupied for hours (check ‘em HERE). We’ve also located a heap of great nature playgrounds to explore, which you can check out HERE. The only thing remaining is to see how many you can tick off, and how many you can these hols!

Header Image: School’s Out Winter Fest