Ever since Aristotle was little, I have always believed that the best way for children to learn is through first hand experience. Young children are always taking in all the new sights and sounds from the environment around them so I wanted my boys to experience as many fun and interesting new sights as possible. When Aristotle was little, I made it a point to take him around the Klang Valley to see the various tourist attractions. We took a hiatus after I had Hercules because he was such a handful. I’m afraid that the idea of being out and about with a crazy kid was so daunting that I was fatigued before I’d even set foot outside my front door.
Now that Hercules is older and somewhat improved, we are attempting to broaden the boys’ experiences with new sights and sounds…
Last week, we took a trip with the boys to the Sunshine Coast in Queensland, Australia. I confess that I didn’t think there would be so much to see. We didn’t get through the entire list of things to do that I had come up with but we did make a pretty decent good effort to see something new and fun with the boys everyday. Stay tuned and we’ll tell you all about it!
Meanwhile, here are some of the things we found that are fun to do with the kids…
Brisbane City:
- Riding the City Cat – take a ride to the city on the City Catamaran.
- Queensland Museum on Southbank
- Maritime Museum
- The Wheel of Brisbane (the Brisbane Eye)
- Southbank Rainforest Walk
- Lone Pine Kuala Sanctuary
- Australian Woolshed offers you a chance to experience the great Australian farm experience right in the heart of a city
Outside of Brisbane:
- Super Bee Honey – we didn’t have time to make it there this trip but hubby and I visited the Super Bee the last time we were in Queensland and thought it was a nice place to visit with the kids
- Honey World – if you can’t make it to the Super Bee, you can still get a “honey experience” here
- Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary – this is just across the road from Honey World
- Cedar Glen Farmstay – if you want the real farm life experience, this is the place to visit
Parks and Playgrounds
If there’s one thing I’ve noticed from all our visits back to Melbourne with the boys, it’s the parks and playgrounds. You can find some really interesting playgrounds for the kids if you look around. If you just want something nearby for the kids to have a romp around and burn off some of that excess energy they always carry around, all you have to do is use the playground locator. If you’re looking for something special, here are some of the top Brisbane Parks and Playgrounds for Kids that we found (we didn’t get to check them out personally so we won’t take credit or discredit for their “worthiness” of being in the top list):
- Kalinga Park Clayfield
- Lower Moora Park Shorncliffe
- Robelle Domain Springfield
- Hidden World Fitzgibben
- Rocks Riverside Park Seventeen Mile Rocks
More Activities for Kids
For more stuff for kids around Brisbane, check out Brisbanekids.com. If you are looking for special events that will be on in Brisbane that the kids might like during the period of your travel, check out A Little Bird.
Just southwest of Brisbane (about 40 minutes out) is the town of Ipswich where there are some really interesting things to do:
- Workshops Rail Museum
- Riverheart Parklands – this is a water park which we didn’t see but it made it into the “must do” list of places to visit in Brisbane
- Queens Park
- Children’s Art Gallery – also really wanted to see this but we didn’t have time for it
And if that isn’t enough for you, there is also a “Top Attractions” list of things to do in Brisbane you should check out if you’re planning to visit. If you can’t decide, you can pay a virtual visit first to see if it’s worth your while.
Gold Coast:
- Movie World
- Sea World
- Wet and Wild – although we bought a 3 day pass to visit Movie World, Sea World and Wet and Wild, we didn’t end up going to Wet and Wild because Aristotle called our bluff.
- Wax Museum – Aristotle wanted to see this after he saw a brochure about it. Thinking it was like Madame Tussaud’s, we went to check it out only to discover that it’s not really appropriate for the little ones. They have a chamber of horrors tour where they take you through all the gruesome ways to torture people that have been employed in history which was quite disturbing.
- Infinity Maze – I thought this was really cool. I went with Aristotle who enjoyed it, but I think Hercules might have been a bit scared. It’s not really appropriate for kids who are afraid of the dark.
- Whale Watching – Gold Coast boasts one of the longest whale watching seasons
- Springbrook Waterfall and National Park (and Glow Worm Caves)
- Nimbin
- Byron Bay
- Tamborine Mountain (and Rainforest Skywalk)
- Lamington National Park
More about the places we visited soon…
Related:
- Places to See in Victoria (Australia)
- Where to Go in Singapore
- Sights and Sounds in the Klang Valley, Malaysia