What’s on in your local libraries, museums and galleries!
Libraries are a great FREE source of entertainment for your children and family as a whole. They often run weekly programs for you and your child to attend. This is especially great if you are not confident reading to your child or want to get better at spending time on literacy activities. We are also lucky that our art gallery and museum do the same kinds of weekly programs.
Libraries and museums also tend to put on ‘school holiday’ workshops for older children which they publish on their websites..! I have added some of their offerings below. For a little run down on what’s on offer in the Newcastle area, see our quick and easy breakdown below! OR visit their websites for more information.
Libraries
Rock and Rhyme
Enjoy songs, nursery rhymes, dancing, music, stories and lots of fun! These action packed sessions are perfect for children age 1 - 3. Each session runs for 30 minutes.
Adamstown Wednesdays 10-10:30am
Hamilton Tuesdays 10-10:30am
Mayfield Mondays 10-10:30am
New Lambton Tuesdays 10-10:30am
Newcastle Wednesdays AND Fridays 10-10:30am
Wallsend Wednesdays and Thursdays 10-10:30am
Story Stomp
Stomp your way through a fun filled session of stories, songs, games and craft developed to stimulate, engage and grow the minds of 3 - 5 year olds. Our Story Stomp sessions are a fun way to help prepare your child for reading once at school. Each session runs for 45 minutes.
Adamstown Wednesdays 11-11:45am
Beresfield Fridays 11-11:45am
Hamilton Tuesdays 11-11:45am
Mayfield Mondays 11-11:45am
New Lambton Thursday 11-11:45am
Newcastle Wednesdays 11-11:45am
Wallsend Wednesdays 11-11:45am
Stockton Thursdays 11-11:45am
Ten Minutes a Day: Baby Book Time
Introduce your baby to the wonderful world of books. Using stories, songs, rhymes, dancing and music this fun series of four workshops runs over four weeks. It will provide you with the tools and resources to nurture your child's love of reading.
Stay & Play
Come to Baby Book Time and then Stay & Play. Babies learn through playing and having fun! Join us for an opportunity to socialise with other carers while your baby experiences a range of sensory experiences and developmental toys that will foster your child's early literacy and learning skills.
Suitable for ages 0 - 12 months. These sessions are free, however bookings are essential. A link to online bookings will be available 4 weeks prior to each session's start date.
Hamilton Tuesday 2-3pm
Mayfield Wednesdays 10am-11am
Lambton 11am -12pm
Newcastle Mondays, 2pm - 3pm
Fridays, 11am - 12pm
Wallsend Thursdays, 11am - 12pm
They offer loads more for older kids too including kids crew, crafternoon, lego club, and book clubs! For a full list of their offerings visit the website: http://www.newcastle.nsw.gov.au/Library/Whats-On/Children-s-Activities
Newcastle Art Gallery
Art Cart
Every Saturday & Sunday
10:30am to 12:30pm
(drop in, activity takes approx. 30 minutes)Free event, no bookings required. For children of all ages.
http://nag.org.au/Whats-On/Event-Calendar/Art-Cart
Art Cart engages children with the exhibitions on display through discussion and art making. Led by Gallery educators, every weekend Art Cart engages with a different work of art on display, and the event is staged in the Gallery space as close as possible to the original work.
Art Cart grounds the child’s experience of the Gallery with tactile, hands-on experiences. Parents are encouraged to collaborate with their younger children and encourage their older children to extend the art activity with some new element of their own design. Activities can be simplified or made more complex depending on the child. Each activity takes approximately 30 minutes to complete, and we ask that you arrive no later than 12:15pm to ensure there is enough time to complete your masterpiece.
Maitland Regional Art Gallery
Free Art Sundays for all ages
Every Sunday families are invited to drop into the art gallery for free art activities inspired by the exhibitions on display. Our activities are designed for kids of all ages, and as a family you can all join in and get creative. Each activity takes around half an hour to complete.
Art Sunday is staffed by qualified art teachers. The workshop is designed to encourage parents and children to add to their experience of the gallery by accessing hands-on activities in a family friendly environment.
Please note: children cannot be left unattended during Art Sundays
Art Materials proudly supported by CleverPatch
Museum
Mininova Daily 10am - 5pm
Mininova is an area of Supernova especially for young visitors to the Museum. If you are under 115 cm tall why not take off your shoes and explore the ‘Mininova’ area. Climb a mountain, solve the puzzle wall or tunnel through a maze.
Under 5s - Tuesday Tales
Every Tuesday except school holidays
Story time at the Museum - no need to book, just drop in!
Tuesday Tales is suitable for littles under five and is held at the Museum every Tuesday morning from 10:30am - 11am (except during school holidays).
It's free.
SCHOOL HOLIDAYS- Mostly catering to the older Primary school aged children
Libraries
PLENTY happening at the Libraries, STEM workshops, book events, movies and more. Best to visit their what’s on page to see what tickles your fancy!! Fun for the whole family http://www.newcastle.nsw.gov.au/Library/Whats-On/Events
Newcastle Art Gallery
School Holiday Workshops WEEK 1 - Papier Mache Flowerpots
Monday 15, Tuesday 16, Wednesday 17, Thursday 18 April
24 days from now
Sessions: 10.30-11.30am, 12-1pm, 2-3pm 1 hour
Suitable for children aged 5–12 years.
$12. Book online.
Learn about the artists and the subject matter of flowers in this FLORIBUNDA: from the Collection inspired art workshop, and decorate your very own papier mache flowerpot to store jewellery, pens or have as a keepsake. Children can choose a variety of coloured paint pens, collage materials and mosaic squares in their finished design.
http://nag.org.au/Whats-On/Event-Calendar/School-Holiday-Workshops-WEEK-1-Paper-Mache-Flower
School Holiday Workshops WEEK 2 - Clay Nests
Tuesday 23, Wednesday 24, Friday 26 April
32 days from now
Sessions: 10.30-11.30am, 12-1pm, 2-3pm 1 hour
Suitable for children aged 5–12 years.
$12. Book online.
Taking inspiration from SODEISHA: connected to Australia ceramic works and the sculpture garden, children will sculpt a nest out of clay. Using air dry clay and some of the same techniques used by the artists, children will create a nest that fits a wooden egg, add texture to the surface of their work and then decorate their egg using paint.
http://nag.org.au/Whats-On/Event-Calendar/School-Holiday-Workshops-WEEK-2-Clay-Nests
Maitland Regional Art Gallery
SCHOOL HOLIDAY FUN
APRIL 13 — APRIL 28
Free
See Make Do, school holiday fun and activities for all the family at MRAG
· Drop into MRAG these school holidays to do a series of self-directed activities throughout the gallery.
· Discover Charles Blackman from the MRAG Collection with the Look Closer activity booklet. Dress up and Draw with Props, Masks & Magic in Andrew Antoniou’s exhibition.
· Crack the code in one of our Code Breaker activities!
· Visit the front desk and ask for:
Code Breaker 1 & 2,Colour Code Breaker or Search for the Golden Poo
Every day there will be something to do at MRAG!
More info:
http://mrag.org.au/whats-on/category/events/2019-04/?tribe_events_cat=events&tribe-bar-date=2019-04
Newcastle Museum
School holidays: The Museum is open seven days a week in school holidays. General admission is free. Some special exhibitions incur an entry fee.
Current at time of publishing.