Your guide to 41 things to do with kids in Melbourne, including Honk! Untitled Goose Exhibition and Free Australian Garden Walk, and more — updated…
3 kids activities and family events are listed in Melbourne right now, including 1 free things to do.
Updated August 2026
Where to take children across Melbourne — inner-city museums, bayside days, and the parks and farms worth the drive.
Carlton Gardens is the obvious first stop: Melbourne Museum's Children's Gallery is built for under-5s, the Forest Gallery runs the length of the building, and IMAX sits in the same complex. Across the river, Scienceworks at Spotswood is the more hands-on of the two, with the Lightning Room show and a planetarium, and it is close enough to the Williamstown ferry to make a day of it. Melbourne Zoo at Parkville is a tram ride from the city, while Werribee Open Range Zoo is the safari-bus alternative 30 minutes south-west.
For a bayside day, Luna Park at St Kilda still runs its 1912 Scenic Railway, and the foreshore, pier and Acland Street cake shops fill the rest of the afternoon. Puffing Billy through the Dandenongs is the one out-of-town trip almost every Melbourne family does at least once. See the top 10 attractions for kids in Melbourne for the shortlist.
The NGV on St Kilda Road is free to its permanent collection and has the Great Hall ceiling to lie under; ACMI at Federation Square is free for The Story of the Moving Image, which is a genuinely good hour with school-age kids. The Ian Potter Foundation Children's Garden in the Royal Botanic Gardens is free and designed to be climbed through, and the State Library's dome and children's area cost nothing. Add the Queen Victoria Market for a cheap lunch, the Docklands library play space, and the bay trail at Elwood for scooters.
For scheduled free sessions, check free events for kids in Melbourne — council school-holiday programs, ArtPlay workshops and library sessions make up most of the list.
Melbourne's weather changes by the hour, so having an indoor fallback booked matters more here than the forecast does. SEA LIFE Melbourne Aquarium on the Yarra is compact and fully covered; Melbourne Museum, Scienceworks and ACMI are the three big indoor holds; and ArtPlay beside Birrarung Marr runs artist-led sessions for specific age bands. In winter, the Melbourne Star precinct and the Docklands indoor play centres take walk-ins, and the National Sports Museum at the MCG works well for 8+.
Filter to museum events for kids in Melbourne or theatre shows for kids when you need something fully undercover.
Toddlers (0–4): the Children's Gallery at Melbourne Museum, the Children's Garden at the Botanic Gardens, Collingwood Children's Farm for the 10am animal feeding, and the St Kilda foreshore playground.
Ages 5–8: Scienceworks, Melbourne Zoo, Luna Park, and Puffing Billy with legs over the side. Activities for children aged 6–11 shows what is currently programmed for them.
Ages 9–12: the Lightning Room and planetarium at Scienceworks, Eureka Skydeck, the MCG tour, indoor climbing at Northcote or Brunswick, and science and STEM activities.
Trams inside the Free Tram Zone cover Federation Square, Carlton Gardens, Docklands and Queen Victoria Market at no cost, and prams board the low-floor trams without folding. Children under five travel free on all public transport; 5–18s need a concession myki. Scienceworks is a short walk from Spotswood station, Melbourne Zoo from Royal Park, and Werribee Open Range Zoo from Werribee station plus a shuttle or short taxi. Driving into the CBD on a weekend is the slowest option; if you do, the Federation Square and museum car parks are the ones with lift access.