Kid Friendly Activities for the school holidays
Matakana Coast App
15 July 2024, 9:08 PM
Brick Bay Sculpture TrailCome and explore the unique history of Puhoi from its Bohemian/Maori foundations in the 1860s to the present day.
Open 11am – 2pm Daily
Multi-purpose sports facility for visitors of all ages, including our automated golf driving range with TopTracer, 9-hole mini golf course, baseball and softball batting cages, and an air rifle range.
Saturday - Wednesday 9.30am - 6pm
Thursday - Friday 9.30am - 7pm
Various daily activities
Monday - Thursday 9am - 5pm
Friday 9am - 6pm
Saturday 9am - 3pm
Sunday 10am - 3pm
A local history museum with exhibits suitable for kids.
Sheepworld was formed with the purpose of giving visitors a practical hands-on New Zealand farming experience. Visitors of all ages get the opportunity to hold, pat, feed, and truly encounter farm life first-hand. The interactive farm park north of Auckland features sheep and dog shows along with animal feeding sessions. Surrounds include an eco-trail through New Zealand native bush, playground facilities, and an on-site family-friendly Cafe.
Open 7 days a week from 10am to 4pm
Lovely walks with views of Algies Bay, Snells Beach and Scandrett Regional Park from the lookouts. Meet the resident donkeys who live there.
Brick Bay Wines & Sculpture Trail
Brick Bay Sculpture Trail is FREE for all young explorers, weekdays through the July school holidays!
Explore incredible kauri forests, lakes and farmland abundant with native birds; discovering over 60 sculptures from NZ’s leading contemporary artists.
Kids love the complimentary Young Explorers maps, inspiring their learning, creativity and love of nature.
Free entry for up to 3 children with every paying adult.
Monday to Friday during the July School holidays.
Open 10am–4pm everyday.
Evening Kiwi Bird Watching Tour
5pm – 8pm During the Winter
Open 7 days a week during the July School Holidays with some awesome kids activities planned, and not forgetting the delicious award winning gelato!
Offers a range of activities including animal encounters, mini train, pony rides and playground and a great choice of places to eat onsite.
Kids get free entry to Sculptureum these school holidays. T&Cs are maximum 3 kids per paying adult, kids free are up to and including 15 years old.
Open daily from 10am to 4pm.
Also pizza making activity at Sculptureum with Perfectly Imperfect, Tuesdays and Wednesdays during school holidays.
Dates: 9th & 10th , 16th & 17th
Cost: $25pp – cost includes all ingredients to make pizza and have it cooked to eat for lunch
Bookings available: 12pm till 2pm
Omaha Beach
Enjoy a walk along the beach or a play at the playground.
Point Wells
Enjoy the playground, good for bike riding and afterwards finish off at the Point Wells General Store for some great fish & chips.
Ti Point reptile Park holds New Zealand’s largest and most diverse collection of Reptiles including American alligators, Turtles and Tortoises, Tarantula Spiders, Green iguanas, Tuatara and many more!
Glass Bottom Boat Tours Kayak & Snorkel Hire
Enjoy a 45-minute eco-tour on the glass bottom boat. You will see the fish, fauna, marine life and birds that thrive in this protected reserve, as well as the mysterious caves and sea-battered rocky cliffs of Goat Island.
Goat Island Marine Discovery Centre, Leigh
Get up close with Aotearoa New Zealand’s marine life, through our range of displays and interactive activities for all ages. Our microscopes will allow you to get up close with live animals and walk through the sound corridor to hear an acoustic symphony of shrimp snapping, kina munching and whales singing in our big blue backyard. Then head out back to explore our living aquaria where you can hold a live kina or seastar, observe kōura and much more.
Open daily from 10am – 4pm.
1. Two holiday programme days in collaboration with our friends at Young Ocean Explorers. These will be run on Friday the 12 th and 19 th of July, from 9:30am – 3pm.
2. Discovery Centre Workshop on our winter theme; seaweeds. This will be a day-long event run on Thursday 18 th July, from 9am – 3pm.
Both the Young Ocean Explorers Holiday programme and Discovery Centre workshop will be suitable for children 8-12 years old.
Various daily activities
Open Monday to Friday 9am to 5pm
Saturday 9am to 1pm
Experience Maori Culture at Te Hana Te Ao Marama; regular Maori Village tours, authentic Marae stays and awe inspiring Maori cultural performances. Bookings essential.
A local museum showcasing the history and heritage of Mangawhai
The Mangawhai Activity Zone (MAZ) is a great playground for all ages. It has children's playground, flying fox, pump track, state-of-the-art skate park, tennis courts, walking tracks and more. There's even a BBQ area for the parents to enjoy a family picnic while the kids enjoy what this wonderful area has to
offer.
Mangawhai Heads Beach, Mangawhai
A beautiful beach with safe swimming and picnic areas.
Mangawhai Sand Dunes
The sand dunes at Mangawhai Surf Beach are awesome for the kids to be sliding, rolling, running down, while the parents sit and have a picnic under the trees. This is only a 15 minute walk from the park or an easy 2 minute drive.
For more giant dunes, you can cross the estuary and spend all day exploring the dunes right across from the park. You can go all the way down the estuary and even walk over to the surf beach on the other side.
Celebrating everything to do with kauri and the people of northern New Zealand/Aotearoa, the Museum has stories of the Māori of the north eastern Kaipara, of European pioneers, of foresters and sawmillers, gum diggers and farmers, and of business people, fishers and the families who have made this
area their home. They are offering half price entry for the July School Holidays and new scavenger hunts available for the kids.
Easy, medium and hard options are available to accommodate all age groups.
Just ask at the front desk and receive a piece of kauri gum on completion.
Open Daily from 9am to 5pm.
Waipu Cove Glow Worm Farm and Climbing
Explore glow worms and enjoy climbing activities
Bookings essential.
Visit this Alpaca farm and learn about these unique animals. This is best experienced when it is not raining and must be pre-booked. One family group at a time makes this experience very personal and unforgettable. By appointment only.
Enjoy family friendly walks, check out the Marina and nearby Ruakaka Surf Beach. This area is also popular for fishing and diving.
A cultural and heritage centre featuring a museum, kiwi house, and heritage park. Open 7 days from 10am to 4pm.
Ten pin bowling, Laser Tag and Arcade games. Open 7 days from 10am.
Northland’s most diverse mountain bike park and home to New Zealand’s first and only monster scooters, and they offer authentic forest paintball too.
Whangarei Indoor Climbing at McKay Stadium, Kensington
The Northland Climbing Club currently operates the McKay Stadium Climbing wall on Tuesday and Thursday evenings from 5pm - 9pm depending on availability.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/519509866288146
Botanical gardens with walking trails suitable for families.
Open 7 days from 9am to 5pm.
Northland’s public art gallery, and the permanent home of the city’s art collection, which embraces both heritage and contemporary artworks.
Open 7 day from 10am to 4pm.
Clapham’s Clock Museum, Whangārei
Take a walk through the history of time. From ancient sun, sand and water clocks, to rare antique clocks, and wacky, zany, unbelievable clocks – there’s something to entertain everyone in one of the largest and most historically significant collection of clocks in the Southern Hemisphere.
Open 7 days from 9am to 4.30pm.
Packard’s Motor Museum, Maungatapere, Whangārei
The Packard Motor Museum provides an informative educational experience based around the automobiles, machinery, stories and lives of those who led the industrial revolution and created and shaped our modern way of life.
Open Wednesday to Saturday from 10am to 4pm.
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