{"id":40983,"date":"2026-09-26T19:19:51","date_gmt":"2026-09-26T09:19:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/?p=40983"},"modified":"2026-09-26T19:19:51","modified_gmt":"2026-09-26T09:19:51","slug":"free-family-fun-to-stay-active-these-school-holidays","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/2026\/09\/26\/free-family-fun-to-stay-active-these-school-holidays\/","title":{"rendered":"Free family fun to stay active these school holidays"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Free family fun is off and racing this school holidays from 28 September to 9 October and Sydney is keeping pace with a variety of free activities guaranteed to keep kids active curious and having fun.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Families looking for inspiration these spring holidays can explore a huge range of fun and affordable adventures, hands-on learning experiences and outdoor activities to keep children active, engaged and entertained throughout the break.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Minns Labor Government has brought together school holiday activities from across Sydney\u2019s public spaces, making it easier for families to discover what\u2019s happening and plan their days out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">We\u2019re kicking school holidays off with a bang with the free <a href=\"https:\/\/www.therocks.com\/whats-on\/events\/unbound-street-performance-festival\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Unbound Street Performance Festival<\/a> bringing The Rocks to life with roaming performers, vibrant installations and unexpected moments on the 26th and 27th of September from 10am to 7pm.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Making its debut these school holidays, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.darlingharbour.com\/whats-on\/events\/big-ideas-factory\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Big Factory Ideas<\/a> on October 3rd and 4th from 11am to 3pm at Tumbalong Park, Darling Harbour, is a free, hands-on outdoor program combining science, technology, creativity and engineering through interactive experiences for curious young minds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Darling Harbour is also hosting <a href=\"https:\/\/www.darlingharbour.com\/whats-on\/events\/little-chef\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Little Che<\/a>f at Darling Square from the 3rd to 11th of October a free cooking experience for budding chefs, featuring a special guest appearance from young chef and entrepreneur Morgan Hipworth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Australian Botanic Garden Mount Annan is alive with colour for the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.botanicgardens.org.au\/whats-on\/paper-daisy-spring-festival\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Paper Daisy Spring Festival<\/a> which on weekends rolls out live music performances, lawn games, free kids craft activities, bookable painting experiences and a host of food and beverage options every weekend between 10am and 3pm until 11 October.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Take the kids down to Moore Park to meet some furry friends for a free <a href=\"https:\/\/www.greatersydneyparklands.nsw.gov.au\/whats-on\/farm-animals\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Petting Zoo<\/a> everyday from 10am to 12pm from Monday 28 September until Friday 9 October (excluding 3rd, 4th and 5th of October).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Staying active and having fun is the name of the game at Sydney Olympic Park, with a host of always free activities including<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Families can also use the break to explore these attractions which are always free:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Swimming at Marrinawi Cove<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Staying active at Sydney Olympic Park on the Haslams Pump Track, Disc Golf at Newington Armory and a number of lookouts, boardwalks or cycle tracks.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Exploring the world class Botanic Gardens, in the centre of Sydney or in Mount Annan and Mount Tomah.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Enjoying nature play at Ian Potters Children\u2019s WILD play garden at Centennial Park open daily from 10am to 5pm<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Getting back to nature by walking, cycling and playing at Lizard Log in Western Sydney Parklands.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Minister for Planning and Public Spaces Paul Scully said:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe\u2019re putting the free back into family fun these school holidays making sure there\u2019s plenty of activities to keep kids active and curious during the school holidays without opening their wallets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cFrom cooking classes to spring festivals and street performers taking over The Rocks there\u2019s something for everyone.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Free family fun is off and racing this school holidays from 28 September to 9 October and Sydney is keeping pace with a variety of free activities guaranteed to keep kids active curious and having fun. Families looking for inspiration these spring holidays can explore a huge range of fun and affordable adventures, hands-on learning &hellip; <a href=\"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/2026\/09\/26\/free-family-fun-to-stay-active-these-school-holidays\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;Free family fun to stay active these school holidays&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-40983","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-nswnews"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40983","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=40983"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40983\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":40984,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40983\/revisions\/40984"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=40983"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=40983"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=40983"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}