I hope your kids weren’t planning on being bored this school holidays – there are so many fabulous creative offerings I hardly know where to start!

Museums 

If you haven’t yet walked with the dinosaurs at WA Museum Boola Bardip, then seize the moment this school holidays as Dinosaurs of Patagonia closes 23 October. Experience the colossal size of the Patagotitan, around 70 tonnes and 37 metres in length, and see the extraordinary range of dinosaurs and fossils from most of the Triassic, Jurassic, and Cretaceous eras, 230 to 70 million years ago. This striking exhibition takes visitors of all ages into the fascinating world of the Age of Dinosaurs, including 3D animations, videos, and interactive fun for all the family. 

Festivals 

WA boasts Australia’s premier children’s festival, which takes over the Perth Cultural Centre every spring holidays. AWESOME Festival runs 27 September – 1 October and this year boasts a distinctly international flavour, as Festival Director Jenny Simpson welcomes back international companies, such as The Artground and Trick of the Light Theatre, to sit aside local legends such as the West Australian Opera and WA Ballet.  

If you fancy a road trip, then put York Festival on your list. The Festival runs 24 September – 9 October and is brimming with all-age creative fun. On 9 October, kids can join circus star Nel Simpson at Circus by the River for a pick-up and play workshop. Learn to juggle, spin plates and poi, twirl clubs, manipulate a diabolo, stilt walk or hula hoop! There’s also Cubby House Making from 6-9 October with plant fibre artist Fiona Gavino, and Sock Puppet workshops on 1 and 8 October with puppeteer Sandy McKendrick, with the added bonus of the CWA York teaching scone and damper baking! 

Visual art 

The newly revamped Art Gallery of WA is definitely worth visiting, especially Gallery 9 which is dedicated to interactive, all ages, artist-led projects. The gallery currently features Boorongur (Totem), a collaboration with Sharyn Egan that provides a shared space for audiences to consider a personal plant or animal totem, and contribute to the accumulation of families of small raffia and wool creatures. Elaino Megalania, a sculpture made from natural materials of a megafauna skeleton belonging to an animal alive at the time of the First Australians on the continent, will also be exhibited in the space. 

Head upstairs to find Heavens Spot, where graffiti artists from the 2021 project 100 Vandals are invited to leave their mark, directly on the walls of the rooftop gallery. Heavens Spot features (until 23 October) the work of KEOS, one of Perth’s highly skilled and dynamic – yet cautiously anonymous – graffiti artists. 

The City of Melville is offering art workshops over the holidays, whether or not you live in the area. Design your own wearable artwork in Guardian Jumpers with Tarryn Gill. Across two half-day workshops, the kids will be mentored by Gill through the process of designing and developing their own guardian figure in wearable form. 

You can also get creative at home with an Art Box delivered straight to your doorstep for the school holidays! Unpack 10 new fun and engaging activities created by WA artists designed for 5 to 12 year olds with all the materials you need for an artistic adventure.  

As always, the Fremantle Arts Centre offers a huge range of art classes. New courses include Art History for Kids, Clay Face Mugs, Mixed Media Happy Place and Secret World Dioramas. Classes are selling out fast, so get in quick.  

Music 

The West Australian Youth Orchestra is back with the popular Babies Proms on 15-16 October. It’s a delightful way to introduce children aged 2-8 to the orchestra, especially when it is all performed by teenagers themselves! Be swept up in the sounds of a full 70-piece symphony orchestra, learn about the instruments and be invited to conduct the orchestra in this fun, interactive musical program. 

Theatre 

Roald Dahl and the Imagination Seekers is running at the Subiaco Arts Centre from 29 September – 1 October. Help save Dahl’s words from disappearing from books and children’s minds! For ages 6 and up, this in an interactive performance involving games and imaginative play, while exploring stories such as The BFG and The Twits along the way. 

At the State Theatre Centre from 5 – 9 October, CDP presents Tall Stories’ production of Room on the Broom, adapted from the award-winning picture book by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler. It’s a big risk going to see a theatrical adaptation of a favourite book, but Tall Stories (the team behind The Gruffalo and The Very Hungry Caterpillar Show) are experts and when I took my kids last year there were plenty of belly laughs, songs and loveable characters.  

Pictured top: ‘Boorongur’ at the Art Gallery of WA is a treat for young and old. Photo: Rift Photography