The unique place where Sydney is situated makes it a city full of life, activities, and history. Just like other cities in Australia, like Melbourne, Sydney has a unique vibe that the whole family will enjoy! If you’re looking for places for kids in Sydney, look no more! Here is a list of the best kid-friendly activities in Sydney!
Also, if you feel a bit uneasy about traveling with your children, check our do’s and don’ts for traveling with them.
1) Tumbalong Park
Address: 11 Harbour St
How to get there: the closest train station is at Town Hall. If you take the bus, you can get to this park with any that travels down Market, Druitt, Park, Liverpool or Bathurst Streets. There are also car parking stations close
This is a 5-hectare park located in Harbour Darling (so you’ll also find a lot of other interesting places around this area). Tumbalong Park is one of the best things to do with kids in Sydney & NSW. I included Tumbalong Park in this list of best kid-friendly activities in Sydney because of these reasons:
- It’s a gigantic park with a lot of playgrounds and restaurants scattered across the area
- There are interactive water activities turning this park into basically a water park and if you have kids, you know how much they love playing with water
- You can visit a Chinese garden there (you have to pay a small fee to enter)
- Some playgrounds have such big slides that adults can use them… count me in!
- There are public toilets so no need to worry about potty time
- It might be full during the weekends but if you go during the weekdays, it should be no problem
2) Taronga Zoo
Address: Bradleys Head Rd, Mosman
How to get there: there’s a service where you can take the ferry from the center of the city to the zoo, which is an experience in itself for the children. If you’re using another way of transportation check here how to get there.
Zoos are places that kids will always love, Taronga is especially cool since its house to more than 300 species! In Taronga Zoo you’ll see elephants, koalas, tigers, and giraffes (among, many, many others). Note:
- Tickets are cheaper if you buy them online
- There’s a cable car you can take when you reach the end of the zoo to the entrance so you can exit, don’t miss it!
- There’s a lot of educational information along the park, this is a great opportunity to have a talk with your kids about conservation and taking care of animals
- If your kids (and you) truly enjoy animals, you can even stay overnight for a night safari
- If it’s your birthday or one of your kids’ birthday, you can get into the zoo for $1, just check the instructions here
3) SEA LIFE Sydney Aquarium
Address: 1-5 Wheat Rd
How to get there: Complete information on how to get there with any kind of transportation can be found here
Of course, there must be an aquarium on this list of the best kid-friendly activities in Sydney! Here, you’ll discover all the aquatic environments of Australia, complete with learning activities and weird species (which kids love). Also important, this is a place that the whole family will enjoy! Sydney’s SEA LIFE Aquarium is amazing because:
- You’ll observe sharks, penguins, venomous fish and more than 700 aquatic species
- The staff is super helpful and you’ll get to learn a lot if you ask any question… and we know kids will have a lot!
- A super fun activity to do with the children is to read the description of the tanks near them and then look for the species in the tank. You’ll spend hours doing this
- Besides watching the animals, there are some interactive activities like touching shark eggs or sea stars or having Penguin Expedition, check all the activities available here
- Best times to visit are during weekdays or after 4 pm since it can get crowded
4) WILD LIFE Sydney Zoo
Address: 1-5 Wheat Rd,
How to get there: follow the same instructions to get to SEA LIFE aquarium or check this site where you’ll get info into how to get there using bus, ferry, train, or car.
SEA LIFE and WILD LIFE are very close to each other so you can visit them during the same day (there’s even a discount ticket if you go to both). Maybe it’s not as big as Taronga Zoo but it’s pretty convenient due to its closeness to other interesting points in the city. You can take a day trip with kids to this place. What’s cool about WILD LIFE is:
- There are walk-through habitats where you can see native Australian species like the platypus, kangaroos, and crocodiles
- You’ll get to pet some animals like wombats and koalas!
- It takes around 2 hours to walk through all the zoo, which is perfect for toddlers
- It’s good all year round since it’s an indoor zoo
5) MuSEAum (also known as Australian Maritime Museum)
Address: 2 Murray St
How to get there: Town Hall Station is the nearest station to the museum. To read about other ways of getting there, check this page
Maybe this sounds like an “adult” museum but don’t let appearances guide your thought! The muSEAum is a great family attraction in Sydney A lot of areas and exhibitions in the museum are thought specifically so kids can enjoy them and, most importantly, learn from them. The whole museum is accessible with strollers and there’s even free entry for kids under 5. Definitely one of the best kid-friendly activities in Sydney! Your kids will have a great time enjoying activities like:
- Exploring, getting inside and playing in real warships, ships, and submarines
- Creating sculptures or paintings with programs like Kids on Deck
- Take special creative tours designed specifically for children, which include themed playtime depending on the programs at the time
- Peek below the surface of the harbor with the Sea Science Pontoon
6) Australian Museum
Address: 1 William St
How to get there: the nearest stations are Town Hall, St James, and Museum. If you’re using other kinds of transportation, read this
This is the oldest museum in Australia, it was opened in 1827 (it has more than 21 million objects in its collection, just imagine!). What’s great about this museum is that it has a wide range of exhibitions from anthropological ones to zoological ones. Even if there are people from many different ages in your travel group, everybody will have something to enjoy! Some examples of what you’ll find here:
- Exhibitions on arachnids, insects, mollusks, birds, mammals, reptiles, and way, way more
- Collections on indigenous people from all over the world
- Dinosaurs and wild animals exhibits
- A super helpful staff of volunteers that are willing to help you with any question or problem you might have
- Many free apps that you can use to enhance your visit to the museum
- There are a lot of events going on thought just for kids, be sure to check the agenda of the museum before visiting
And a fun fact about this museum is that if you happen to find a species that you can’t identify, they can help you! Just ask an expert online here.
7) Sydney Observatory
Address: 1003 Upper Fort St, Millers Point
How to get there: closest station is Argyle, check other options here
Stars, planets, and the Universe are super cool and kids love learning all about it. This place is also perfect for all those stargazing fans. The Sydney Observatory is one of the parts of the Museum of Applied Sciences of Sydney. In this observatory, you’ll also find a planetarium. We included this place in this list of kid-friendly activities in Sydney because:
- There are a lot of very interesting, funny workshops your kids can participate in, just check the agenda here. In some of them, they’ll learn about the weather, in others about the stars
- You can name a star by making a donation to the Observatory, isn’t that awesome? Just go to this page to check all the details
- The guides (WHICH BY THE WAY ARE ASTRONOMERS OR ASTROPHYSICISTS) are super attentive and very used to kids’ curiosity, your children will learn a lot with them!
- It is very cheap, just check the prices of the tickets here (note it is free to just walk around if you don’t wanna enter the Observatory)
- If your children are old enough, take them to the night tour, it’s worth every penny!
8) Circus Arts Sydney
Address: Sydney Olympic Park Aquatic Centre, Olympic Boulevard, Homebush Sydney
How to get there: bus 526 passes by, get down in Edwin Flack Ave or Sarah Durack Ave
This place is inside the Olympic Park they built for the Olympics in 2000 and it is now used for sports, training, and leisure purposes. If your kids are into gymnastics, circus arts, any kind of physical activity or just wanna try something new, this is the place you have to visit! This activity is perfect if you’re traveling with more than 3 kids. In this “school” you’ll learn a lot of fun stuff like:
- Circus tricks such as pyramids, juggling, and hula hoops
- Swinging on the flying trapeze
- Tightwire, aerials, and acro
Check the prices and details here.
9) Powerhouse Museum
Address: 500 Harris St, Ultimo
How to get there: 501 bus stops directly in front of the museum. For more information on how to get there, visit this site
This museum is about transport, futurology, and ecology. A perfect family-friendly spot in Sydney! If this doesn’t sound that interesting, don’t let the description from visiting the museum. This place is a very interactive, fun place for children (and grown-ups too!). All of the exhibitions are very hands-on for children and trust us, you’ll get to learn a lot too. Some things you can’t miss here:
- The space exhibition where you’ll be able to answer all those questions your kids have about going to space, like how do astronauts eat or sleep
- The Zero Gravity space lab… just imagine feeling weightless!
- Locomotive no. 1 exhibition where you’ll be able to sit in the compartments and listen to the recreation of sounds and voices of passengers of this train in 1863
- Workshops and exhibitions about different topics that you can find here
10) Go to the beach!
Obviously, you can’t miss a day on the beaches of Sydney. Kids will love to play in the sands of Sydney. Go to some of the most famous ones like Bondi, Manly, Maroubra or Cronulla to spend a day playing with the sand, learning to surf, or just sunbathing. Read this post to learn more about the best Sydney beaches. Don’t forget to bring your sunscreen, though!
Would you recommend other kid-friendly activities in Sydney? Tell us in the comment section.
