Little Melbourne.................What holiday adventures have they got for us?

Little Melbourne, full of terrific ideas for these school holidays.  Now that Spring has arrived....finally, it has been so cold this Winter, it's great to have warm days with the scent of Jasmine in the air.  Brings back childhood memories.  What to do with the children...hmmm, well if you are in Melbourne you just have to check out Little Melbournes site for all of the great opportunities that await you. Great boredom busters for the "I'm Bored" routine.

School Holiday Ideas for Every Adventurer

14 September 2011

No more teachers, no more books, no more packed lunches or early morning School drop-offs! School is out and look at what's in.  Well yippee to that, no school lunches for 2 weeks....that is one of the things, I really find tiresome.

Spring is in full swing and if you're wanting to get away from it all, pack up the car and the kids and 'Get out of Town' we've got lots of hot spots dotted around Victoria that are worth a look. If you're staying put these holidays, there's lots to do with our easy guide to School Holiday action. Select from the ever growing list or just type 'School' into Little Melbourne's search function.

FOODIE FUN

Homemade Pasta for Little Ones (4-9 yr olds)

Brandsmart Cooking with Kids, 288 Whitehorse Road Nunawading

Georgie Porgie Cooking for Kids at St. Katherine's

Teens Cooking Classes at Queen Victoria Market

Kids & Parents Cooking Class, Make Your Own Birthday Cake | Queen Victoria Market

Petit Atelier and Twisted Tastes School Holiday Program | Prahran

Make Your own Sushi | Gasworks Arts Park

Or if you are like me and love getting dirty, into the gardening.  Then check out these great ideas.  Little Picassos Garden, just delightful.  What a beautiful way to introduce your children to the wonderful world of gardening and plants.

GREEN THUMBS

Vegecation at The Box | Box Hill

Tot Spot: In The Garden | NGV International

Little Picasso's in the Garden | South Yarra

Spring Gardening Magic | Royal Botanic Gardens

By the Pond Launch at Spring Open Day | Royal Botanic Gardens

Spring into Gardening | Victoria Gardens

Worm Farming | Heronswood | Little Diggers Workshop

Organic Gardening for Kids at CERES

So the list continues with a Tricks section, Action, Great Outdoors and Mini Creatives or if you would like to get out of town then you can check out this section too.....There is so much to choose from.  There shouldn't be anyone in Melbourne complaining about lack of activites.  What to do in Brissy?  Oh Well, Little Melbourne is making it's way up the coast with Little Sydney very soon....hopefully that means Little Brisbane will on its way :).

PS: Don't forget Little Melbourne always has a great competition OR TWO running, THIS ONE ENDS 18th SEPTEMBER

There are others, check out this cool section for your chance to win or enter others.

Little Melbourne is teaming up with Curious Legends to present you with a Free Ticket Giveaway to the upcoming Northcote Kids Festival!

So where does it all start? On Sunday the 25th of September with Three Thumbs Up's show The Famous Maurice Flea Circus. There will be awesome circus, cup-cake decorating, a stage just for kid's, yummy food and drink for big & little people alike, and a circus workshop after the last show!  

To celebrate the launch in 2 weeks, we're giving away Free Double Passes to the Northcote Kids Festival shows! For a chance to win, follow the links to the pages below and leave a comment why you want to win tickets. Winners will be chosen this Sunday, the 18th of September.

Little Melbourne...............Easter ahhhhhhh

As Little Melbourne so aptly puts it Farewell Summer and hello Autumn leaf covered lawns and pavements.  Here are some great things to do around Melbourne Here's our top picks of the coming week. Check out the artwork of Graeme Base with The Waterhole Exhibition, an explosion of colour will have your green thumbs coming out into play (or maybe not!) at the Melbourne International Flower and Garden Show which starts on the 30th March or head to the Children's Book Festival Family Day at the State Library, 3rd April. 

 Bring your children along for the grand Easter egg hunt. There will also be making of Easter baskets for the children to collect their eggs in. Come and get into the Easter spirit at Teatime and Tales.

Get ready for the Easter bunny at Teatime and tales. Come and enjoy a relaxed morning helping to make Easter bunny ears with your children. Lots of fun for parents and kids.  This sounds like so much fun....

Location:

Teatime and Tales 412 Rathdowne Street North Carlton

OR perhaps this may take your fancy:

City of Riddles at the Polyglot Theatre 17th-20th April

18 March 2011

Looking for an exciting activity during the School Holidays? Polyglot's brand new work, City of Riddles is hands-on, fun and a completely chaotic theatre experience for children aged 5 to 12.

Polyglot Theatre is bringing the mysterious and atmospheric City of Riddles to the MTC Theatre, Lawler Studio for the April school holidays (17 - 20 April). In this 360-degree interactive experience, children become Mayors and Town Planners of miniature cities, setting their own rules against a world of order and control. It's hands-on, immersive and completely chaotic! Polyglot

Location:

The MTC Theatre, Lawler Studio 140 Southbank Blvd, Southbank, VIC

Opening Hours / When:

Sun 17 Apr 10am and 12.30pm

 Whatever it may be. Little Melbourne will know all about it and be able to tell you where and when....... I love this site.  I just want one for Us Little Brisbane!!!  Come on Guys! :) xx

Things to Do In Theme Park Queues............YES THAT'S CORRECT!

When I first heard about this very interesting book and app "Things To Do In Theme Park Queues" I was intrigued!  What do you mean things to do in theme park queues, don't you just stand there and wait like every other bored person? I look at the approximate wait time and hope it just something that they have made up! Scott Wegener is an award-winning creative writer who loves theme parks. He has visited many large theme parks, like Disneyland his most frequented, is Disneyland,  in California, USA, he also enjoys the 'extreme' parks, like Six Flags. So he knows what he is talking about I can assure you all of this!

Scott said “I love thinking about theme parks and this gave me an excuse to constantly picture myself in the queues of my favourite park attractions, I’d play out the ideas that came to mind of how I’d entertain myself and the friends I’d imaginary taken to the park with me.”

He has created more than 130 Things to Do In Theme Park Queues while you wait. There is a very good section on theme park tips: Where to stay, what to carry, a whole page dedicated to avoiding queues, conquering coaster fears-(this is my section) and more!  This is a fabulous book.

Now there are many different activities that you can do, ones that I would never in my wildest dreams have thought of doing....Now I am not suggesting anything bizarre, or strange here!!! NO NO, Just unique, fun and completely obvious things and really inventive creations, Well Done Scott.  There are a number of Chapters in Things to Do In Theme Park Queues with starting with Guessing Games, Dreamy Ideas, Sound Ideas and iPhone/Internet ideas to name a number of the chapters. 

There is even a whole section on Theme park Trivia which I love- Everyone loves a bit of trivia and there's a section for you to make notes on your travels, very convenient.  So all in all a great section of classic and new games, with a theme park twist as Scott puts it, heaps of great tips at the front of the book and Coaster Trivia. Go and check out this book and app, see for yourself.  It really is a unique book to have handy.

Just a couple of options to think about as well, courtesy of Scott:

Benefits of the paper book version:

• don't' need a 'smart' phone
• won't get stuck if you flatten your phone battery
• pen and paper games have space for playing, not just instructions like in the app
• several extra pen and paper activities are included that were not possible in the app
• you can write on it for keeping notes, scoring etc

 Benefits of the smart phone app version:

• it's cheaper
• new activities are added each year at no extra charge
• trivia records updated each year at no extra charge
• it's smaller than the book
• it's one less thing to carry (assuming you're taking your phone anyway)
• no trees will be harmed in the day's entertainment

Little Melbourne.............Easter Talk, Keep up With The Latest & Great Competitions In March!!!

 I thought this was a very fitting idea by Little Melbourne seeing that Easter is 5 minutes away!! Check out that cute duck, ohhhh!!

Hop to it...Easter is just around the corner!

Attention every little girl and boy: Your basket needs some Easter joy. The solution? Easter Egg hunts, Easter Sunday nibbles and crafty activities everyone can do at home and what's Easter without an outdoor Easter egg hunt?

If you'd rather DIY, you can always bring your own chocolate Easter eggs and set up a little private hunt in a corner of your local park or hide your eggs around the house.

So hop to it.....Easter is almost among us.

Yippie I -O- I- AY travelling all the way......... Why I was humming this song I thought to myself?  It was because I was writing about a much loved site of mine (Little Melbourne) and I secretly want to travel down to- I love Melbourne.  As usual they have some fabulous things coming up and wonderful fun things for you to do do now.  Check out the latest under Keep up with the Latest, in the next couple of weeks and Little Melbourne events calendar is packed to the brim with things to do. The beginning of March is shaping up to be a busy one.

Excuse me Everyone- LITTLE MELBOURNE HAS SOMETHING TO SHARE On top of all their amazing work Little Melbourne are proud as punch to be an official sponsor of kids music festival

You lucky Melburnians have the choice of these examples with heaps more on Little Melbourne's Site:

Foodie Family Day at Fed Square on the 6th March

If you've never been to Cruden Farm, pack the car up on Sunday 6th March for the Murdoch Childrens Research Institute Discovery Day

Mum's and Dad's it's time to relax plus there's vino at the Australian Guineas Day - A classic Day Out For Kids. Your kiddos will be kept thoroughly entertained at this very kid-friendly event and Children under 15 are FREE. Can't beat that!

The Point, Albert Park Lake is running Kiddies Cooking School on the 5th and 12th of March

Let's not forget their awesome competitions as well. 

Win VIP Passes to the Melbourne Rhymes Festival

4 VIP passes valued at $89 each to Rhymes Festival Melbourne, 30th October 2011

On 30 October, 2011 - you'll be part of Melbourne's coolest kids rock festival that is ALL about the music and a great day out for parents too. Rhymes are bringing the latest and greatest in Kid's live entertainment all to one place, for one massive day out for kids & families.

OR

Win One of Ten, 2-for-1 Dreams Come True Passes

Fall under the spell of Disney's classic animation. Dreams really do come true! Dreams Come True is a rare opportunity to see original concept
art, story sketches, drawings, maquettes and final frame cels from some of the Walt Disney Studios' most celebrated animated films.

Our friends at the Australian Centre for the Moving Image have Ten, 2-for-1 passes to Dreams Come True.

Read more about them on the Competition page

Go Little Melbourne, Keep up the fantastic work.  Showing everyone what's on around town month after month.  I keep saying it, we need Little Brisbane!!

Little Eats............Will stop those Tummy Rumbles, Big Time!

 

Latest Competition with Little Eats

Wow!  Little Eats is such a great site.  If you would like to know about where to go for a bite to eat on the street - In Melbourne.  Then Little Eats is for you.  They have done the hard yards so that you can easily navigate and find a cafe or restaurant that suits you and your children's tastebuds and/or where you live, just by hopping onto Little Eats.  Check out the North, East, South, West, Out Of Town and great places for dinner with your children - Din Dins.  I don't know about you but this section sounds great as I rarely go out at night with my children as it becomes too chaotic.

 Little Eats was created by a wonderful and very talented Mum by the name Jemma and she is has two gorgeous little girls, firstly– India Grace who, at just 18 months old is a very important food critic and tests out all of the babycinos for Mumma and Then we have adorable Aurora Belle who is just a few weeks old has already visited an enormous number of Melbourne’s cafes, she of course has no idea yet that her future during her toddler years is that of a food critic!  To do the work Jemma does and have two very busy girls is amazing and challenging and rewarding.  Jemma pulls it off and keeps City of the Melbourne up to date with the latest and the greatest places to take your children for a bite to eat.

Little Eats check things which include whether or not the cafe provides-  highchairs- a big must, changing facilities, easy pram access, kids menu’s, whether the normal menu has suitable and healthy options for kids, the kid-friendliness and attitude of the staff, whether there is a play area (eg: sandpit) for kids or activities and entertainment provided such as crayons and games. 

We all need to know about prices, opening hours and contact details and what is so wonderful about all of this, Jemma and her family actually visit each and experience the feel of the place and food so they can share this with you.  Jemma's husband Van has been in the hospitality & wine industry for nearly 20 years, he has worked in a number of Melbourne’s restaurants, bars and cafes so he has been a great help in assisting Jemma with Little Eats too.

Here's a little bit of exciting news too:  NEXT month in December, Little Eats turns one, and on the 1st of December they are launching a massive 1st birthday competition with over $1000 worth of prizes from all kinds of fabulous places including Printspace, Miss Ruby May, Lark, 41 Orchard, Fresh Start Baby Food just to let you know  about a few.  So get hopping and check out Little Eats in December For more Details!  Each month Little Eats have a great competition you can check out as well which is a lot of fun.  I am so excited about Little Eats and I will be bringing updates on what their latest and greatest Eats around Town are.  So keep a check on Little Crew for what's coming up soon.