50+ Activities for Teenagers Around Newcastle

Want to get your teens off their iPhones?  Here are more than 50 suggestions for activities in Newcastle, Lake Macquarie and Maitland that teenagers might like to try. Some of these activities are focused solely on teenagers while others can be enjoyed by parents and teenagers together.

For the artsy

#1 Discover outdoor art on Lake Macquarie’s Sculpture Walk, a flat 2 kilometre walk or cycle from Eleebana to Warners Bay.

#2 Design and paint your very own skate deck at a Decked Out Workshop at the Mitch Revs Gallery.

#3 Learn how to make Boomerang Bags, reusable borrow bags. You’ll find all the instructions for obtaining the Boomerang Bags kit, creating a community page and making Boomerang Bags on their website. You could also join an already established, local community.

#4 Take an Art and Heritage Tour through the Maitland Regional Art Gallery (MRAG). The guided tour is approximately 1 hour and is free on weekdays and after 3pm on weekends, subject to staff availability.

#5 Be inspired by art and artists, learn new techniques and socialise in the school holidays or on the weekend by booking into an Art Workshop at the Maitland Regional Art Gallery (MRAG).

#6 There is art everywhere in Newcastle. Go hunting for street art, murals and graffiti.

#7 Express your creativity in a Teens Art Development Program or Youth Ceramics Class at Art Mania Studios, Wallsend.

#8 Go for a walk through the city streets of Newcastle, along Newcastle harbour, beaches or parks and take photos as part of your own photography tour.

#9 Try Gloves off Teens. It’s a practical art class for high school students, held on Tuesday afternoons at Hudson Street Hum.

#10 Visit the Museum of Art and Culture lake Macquarie (MAC) Sculpture Park and do the Discovery Trail. Before you go, download the Sculpture Park Guide and a copy of the Discovery Trail from the website.

#11 Enjoy an artmaking or drawing session at Museum of Art and Culture Lake Macquarie (MAC). Check their website for upcoming workshops.

#12 Try a tweens/teens Sketching or Sketching and Painting Class at Art House Studios, New Lambton.

#13 Book in for a workshop at Upcycle Newcastle and learn how to recycle old jeans and t-shirts into tote bags, yoga mat bags, aprons, skirts and more.

#14 For teens into street art, Playstate Curate offer Itty-Bitty Graffiti workshops for tweens and teens.

For the creative / curious

#15 Learn a new language at a Community Language School. There’s a variety of language schools in the Newcastle region including French, German and Ukranian.

#16 Use your smartphone to explore the outdoors by going geocaching. It’s a real-world outdoor treasure hunting game using GPS-enabled devices.

#17 Find a new book to read at a local street library. A street library is basically a micro-library that people have installed in their front yard.

#18 Expand your knowledge of the region by visiting one of the permanent exhibitions at Newcastle Museum. You might also be interested in one of their special exhibitions. Check the Newcastle Museum website to see what’s on.

#19 Discover Living Labels at Newcastle Museum. Use your smartphone to scan the QR codes on the labels inside and outside the Museum, this will link you to the Living Labels website.

#20 Go stargazing on a clear night. If your knowledge of astronomy is lacking, spot planets and constellations using ABC Beginner’s Guide to the Night Sky.

#21 Get involved in Junior Landcare and help restore a degraded environment.

#22 Volunteer! There are lots of organisations where teens and their parents can volunteer including Parkrun, community gardens, etc. Visit NSW Volunteering for more inspiration.

#23 Support your local indie movie theatre at Lake Cinema, an independent movie theatre in Boolaroo.

#24 Write fan fiction, draw character art, 3D print models, Cosplay and more at the Young Adult Book Club, on the first Thursday of the month at Newcastle Library.

#25 Grab a friend and head to Young Adult Book Bingo where, rather than numbers being called, it’s young adult book titles. At Newcastle Library on the second Saturday of the month.

#26 Provide input into local community issues by joining the Newcastle Youth Council or Lake Macquarie Youth Council.

For the experiencer

#27 Go for a swim at The Bogey Hole, a historical swimming hole constructed by convicts in the early 1800’s.

#28 Take a guided tour and explore underneath Fort Scratchley. This former coastal defence installation is now a museum open to the public.

#29 Experience the thrill of riding on a self-balancing Segway through Hunter Wetlands with NSW Segway.

#30 Explore the Newcastle coast and see Newcastle from the water with a Coast XP adventure boat tour.

#31 Go for a tour of Maitland Gaol and hear stories of amazing escapes from this notorious prison via the Escaping Maitland Gaol Self-Guided Audio Tour. If you’re feeling brave, try escaping from gaol yourself with a Get Out Escape Rooms experience.

#32 Climb the tower at Christ Church Cathedral.

#33 Pat sharks and stingrays on a date at the Irukandji Shark & Ray Centre. Change into a wetsuit and climb into one of the lagoons to get up close and personal. If you’re itching to get behind the scenes consider their Mini Marine Biologist Program.

#34 If you’re looking for an interesting tour, join Renata Daniel from Newcastle Ghost Tours on her ‘not too scary’ tour “Haunted Tales of Newcastle”.

#35 Enjoy a night paddle and pizza on Newcastle Harbour. Out and About Adventures offers guided kayak tours from Carrington.

#36 Cheer on the Newcastle Knights or Newcastle Jets at a home game.

#37 Try different activities like fencing, table tennis, gymnastics and boxing at PCYC Newcastle and kickboxing, judo and pickleball at PCYC Lake Macquarie.

#38 Try Frisbee Golf at Jesmond Park or Styles Point Reserve in Rathmines.

#39 Head to Caves Beach at low tide and explore the sea caves.

#40 Take bikes over to Hunter Wetlands National Park and explore Kooragang Wetlands, World WarII relics and more.

#41 See if you can spot a koala at Tilligerry Habitat in Port Stephens.

For the active/energetic

#42 Go sandboarding at Stockton Dunes with Sand Dune Safaris or explore the sand dunes 1n a 4WD.

#43 Tackle a Tree Ropes Course at Treetops Adventure Park at Blue Gum Hills or Central Coast.

#44 Go ice skating at Hunter Ice Skating Stadium in Warners Bay.

#45 Walk or run 5K in one of the 11 ParkRuns around the region. It’s a free, timed race every Saturday from 8am.

#46 Go for a bike ride along the Honeysuckle Harbourside Promenade.

#47 Try a game of foot golf at Beresfield Golf Course, a hybrid game combining soccer and golf.

#48 Learn how to surf with Newcastle Surf School or try Stand Up Paddleboarding with Newcastle Stand Up Paddle School.

#49 Join a local sporting team. Check out our huge list of local sporting clubs for teens. There’s everything from Baseball and Dance to Ice Hockey and Martial Arts.

#50 Walk different, smaller sections of the Great North Walk. It’s over 250km from Newcastle to Sydney.

#51 Go mountain biking. Try on of the Newcastle Region’s Best Family-Friendly Mountain Biking Trails.

#52 Skate or scooter at one of the many skateparks in the region. Here’s a list of 30+ Skate Parks Around Newcastle and the Hunter.

#53 Push yourself out of your comfort zone and try indoor rock climbing at Pulse Climbing. They offer special youth classes for kids aged 5 to 18.

#54 Discover your inner ninja at Ninja Parc, Cooks Hill.

#55 Learn to run, jump and climb over obstacles with Newcastle Parkour.

#56 Work out with your friends or family at one of the outdoor fitness stations along Lake Macquarie or Stockton Foreshore.

#57 Ride a few laps of a local pump track on your bike, scooter or skateboard.

#58 Do a yoga class together and relax.

#59 Shoot some hoops at one of the many free basketball courts in the region. Here are 10 Playgrounds With Basketball Courts in Newcastle, Lake Macquarie & Hunter.

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