10 Things To Do With Kids On a Rainy Day in Newcastle, Lake Macquarie & Hunter

Got the rainy day blues and wondering how to keep kids from being bored? Here are some rainy day activities to keeping toddlers, preschoolers and school-age kids from getting bored in Newcastle, Lake Macquarie and Hunter.

Visit Newcastle Museum

With free entry, Newcastle Museum (open Tuesday to Sunday or 7 days a week during school holidays) is a top spot to visit on a rainy day. The interactive Supernova science exhibits will keep children entertained while the Newcastle and Fire and Earth’s exhibitions will educate them on the history of the region.

Make sure you hop on the tram as well!

Visit your local library

Another place to visit is your local library. Your local library will have lots of children’s books, CDs and DVDs to borrow, perfect to keep kids occupied on a rainy day. Enquire at the desk to see if there are any programs for kids as libraries often run story time sessions during the week. During the school holidays, there’s lots of special activities and events for school-aged kids.

Visit an art gallery

Another rainy day option is to visit an art gallery such as Newcastle Art Gallery (CURRENTLY CLOSED DUE TO RENOVATION – REOPENING MID-2024), Museum of Art & Culture (MAC) Lake Macquarie or the Maitland Regional Art Gallery (MRAG). All are open from Tuesday to Sunday. Take your kids on a tour of the gallery and point out interesting artworks. Then provide them with some crayons and a sketchpad and let them create their own works of art.

MRAG features a dedicated exhibition space for children and families called The Art Factory. It includes interactive art displays and a comfy reading spot complete with a selection of books. This is conveniently located next to Seraphine Café allowing parents to enjoy a coffee and cake or lunch while keeping an eye on their young ones. On the weekend, check out Free Art Sundays from 11am to 1pm at MRAG for free art activities for children and their families/carers.

On Saturdays and Sundays, Newcastle Art Gallery runs ArtCart sessions from 10:30am to 12:30pm. ARTCART is a free workshop which aims to engage children with art through discussion and hands on activities. Kids, with the help of their parents, are encouraged to get creative and make their own art based on the Gallery’s current exhibitions.

If you’re close to the Lake, visit the Museum of Art & Culture (MAC) Lake Macquarie. As well as having interesting exhibitions and great views, the gallery has an outdoor sculpture garden to keep kids occupied. They also run ARTSPACE, free art workshops on Sundays for children and their families/carers.

Indoor centres

If you don’t mind paying, indoor play centres like EMF jnr at Westfield Kotara, Chameleon Play Cafe in Cessnock and Kids World Playland at Maitland are a great destination when it’s rainy outside. Kids have plenty of room and equipment to run around and play and use up all of that excess energy while mums can relax with a coffee or meal. Most centres cater for children up to 10 with separate areas for toddlers. Just don’t forget socks or else kids won’t be able to play.

Visit an indoor shopping centre

If Mum or Dad need to do some shopping, let the kids play in the playgrounds inside shopping centres. Charlestown Square has an indoor playground, The Secret Garden on Level 2 conveniently located near children’s shops and a cafe, perfect for a mum who feels like shopping or a coffee. This playground, for kids aged 1 to 6 is a unique play area featuring caterpillars and snails in a garden of giant toadstools and plants.

Westfield Kotara features a kids’ playworld located outside Target on Level 2 in the Kids precinct.

Bunnings also have indoor play areas as well as a café so you can get all your home and garden stuff, entertain your kids and grab a coffee.

You can also visit your local Maccas or Hungry Jacks with an indoor playground and let the kids play while you enjoy a coffee and/or a snack.

Go to the movies

Don’t forget about the movies. For those with babies who need to get out the house, enjoy a session of Babes in Arms at Event Cinemas at Glendale or Kotara or Spit the Dummy at Reading Cinemas Charlestown. Hoyts Junior offers shorter movies at Charlestown targeting the preschooler crowd. For older kids, there are usually family movies screening at the cinemas especially during the school holidays.

Go bowling or play laser tag

Bowling is another activity which will keep kids busy. Visit SuperStrike in Maitland or Salamander Bay or Dullboys in Warners Bay or Rutherford. For laser tag there’s Red Alert Laser Tag at Warners Bay. If the kids can’t decide between bowling and laser tag, do both. Strike Charlestown Square offers both bowling and laser tag and provides a special deal to let your family do both.

Visit a local park that has undercover seating

One of our favourite spots on a rainy day when we need to get out of the house is Foreshore Park in Newcastle. The nearby historical railway Carriage Sheds provide plenty of shelter when it’s raining with plenty of room undercover for kids to ride scooters or bikes or draw pictures with chalk.

At-home activities

If leaving the house isn’t an option, don’t despair. There’s plenty to keep kids occupied at home. We’ve put together a new Newy with Kids Rainy Day At Home Guide for those wanting inspiration on rainy day fun that you can do at home.

Some of the ideas include:

Organise a movie day and sit and watch children’s movies with a big bowl of popcorn. (Tip – trade DVDs with friends, download movies or sign up for Netflix). Another option is to play kids board games or crank up the video games.

Do crafts with your child. Finger painting is a fun activity. Use items like cut up sponges or old toothbrushes to make different patterns with the paint. More craft ideas include stringing pasta shapes onto string and making necklaces and bracelets, making sock puppets out of old socks or gluing fabric or paper scraps onto paper. Tip: Buy a bucket of craft supplies. They contain a variety of things like coloured paper, glitter and pipe cleaners that can be used in craft activities.

Cooking is a fun indoor activity with kids. Even toddlers can participate in mixing and throwing ingredients in the bowl. Make cookies or cupcakes and let kids go wild decorating them with icing and sprinkles. You could even make mini pizzas. Lots of fun to make and to eat.

Get kids to use their imagination. Create an indoor cubby house using chairs and sheets or set up a tent and camp indoors. Playing dress ups is always fun and can lead to a fashion show or drama production.

If you have instruments, get children to perform an impromptu concert. Don’t underestimate the fun of indoor games like hide and seek, treasure hunts (especially involving chocolate coins) and a sock or stuffed animal toss into a laundry basket.

Get outside and enjoy the rain

When all else fails, embrace the rain and go splash in the puddles with your kids.

Throw some rain jackets and gumboots on the kids and yourself and have fun jumping in puddles, counting worms and slugs, making mud cakes and catching raindrops on your tongue. Yes, you will all get wet and likely very muddy but at least you will have heaps of fun on a rainy day.

You might also enjoy:

100+ Best Kids Movies to Watch with your Family

9 Places to See a Family Movie With Your Kids in Newcastle

Visit Museums and Galleries in Newcastle & Hunter region

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