Having a plan these school holiday is your only hope.
Writer and mother-of-three Zanna Gillespie takes the headache out of what to do during the September-October school holidays.
If there’s one thing I’ve learned over 12 years of parenting, it’s that during school holidays if you don’t have a firm answer to “Muuum, what are we doing today?” you are ruined.
Without a plan of attack, your defensive perimeter collapses, leaving you vulnerable to psychological warfare, sustained negotiations, and an inevitable breach that results in you sitting atop Rainbow’s End’s Fear Fall, outmanoeuvred, bankrupt, and questioning all your life’s choices.
Having a plan is your only hope and luckily for you I’ve done much of the heavy lifting in that regard. Repeat after me: I will not be bullied or bamboozled into doing things I can’t afford or don’t want to do these September school holidays. I am smart. I am kind. I am armed with 22 activities with which to stride confidently into 16 days without school.
It’s ludicrous how few people know about the free programme of activities held at their local Auckland Council Library during the holidays. There’s a huge range of daily drop-in activities from crafts and storytelling to board games and even fencing (Parnell Library).
I would not be so insulting as to suggest going to the playground as print-worthy advice, but here’s the pitch: choose three to five playgrounds you’ve never been to and get the kids to review them. They’ll need to try out all the equipment, assess the spaces for eating, is there adequate shade? Toilets? Then give it a rating out of 10.
Some of Auckland’s best include Western Park; Selwyn Reserve; Western Springs; Kopupaka Reserve; and Tui Glen Reserve. Some noteworthy newcomers or newly refurbished spots include Harvest Ave Playground; Annalong Park; Collins Park; Tawaipereira Reserve; David Lange Park; Michaels Ave Playground; Rānui Domain; and Gladstone Park Playground.
Before it steals all our jobs and ruins our sense of purpose, we might as well harness the power of AI to make school holidays easier. Generate a scavenger hunt around the house to keep the kids occupied for half an hour, or print one to jazz up a beach, park or playground outing.
A boardwalk excursion on foot, scooter or bike is a delightful way to get some air. The boardwalk stretching from St Heliers all the way to Okahu Bay has views of Rangitoto and plenty of cafe stops, as do the Hobsonville Point Coastal Walkway and North Shore’s Kennedy Park to Castor Bay.
Further afield, regional parks like Shakespear, Duder and Āwhitu have breathtaking sights. In the Waitākeres, the 1.5km Te Piringa Track (formerly Auckland City Walk) has recently been repaired and can be walked in a loop again. And in Papakura, the new Ōpaheke Park has a 2km walking track, pump track, wetlands and 50,000 new plants and trees.
The spring school holidays are perfectly timed for idyllic family snaps under the cherry blossom trees. Take wheels or a football to Cornwall Park, grab a drink from the cafe, a scavenger hunt sheet and/or a trading card from Huia Lodge, and you’re away.
You can do the same at Auckland Botanic Gardens sans the wheels. They also have daily school holiday activities, mostly free and drop-in, as well as the Eye on Nature Creative Arts exhibition of children’s artworks.
Artland at Toi o Tāmaki Auckland Art Gallery is a hands-on clay installation by Korean artist Do Ho Suh. It’s free but you need to book your 30-minute session where kids and adults get to let their creativity run wild with clay sculpting.
Auckland Heritage Festival (September 20 - October 5) might seem hard to get over the line with children because it sounds a tad educational but this year’s festival – themed Auckland at Play – is littered with family-friendly events like Pastimes & Parlour games, puppet-making, and breadmaking at Howick Historical Village; School Holiday Games at Highwic, Alberton and Ewelme Cottage; miniature boat-making and racing in Whangaparāoa; a Play day at Cornwall Park, and many more free or low-cost events.
Admittedly, the Auckland rail network has reduced frequency and partial closures throughout the holidays but if you check the AT app or website first, a ride on a train, bus or ferry is an adventure unto itself.
Take the ferry to Devonport for fish and chips on the beach, a train to Sylvia Park for boba tea, or bus to Ponsonby for a Duck Island ice cream. Catch the Western Line train to Swanson and you’ll find a cute cafe in the old heritage station and a playground with a basketball court and skate park (Western Line is closed this weekend and buses replace trains for the last stops September 28 and October 4-5, so best to attempt this during the week).
Tiritiri Matangi is a bit of a splurge but - with an 80-minute ferry ride each way - it’s a magical full day’s experience. For a small extra fee with your ferry ticket, you can book a guided walk around the pest-free bird sanctuary with one of the incredible volunteer guides. Explore Group, which operates the ferry service, is also running a Hauraki Gulf Discovery day on October 2. Hosted by Riley Hathaway, from Young Ocean Explorers, it’s a cruise with commentary around the gulf looking for whales, dolphins and other marine life, plus a tour of Rotorua Island.
The inaugural We the Young (September 16-28) festival continues throughout the first week of the holidays. It’s an arts festival for young people with 19 events, half of them free, including a paper forest, speed-painting competition, giant chess piece installation in Aotea Square, live theatre, talent quest, dance theatre workshops and more.
The NZ Maritime Museum is a modest $5 per child and is running Ocean Odyssey: Cruising the Pacific themed hands-on activities including lei-making, wayfinding, and a souvenir hunt on weekdays throughout the holidays. From $15 per child, you can also book an hour-long harbour cruise on the heritage scow, Ted Ashby. Finish up with some hot chips and a drink at one of the Viaduct pubs.
While a third of Auckland Museum is still closed for asbestos removal, the kid-centric spaces like Weird and Wonderful, the Imaginarium and Stories of Auckland are all open and free for Aucklanders. They’re also hosting their fabulous Superstar-themed Night at Auckland Museum series. Visitors bring a torch and explore the Museum at night, encountering characters, activities and performances. It’s uber-fun and perfect for an after-work adventure.
A staple in the school holiday calendar, Motat is running a Pilot of the Future school holiday experience with the Autopilot Academy game and lots of hands-on activities relating to their newest exhibition - Hautū Aunoa Autopilot - about self-flying plane technology.
All daytime planetarium shows at the newly renamed Te Whatu Stardome are $12 these holidays. The adjacent playground on the Manukau Rd side of Cornwall Park makes for some excellent pre or post-show leg stretching.
When my kids were preschoolers, Ambury Farm was our go-to for free, low-fi animal entertainment. It’s a working farm so if you time it right, you can see the cows being milked and even bottle-feed the orphaned lambs (around 8am and 4pm daily).
Kiwi Valley Farm is more hands-on than Ambury and, understandably, has paid entry. You can hold bunnies, guinea pigs and rats; feed alpacas, goats, donkeys and more; take pony and tractor rides; play in the playground and maze; and eat at the cafe. Closed on Mondays and Tuesdays, it’s close to a full day’s entertainment.
Another school holiday standard, if you haven’t seen the Dinosaur Discovery Track at Auckland Zoo, now’s the time to do so before it closes on October 31.
Wētā Workshop Unleashed is running a Heroes and Villains Sculpting Workshop daily throughout the holidays. Inspired by The Bad Guys 2 movie, kids will sculpt a pocket-sized hero using plasticine and tinfoil. An adult needs to accompany the children (6-14 years) but it’s free for them.
The closure of Tim Bray Theatre Company and his subsequent passing has left a big, sad hole in Auckland’s children’s theatre landscape. Thankfully, the Pumphouse Theatre is continuing its commitment to live children’s theatre with improv company Impoverished’s show It’s Alive being staged in week one, and Christine Daverne Productions’ I-Spy, a “family-friendly spy-tastic musical story” in week two.
Te Moana Glow Show is a magical visual experience. Staged at Te Puna Creative Hub in Henderson, there are two 45-minute shows each day Wednesday to Sunday, featuring glow-in-the-dark puppets in an underwater story for kids aged 3-12.
Family movies playing these holidays include Kangaroo; the Bad Guys 2; Gabby’s Dollhouse the Movie; Grow; Prime Minister (for older children); and 60th anniversary screenings of The Sound of Music. To avoid bankruptcy, take advantage of Hoyts’ $10 cheap Tuesdays.
Auckland Council is hosting a Celebrate Play month from September 29 - October 31. Everything is free or low-cost and is about encouraging Aucklanders to embrace the joys of simple play with things like Dungeons & Dragons and Mahjong sessions, and Back in the Day Play (October 5) with old-fashioned school yard games.
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