Time Out
Sydney Morning Herald
Saturday June 28, 2003
Get the kids abseiling, canoeing, ghostbusting and spying, while you put your feet up and relax, says Jacqui Taffel.
As school holidays approach, the ever-burning question arises - how to entertain the little darlings for two weeks? Fortunately, Sydney's solutions are many and varied. Here are a few.
Sydney Dance Company Open
Dance Classes
Beginners aged from eight to 15 can learn how to bust some moves in a week of classes taught by professional dance teachers and choreographers. After the all-important warm-up, the lesson varies from day to day, with dance styles including funk, jazz, salsa, classical, tap and hip-hop. On Friday, there's a mini concert to demonstrate the students' new skills to family and friends.
Beginners' classes, July 7-11 (classes for experienced dancers are available from
July 7-18, Monday-Friday), 10am-4pm, $290 for five days, Sydney Dance Company Studios, Pier 4, Hickson Road, The Rocks, 9221 4811.
Shelly's Art Class
Michelle Camus, an artist with useful additional training in child-development psychology, runs an art school for kids aged from three to 10. She will be running classes during the school holidays, providing a broad experience of materials and methods. Projects include sculpture, drawing and working in mixed media, usually around a daily theme, from dinosaurs to castles to wizards and witches. Bookings are flexible and the price includes materials.
July 8-11 and 15-18,
10am-noon and 2-4pm, $27.50 a class, 12F Denawen Avenue, Castle Cove (classes also run in Gordon), 9417 0844.
YMCA of Sydney Holiday Activities
The Y has a long track record of providing affordable school holiday activities all over Sydney. Most of these cater for children on their own, but Camp Yarramundi in the Hawkesbury Valley offers a family camp where kids and adults holiday together. Organised activities include abseiling, canoeing, archery, bushcraft, swimming and walking. Parents can either join in or take it easy while their offspring are entertained. The camp also runs a variety of kids-only holidays catering for five to 18-year-olds from July 14-18. Other YMCA centres around Sydney offer day programs, excursions and sports, arts and crafts clinics at very reasonable prices.
Camp Yarramundi family camp, July 18-20, $115 adult/$90 child for three days including all accommodation, meals and activities, bookings 1800 024 097; for other camps and YMCA centres see www.ymcasydney.org
National Parks School Holiday Program
Just when you think you've done all their tours, the National Parks people have come up with two new ones. Living with Fire shows how bushfires are an essential part of Australia's ecology. In two hours, topics covered include the history of bushfires, how indigenous people used fire as a tool, how native plants adapt and how firefighting is co-ordinated in NSW. This tour is suitable for kids from eight up, while those from
five to 12 should enjoy Junior Ranger Patrol, where they follow in the footsteps of an NPWS ranger for a day. Other school holiday tours include Goat Escape on Goat Island, Junior Ghostbusters at the Manly Quarantine Station, Military Madness at Bare Island Fort, and Convicts, Cannons and Critters at Fort Denison.
Living with Fire, July 7 and 14, 10.30am-12.30pm, $9.90, La Perouse; Junior Ranger Patrol, July 10 and 17,
1-2.30pm, $7.70, Dobroyd Head, Balgowlah Heights. Bookings, 9247 5033.
Terrific Scientific Science Workshops
Former science teacher Caroline Shaw owns Terrific Scientific, a shop in Annandale that aims to make science fun. During the holidays, Digging Dinosaurs workshops allow children from six to eight to become paleontologists for a day, carving out fossils from soft rock (old clothes are recommended and parents are welcome to participate). An Egyptian Science session, for eight- to 11-year-olds, goes back to when the Pharaohs ruled Egypt and looks at building pyramids and wrapping mummies. At the full-day Spy School "Q" Division workshop, kids from seven to 11 learn essential spy skills such as writing in code and making secret ink. There are also two Madlab electronics workshops for ages seven and up, and an Introduction to the Light Microscope for eight- to 12-year-olds.
Introduction to the Light Microscope, July 14, 9.30-11.30am, 12.30-2.30pm, $30; Digging Dinosaurs, July 15, 9.30-noon, $35; Egyptian Science, July 15, 1-3.30pm, $35; Spy School "Q" Division, July 16, 9.30am-3.30pm, $77. Introduction to the Light Microscope will be held at the Madsen Building at Sydney University; all other workshops take place at Annandale Neighbourhood Centre, 79 Johnston Street, Annandale, 9692 9206, www.terrificscientific.com
Circus and Trapeze Workshops
Encourage your child to run off with the circus with a week of classes that include trapeze and rope skills, juggling, hula hoops, clowning, acrobatics and other circus skills. Apart from providing plenty of physical exertion, the workshops encourage self-esteem and team work. The program is run by Aerialize - Sydney Aerial Theatre, which has held classes for youngsters for many years. Kids from five to 12 are welcome. Groups are usually between 15 and 20 students with three qualified teachers.
July 14-18, 9.30am-1.30pm, $220 for five days, Hut 24, 142 Addison Road, Marrickville, 9560 1233.
© 2003 Sydney Morning Herald