The Spring 2026 School Holiday Guide: Hobart
Two weeks can feel like eternity when “I’m bored” has become the internal chorus of your home by day three of school holidays. Mercifully, Spring has arrived in Tassie, and Hobart’s holiday calendar is suitably packed with nature play, hands-on activities, creative workshop, live shows, and plenty of year-round reasons to get out of the house. Here’s your guide to making the most of the break, running from 3–18 October.
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City of Hobart’s Bush Adventures (image: City of Hobart)
TOUCH GRASS
Spring is made for getting outside, and Hobart’s holiday program is full of ways for little explorers to do just that.
City of Hobart’s Bush Adventures are a particularly good line-up, with guided sessions designed to encourage curiosity, confidence and connection with Hobart’s wilderness. Puggle Club (6 October) takes the under-5s on a magical exploration along the Hobart Rivulet, Frog-tastic Pond Explorers (6 October) hits Knocklofty Reserve to meet Tasmania’s tiny amphibian superheroes, Waterbug Wonderland (12 October) discovers a world beneath the water, and Platypus Protectors (13 October) delves into the practical ways that our little people can champion the survival of these Rivulet regulars. Across the entire program, small group sizes means there’s plenty of opportunity to ask questions and get involved.
For something that feels less like a holiday program and more like a mini adventure camp, Nature. Be in it.’s full-day, child-led sessions are back at The Lea from 6-8 and 13-15 October. Designed to get kids aged 4-12 in the great outdoors, your little one’s day might involve climbing trees, bushcraft, camp cooking, cubby building, swings or zip lines, with the program shaped around each child’s imagination and curiosity.
For more spontaneous house escapes, the Royal Tasmanian Botanical Gardens is an easy no-bookings-required option on the outskirts of the city. Let them roam the Spring blooms before making a beeline for Bird in Hand Kiosk for hot chippies and an ice cream. Core school holiday memories unlocked.
Louise Makes. Family Yoga (image: Louise Makes.)
INDOOR ENERGY
Hobart’s Spring weather can be gloriously unpredictable, throwing out blue skies one minute and wild winds the next. When the great outdoors look dicey, choose a within-four-walls option that still promises to burn plenty of holiday energy.
School Holiday Splash! returns to Doone Kennedy Hobart Aquatic Centre (weekdays, 11:30am-3:30pm), bringing with it giant inflatables, slides, and a kid-coded soundtrack to convert the pool into something considerably more exciting than your morning laps.
For something a little calmer, head to Louise Makes.’s inaugural Kids Yoga School Holiday Workshop (16 October) in Sorell. Developed especially for ages 4-9, it’s a relaxed three-hour workshop that incorporates junior yoga, games, mindful creative activities, and circus play.
LITTLE CREATIVES
For hands-on little learners (and aren’t they all?), there’s plenty happening across Hobart this holidays.
In Kingston, Channel Court’s Channel Your Creativity program is serving up free activities across the fortnight (3, 8-10, and 15-17 October), inviting kids to make everything from kites and foil art to boomerang bag tags and miniature chef hats. The drop-in workshops run from 11am-2pm, so there’s no need to commit to a whole day of crafting.
For budding potters (ages 8+), Glazed and Confused’s school holiday workshops cover the basics of clay with plenty of room for creative licence - think Harry Potter-inspired creatures and Pokémon pets. Older kids can also try their hand at the potter’s wheel at the Teen Wheel Experience (ages 10+).
Libraries Tasmania has a similarly broad program, with holiday activities across the southern network. Highlights include the interactive How To Hologram workshop at Glenorchy Library where laser play and light-bending prisms have the capacity to blow young and older minds alike, and a Special Ballet Storytime at Hobart’s State Library which will bring together storytelling and ballet-inspired creative movement to encourage imagination and active play.
Behind the scenes of Terrapin’s Space Neighbours on Uranus (image: Terrapin)
LIFE’S A STAGE
School holidays don’t mean lights down for little performers. Thankfully, our next generation of local theatre stars can continue to steal the spotlight even while their weekly drama class is on hiatus.
Children’s performing arts school ExitLeft is back with its Film a Fairytale holiday workshops (6-8 and 13-15 October), calling the 6-11-year-old cohort to centre stage to rehearse, perform and film their own fairytale. This Spring’s stories include Alice in Wonderland, Oliver Twist, Snow White, The Jungle Book and Peter Pan — with costumes, music and plenty of opportunity to get creative along the way.
The Theatre Royal’s Staycation program is also keeping young performers and creatives busy, with a series of free activities designed to get kids connecting with the arts in all of their creative glory. Beading with Bianca (7 October at St Lukes Wellness Centre, and 8 October at Theatre Royal), led by First Nations artist Bianca Templar, offers a hands-on introduction to Pakana connections to land, sea and sky Country, and there’s a crafty entrée to each of the Space Neighbours on Uranus performances (8 and 10 October), with pre-show drop-in sessions for kids to make their own alien headbands.
ON WITH THE SHOW
Sometimes, the easiest way to create a holiday highlight is to sit back and enjoy the show.
Wrest Point Entertainment Centre is bringing everyone’s favourite blue heeler family to Hobart with Bluey’s Big Play The Stage Show (3 and 4 October). The theatrical adaptation features an original story by Bluey creator Joe Brumm, alongside new music from Joff Bush — which means even (especially?) the adults are unlikely to resist an in-seat boogie.
And, when everyone has had enough of each other - or the weather has made outdoor plans impossible - there’s always the big screen. As it turns out, the film studios know exactly when to roll out the kids’ blockbusters, so the school holidays bring a bumper crop of family-friendly flicks to choose from. Across Village Cinemas’ Hobart, Eastlands and Glenorchy locations, as well as at the iconic State Cinema, now’s the time to catch your clan’s pick of Forgotten Island, Coyote vs. Acme, Paw Patrol: The Dino Movie, The Last Whale Singer, Shaun the Sheep: The Beast of Mossy Bottom, or the 40th anniversary screening of The Transformers: The Movie.
Popcorn and a Valhalla choc-top are, naturally, compulsory.
