Sydney is home to an old school Museum, the Australian Museum.

Hours: 9.30am to 5pm daily (except Christmas day) Where: 6 College Street Sydney, NSW 2010

Where: 6 College Street Sydney, NSW 2010

Cost: Adult $12, Child $6 and family $30

Accurate at time of publishing in 2011

Immi and I recently visited the Australian Museum in Sydney.  Our first impression was we were stepping back in time.. a grand old building with a last century fit out… in fact some of the display cabinets were, themselves, museum pieces – charming relics.. but I found I quite enjoyed experiencing things the old fashioned way.  But what caught me by surprise was tucked up away on the second floor – past the dinosaur exhibit and the “Surviving Australia” gallery – two fantastic areas that both young and older children will find to be engaging resources.

Kidspace

For 0-5-year-olds.  This area is wonderfully interactive and staff are on hand to help and encourage.   Immi is now older than the recommended age (she just turned six) but she happily moved about the space exploring and investigating.  The area included (but was not limited to!) finger puppets, puzzles, X-rays, bird and mammal taxidermy, magnifying station, investigation pods (volcano, bugs, marine, imagination, observation), books, a playpen for crawling babies, baby change facility, a frog enclosure and dress ups.

This area is aimed at school-aged children and above.   Search & Discover features touchable bird, mammal, reptile, fossil and mineral specimens, microscopes, computers, free internet access and reference materials. There is a staffed information desk to answer questions and help you explore the Museum’s various areas of science.  We enjoyed trying our hand at butterfly drawing and also checking out the stick and leaf insects up close.