Keep the kids entertained these school holidays

Experience the Force like never before. Thanks to LEGO® and Star Wars™, you’ll get to see characters and scenes from your favourite franchise brought to life in stunning LEGO brick detail. Tākina is home to epic battles, gargantuan spaceships, and breathtaking landscapes from the Star Wars universe. It’s a world-first experience created by Ryan ‘Brickman’ McNaught and The Brickman team. Together, they have spent 25,000 hours and used more than 8 million LEGO bricks to create jaw-dropping models. The exhibition features the largest-known collection of life-sized LEGO Star Wars™ models ever created.

Get ready for a different sort of pop sensation. Enter the effervescent world of The Bubble Spectacular. Take warm water, liquid soap, glycerin, and the creative talents of Dr Hubble. With those simple ingredients, Dr Hubble conjures up a fun-filled, bubbly world. On 4 July prepare to be amazed as the ultimate master of bubbles creates an amazing bubble world at the St James Theatre. There’ll be little bubbles, big bubbles, volcanic bubbles, tornado bubbles, square bubbles, and with a bit of bubbly-magic, you might even end up inside a bubble.

Gather with friends and whānau to celebrate the Māori New Year on the waterfront. Matariki Ahi Kā, presented by Wellington City Council, honours culture, history, and family. At Odlins Plaza on the waterfront you’ll get to experience a free, immersive journey. It features fire, stunning projections, live performances, and a ceremony for loved ones who have passed away. There are also kai courts where you can stop off for a bite and listen to live music. Running from 9 to 12 July festivities begin at 6pm and finish up at 9pm.

Hnry Stadium is going to be full of roaring rugby fans on 11 July when The All Blacks face Italy. This is an exciting match as it’s Italy’s first test in Wellington. It’s also only the fourth time they’ve met in New Zealand since the 1987 Rugby World Cup. With a 5:10pm kick-off, the match is designed to be family-friendly. Bring the whole whanau for an action-packed afternoon at the stadium.

The hills of city-fringe suburb Newtown hide a secret. Discover more than 500 native and endangered exotic animals at the 13-hectare zoo. Grab a zoo map and check out snow leopard sisters Asha and Manju in their purpose-built habitat, see a lemur hanging from a tree, spot the red panda, or be entertained by the chimpanzees. Explore the walk-through New Zealand precinct, hop into the Australian area where kangaroos roam or spy native birds like kea soaring overhead. Fun for the entire family.

It’s Wellington’s answer to Willy Wonka. The award-winning Wellington Chocolate Factory helps you learn all about the art of chocolate-making. From bean to bar, everything is handcrafted. The factory doors are open for junior tours during school holidays only. Chocoholic kids can decorate their own chocolate bar, create a custom wrapper, and hand-wrap their creation. There’ll also be time to enjoy a hot chocolate along the way. 

Visit the home of movie-making magic and see behind the scenes of how your favourite movies are brought to life. Wētā Workshop combines cutting-edge technology with hand-crafted artistry. If you’re a movie fan, a creative whizz, or looking to learn a new skill, Wēta’s creative workshops are a fun activity. Roll up your sleeves and discover the magic of sculpting with household materials and modelling clay. Create a leather keepsake in an introduction to leatherwork. Or, try your hand at special effects makeup. You’ll learn to create gruesome wounds, fake blood, scars and scrapes.

Just minutes from the central city is the world’s first fully fenced ecosanctuary, Zealandia Te Māra a Tāne. With 225 hectares of regenerating forest, more than 40 rare native wildlife species and 32km of tracks to explore, it’s a fun-filled, active day out. Join a guided tour, or pick up a visitor map and venture around the reserve and spot the wildlife yourself. Keep a lookout for prehistoric reptile, the tuatara, giant wētā, or kererū, and the chunky native pigeon. Exploring the sanctuary by torchlight on a night tour is a great way to spot creatures like cave wētā, ruru, and glowworms. If you’re lucky, you may get to see one of the estimated 140 rare little spotted kiwis living within the sanctuary.

Sitting on one of the high ridges in Wellington’s Botanic Gardens, Space Place at Carter Observatory is home to a digital full-dome planetarium. Sit back and recline in comfort while you go on a virtual space journey through the solar system and beyond. In the adjacent interactive exhibits and galleries, take in the sheer scale of the universe and its origins in the Big Bang 13.7 billion years ago. Feel the rumble of a rocket launch, find out about when humans landed on the moon, touch a moon rock, or check out the junior astronaut zone. Discover the Māori story of creation and the significance of Matariki. Visit at night to view the southern skies through the 150-year-old Thomas Cooke telescope.

Take a rare opportunity to interact with the local fauna on its own terms. Staglands encompasses 10 hectares of bush, farmland, and wetlands that have been sensitively cultivated into an idyllic home. You can visit some of New Zealand’s endangered species that reside there. This natural and genuine experience blends tourism, conservation, and education into a great experience for all. Try hand feeding, eel spotting, and native bird encounters, all far from the hustle and bustle of the city.

One of the many jewels on Wellington’s waterfront, the Wellington Museum tells a thousand stories about the city and its people. From maritime history to early Māori settlement, and the city’s evolution since becoming the capital in 1865. The exhibitions are designed to make information accessible and fun so that kids will be engaged. There’s a giant high-definition carpet map of the entire city. You can search for your house or hotel. A re-creation of a 19th-century Wellington wharf with scurrying ‘rats’ makes for a fun and enthralling exhibit. There are holographs, a time capsule experience, short films, and plenty more.