Fun things to do in Brisbane for families (start here)

Finding things to do in Brisbane with Kids is what Brisbane Kids does best! Our entire website is all about getting out and about with your children in Brisbane. The best way to use our website is to follow the menu bar at the top of the home page and scroll along allowing our drop boxes to take you to an even more detailed menu with literally 1000’s of activities across Brisbane. 

In this guide to Brisbane you will find:

• The best Brisbane theme parks
• The best Brisbane parks for families
• The best places to visit
• Museums and Galleries (many of them free) 
• Family-friendly places to eat 
• How to navigate the Brisbane Kids website 
•  

Discount Theme Park tickets

We make it easier to get out and about with discounted tickets for Theme Parks and special deals from some of the best attractions in South in East Queensland.

Theme parks for families in Brisbane include Aussie World, Dream World, Wet’n’Wild, White Water World and Movie World. Every single park has its pros and cons depending on the ages of your kids. If you have toddlers, our advice is to check their website and look for specific information about play and offerings for toddlers. If you have daring teenagers and fancy some scary rollercoasters, look for that first. Most theme parks open mid-morning and have ample parking to cater to huge crowds. 

Personal experience: Search online for discount tickets first. If you are a visitor to Brisbane, check the brochures in your hotel information stand or the local visitor centre. Look through the bigger brochure guides to see if they offer any discounts. Definitely wear sunscreen and a hat and take some bottles of water as water is typically quite expensive in theme parks. 

Indoor Playcentres

Indoor Playcentres feature all over Brisbane and South East Queensland and offer parents something to do that is nice and active yet allows mums and dads to have a bit of a breather. All indoor play centres sell coffee (the quality is actually surprisingly good at moment), and many offer lunch an snack food options. Especially in Summer when it can reach 40 degrees celsius in Brisbane, it is worth having some airconditioned options. Remember to take socks (although you can often purchase them onsite).

Fun Activities in Brisbane 

Our entire website is full of Fun Activities and things to do around Brisbane so sit back and take a look around. We have included pretty much everything mentioned on this page in the fun activities category but in more detail. 

Free Activities

We have included a category with lots of free activities in Brisbane but in addition to the variety of ideas here, you can also check out our day trips sections, beaches and playgrounds. 

Museums and Galleries

Brisbane has some of the best Museums and Galleries in Australia with all of them offering some inclusion for Brisbane Kids. The vast majority of Brisbane museums are free except for some visiting museum exhibitions. This is a museum more focused on the social history of Brisbane but is also well known for it’s child-friendly activities and general holiday activities that are often free. 

Queensland Museum

The main museum in Brisbane, Queensland Museum (also known as the dinosaur museum) is free to enter and will entertain your children for a whole day across three levels. Queensland Museum offers a variety of different permanent exhibitions. Playasaurus Garden at ground level is perfect for toddlers and features some massive dinosaur statues and a range of learning opportunities about the dinosaur and their lifecycle. The parent rooms are also on this level.

They also offer a discovery centre that usually has live stick insects and green tree pythons. This part of the museum has a range of hands-on activities but is also where most animal exhibits are housed. This exhibit sits adjacent to the Wild State Exhibition which is a celebration of Queensland with a collection of some of our most iconic species.

Other permanent exhibits at Queensland Museum include exhibitions featuring the cultural history of First Nation Australians, information on Queensland’s natural assets like our coral reefs and more exhibits around museums and fossils. 

Sciencentre and Sparklab

Housed in the same building as Queensland Museum is our city’s premier science centre for kids. This is a ticketed activity but well worth visiting with your kids. It is very hands-on and stretches the mind’s understanding of how things. This means it includes activities about science, maths, engineering, technology and also some art around illusions. Forty interactive science activities await in addition to a Science bar where live experiments can be observed. 

Personal experience: Tickets for the Sciencentre and Sparklab are on level 2 where you enter Queensland Museum (the same level that has the huge humpback whales suspended from the ceiling) 

GOMA

GOMA which stands for the Gallery of Modern Art is in the same cultural precinct at Queensland Museum, State Library of Queensland and The Queensland Art Gallery. GOMA literally is about modern art and exhibitions vary throughout the year (check our calendar for what’s on now). What we have noticed from years of attending GOMA is that even if their visiting exhibit isn’t child friendly, it will still often have a children’s art component as an extension and this is always free even if the exhibit itself isn’t. 

The Museum of Brisbane

In the centre of the Brisbane CBD is the Museum of Brisbane, otherwise known as MOB. It is located below the main city clock and houses various changing exhibitions focused on the social history of Brisbane. They are a free museum though sometimes their visiting exhibitions cost money. They are well known for the ongoing kids’ activities and school holiday activities for kids. 

Ipswich Art Gallery

About 40 minutes from Brisbane is the city of Ipswich, which features the most amazing children’s art gallery. Generally, they have a special exhibition just for kids and we can attest that their exhibitions rate in some of the best we have ever seen for families. There is sometimes a cost but we find it nominal- often around $5 (if anything). We recommend going to the Brisbane Kids Website calendar to see what they are showing. Some activities require booking but a lot are just drop-in. 

Regional Museums

There are a lot of regional museums in Brisbane, usually focusing on the history of the local area. What we like about these smaller museums is that they are often free and often have a range of hands-on activities for the kids. They aren’t as a rule, as big or busy as the bigger museums and the staff are usually on hand to answer questions and help you to make the most of your visit. We usually feature their free activities on our website calendar. 

Places to eat with Kids

Finding a restaurant that welcomes children is a challenge; we are growing a list to make this easier for you to find Places in Brisbane to eat with Kids. If you know of a restaurant or takeaway that should be on our website, then email us at info<at>brisbanekids.com.au

Brisbane Libraries

Brisbane Libraries offer much more than just a place to borrow books; many offer free activities for babies and kids. Some of them also offer computers perfectly suited to little Brisbane Kids to help you to integrate them with technology. Our favourite Brisbane libraries include the purpose build Ipswich Children’s Library and the Queensland State Library. You can also borrow movies and DVDs and sign up to some of their free services that give you access to an incredible variety of online libraries with everything from magazines to the latest audiobooks. 

Personal review: If you are a Brisbane parent who is also studying, most libraries also offer free wifi and charging services. This is also ideal for when you have kids of multiple ages as your teenager can study while you browse the kids’ sections with your other kids. 

Brisbane Swimming Pools

We live in the sunshine state, and ensuring that our Brisbane Kids are water-smart is important. For any visitors to Brisbane, we are called the sunshine state because historically we get a lot of sunshine and our weather is pretty mild. Brisbane may have a month or so of a Queensland winter, but even then it doesn’t get too cold compared to other parts of the world.

One way to ensure your kids are water-smart is to get them in the pool, and comfortable with the water. In addition to listing all the Brisbane Swimming Pools we also offer a range of learn-to-swim options under our classes page.

Personal review: Many swim schools offer intensive swimming courses over one or two weeks. Instead of spreading out swimming lessons over months, you can accomplish so much more by daily visits in a short amount of time. This can be ideal for families who might move from another state or visit Australia and may not be used to the amount of swimming done in Brisbane.

Things to do Brisbane is pretty much what Brisbane Kids is all about

Brisbane Kids is about making lives better by showcasing what’s on Brisbane families and things to do around Brisbane. From our calendar, to our playgrounds right through to uncovering some of the best shopping online in Australia. We hope you enjoy using our website to find things to do with your Brisbane Kid.