School Holiday Activities To Keep Your Little Ones Inspired This Winter

As the school holidays begin, Arts Centre Melbourne's Families Program has created online experiences through the Together With You digital offering which is a world of fun and interactive experiences to help kids stay connected, entertained and inspired.

Kids will be able to ignite their imagination with their family by watching theatre performances, listen to music and podcasts, explore stories or get stuck into a creative activity at home.

Step into an imaginary world of hidden tunnels, lava pits and underwater caves without ever leaving your home in Mountain Goat Mountain. In this interactive journey, families will be guided with audio through a series of playful activities before being carried along through an immersive soundscape. Created entirely in isolation by a brilliant team of artists, Mountain Goat Mountain is designed for children and grown-ups to share together.

Last year, A Not So Traditional Story by Nathan Maynard took to the Fairfax stage in a story with a little bit of truth and a little bit of make believe. This archival recording is a rare and memorable performance that combines Terrapin's renowned skill in entertaining and engaging children with the voice of a new generation of Tasmanian Aboriginal performing artists. The work will be available for 10 days from 12pm Monday 6 July.

Kids can also participate in multiple workshops created by The Channel: Home Studio which allows them to get creative in their very own digital home studio. They can discover how to create beats, perform magic tricks, make their own puppets, write lyrics and so much more. This series of fun and interactive digital workshops is taught by leading artists and musicians.

Lyric Writing Workshop with Eva Popov takes kids through an easy step-by-step guide to writing their own lyrics; DIY Beat-Making Workshop with Benji Miu sees Benji use household items and the Koala Sampler app to show young creatives how to make a unique sample-based drum kit; Puppetry Workshop with Iris Radovic will teach kids how to make their own puppet with materials you can find at home, and then guide you in bringing it to life; once you have sworn the magician's oath, you can step behind the curtain and enter a world of mind-boggling magic secrets in the Magic Workshop with Lee Cohen; and incredible beatboxing mime Holly Austin will give 5-8 year olds a crash course in clowning and show 9-11 year olds how to create a world to perform in, using only the voice, body, and imagination!

The Arts Centre Melbourne Families team has also hand-picked their favourite family friendly experiences to enjoy at home. Created by artists from Australia and afar, these Top Picks are sure to bring a bit of brightness into your day.

Edition 1: Top 5 Picks for Families - Run away with the Flying Fruit Fly Circus, get crafty with Polyglot Theatre, laugh with The Listies, see what the Teeny Tiny Stevies have been up to and be immersed in an audio story adventure.

Edition 2: Top 5 Picks for Families - David Walliams talks about imagination, enjoy story time with Grug, create a world of shadow puppets and snuggle up on the couch to watch children's theatre.

Edition 3: Top 5 Picks for Families - In this edition of top picks kids become the artists! Make music with the MSO, give poetry a try, learn African drumming, dive into an international art project or watch award-winning children's theatre.

Edition 4: Top 5 Picks for Families - Try your hand at making puppets, watch the tale of Anansi the Spider, listen to Kinderling radio's guided meditation and perform your very own theatre shows at home!

Edition 5: Top 5 Picks for Families - Dive into creative activities with your family these school holidays. From trying your hand at juggling, to learning the art of book making, stay creative this winter.

We were delighted to present the beautiful theatre musical production The Red Tree last year, based on Shaun Tan's best-selling book. In this Author Talk, acclaimed Australian children's author and illustrator Shaun Tan discusses the motivation and meaning behind his stories and illustrations, often encouraging readers to ask questions rather than reach conventional conclusions. Tan shares insights into what it means to be an artist, how he develops ideas and some of his own tips for writing and drawing. This talk is suitable for ages 11+.

If you're looking for a laugh, a team of funny peeps aged 14-18 have created a hilarious series of comedy sketches in LOL Squad Sketches . Together with a range of professional mentors, participants write, act, film and edit original comedy sketches. The hit show JUNK by Flying Fruit Fly Circus sees ordinary kids doing extraordinary things! This show made us all want to run away with the circus in 2017 and ABC iView is now streaming the full performance for free.

Get the whole family dancing around the living room with this playlist of Aussie family jams from the Australian Music Vault. Do the Loco-motion with Kylie, dream about growing up with Tim Minchin, jump around to Regurgitator and boogie to the Teeny Tiny Stevies, Sampa The Great, The Wiggles, Paul Kelly, Justine Clarke and more. Or, you could have the kids immerse themselves in a series of original audio stories written and performed by budding storytellers from primary schools across Victoria. Stories in the Wall explores dinosaurs, titans and ventures into the unknown.

Families can also explore more content and activities inspired by the shows that have been on our stages. We've created a collection of craft activities and ideas to do with the kids and want to see your creations, so share them with us at #ACMWithYou

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