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Sydney Life

September School Holidays in Sydney

September 18, 2015 / Sydney, Sydney Life / 0 comment

Looking for fun things to do these school holidays? Here are a few ideas worth exploring. Cheese and I will be going to a few of them ourselves, so we might see you there!

What: The Little Mermaid
Details: A re-telling with an Aussie edge.
Where: The Business Studies Centre, Knox Grammar School, Wahroonga
Dates: Sunday 20 September – Saturday 3 October 2015
Times: 11am and 1.30pm
Prices: Children $20 |Adults $25 | Families of four $80
Times: 11am and 1.30pm
Book: 1300 306 776 or http://www.tickets4Me

What: Carnival of the Animals
Details: Carnival of the Animals whisks you away on a thrilling circus escapade inspired by Camille Saint-Saëns’ delightful salute to feathers, fur and fins.
Where: Sydney Opera House, Bennelong Point, Sydney
Dates: 19th September – 4th October
Prices: $44/$55
Times: 10:30am, 12:30pm
Book: Online

What: The Monkey Baa Theatre Company will be presenting The Secret Life of Suitcases.
Details: Puppets!
Where: Lend Lease Theatre, Darling Quarter Theatre
Dates: 28th September – 2nd October
Times: 11am, 1pm
Prices: $25pp / $90 Family 4
Book: http://www.monkeybaa.com.au or 02 8624 9340

What: Coogee Pavillion Nail Bar by the Sea
Details: Free manicures
Where: 169 Dolphin St, Coogee
Dates: Every Wednesday
Times: 9.00am-11.30am

What: Coogee Pavillion Dad & Daughter Day
Details: Free manicures for girls, photo booths and dress ups.
Where: 169 Dolphin St, Coogee
Date: 20th September

What: Cranky Bear
Details: Cranky Bear is a rollicking cabaret-style show by Patch Theatre Company for 4-8 year olds packed with music, laughter and mayhem.
Where: Seymour Centre, City Rd, Chippendale
Dates: 22nd – 26th September
Times: 11am, 1:30pm
Prices: $22pp
Book: http://www.seymourcentre.com/events/event/cranky-bear/

What: Sydney Fringe Festival Kids
Details: Fun events and shows for the whole family such as The Great Big Story Book puppet show.
Where: Marrickville Town Hall, 303 Marrickville Rd, Marrickville
Dates: 19 – 26th September.
Book: http://www.sydneyfringe.com/whats_on/search/genre/kids/

What: Australian Museum Wild Planet Activity Room
Details: The museum has a new exhibit open called Wild Planet. Enjoy wild activities related to the new exhibition such as making a hanging animal mobile to take home, dressing up and taking part in group art activities.
Where: Australian Museum, 1 William St, Sydney
Dates: 19 September to 5 October 2015
Times: 10am – 3pm
Prices: $5 per child (children under 16 have free general admission to the museum).
Book: Not required.

What: AGNSW Kids Festival
Details: Music, performances, film, artmaking activities and tours that the whole family will enjoy.
Where: AGNSW, Art Gallery Rd, Sydney
Dates: 20 September – 2nd October.
Prices: Free
Book: See individual activities. Some are drop in, other require booking tickets.

What: Spot On Children’s Festival
Details: Live theatre, quirky circus, sensational storytelling, marvelous music and far-out films.
Where: Riverside Theatre, Corner Church and Market Streets, Parramatta
Dates: September 29 – Oct 4
Prices: Both free and ticketed events.
Book: https://riversideparramatta.com.au/category/whats-on/family/spoton2015/

What: Blinky Bill movie
Details: An animated retelling of the classic Aussie story.
Where: Look up your local cinema for details.
Dates: In cinemas now

What: Peppa Pig meet and greet at ToysRUs
Details: As well as meeting Peppa, ToysRUs are running a promotion where you can buy $40 or more of Peppa Pig products and receive a free Peppa Pig DVD.
Where: Retail Supa Centre, 1C Todman Ave, Kensington
Dates: Thursday 24^th September
Times: 11-11:30am, 12-12:30pm, 1-1:30pm
Prices: Free

Anything Goes: Sydney’s Best Musicals

September 14, 2015 / Sydney, Sydney Life, Theatre / 0 comment

I grew up watching famous old musicals on TV with my grandmother like Show Boat and Singing in the Rain. With a childhood filled with tap dancing and ballads, it’s not surprising that I love classic musicals such as Anything Goes.

Cole Porter’s de-lightful and de-lovely musical comedy, Anything Goes, is playing at the Sydney Opera House until 31 October.

Winner of three Tony Awards, including Best Musical Revival and Choreography during its most recent Broadway revival, Anything Goes is pure fun from beginning to end. It also contains some of musical theatre’s most memorable songs including You’re The Top, I Get A Kick Out Of You, and of course the title song, Anything Goes.

In the Sydney production of Anything Goes, Australian stars Caroline O’Connor and Todd McKenney steal the show. O’Conner’s voice is magnificent, and McKenney is unrecognisable in his hilarious role.

For an evening of pure escapism and divine entertainment, I’d highly recommend seeing Anything Goes. Tickets are on sale now at the Sydney Opera House.

Thanks to Nuffnang for tickets to see the show. All opinions belong to me, thanks to my musical-loving grandmother.

Babies Proms: Tubby the Tuba – Sydney’s Best Shows For Kids

August 8, 2015 / Sydney, Sydney Life, Theatre / 0 comment

As I’ve written about previously, our family loves the Babies Proms at the Sydney Opera House. This week we very happily trotted down to see the latest one, Tubby The Tuba.

Tubby The Tuba is a lively performance to introduce children to different orchestral instruments. The special nine-piece proms orchestra (comprising a bassoon, flute, piccolo, tuba, two violins, viola, cello, trombone and xylophone) entertainly educated their tiny audience on what the role of a conductor is, what each instrument is and what it does, and the basic concepts of how instruments work together.

Musical terms like melody, tempo and rhythm were covered in a manner that was simple enough for little kids to grasp and absorb, and in a fashion that was fun and engaging.

This is really where Babies Proms shine in children’s entertainment. They carefully blend education and entertainment together to create the perfect show for young children with short attention spans. The shows drip advanced terms and concepts like bread crumbs to their eager audience to nibble on while they’re enjoying dancing and singing, resulting in the kids leaving, thoroughly entertained, and not even realising that they’ve just learned something pretty significant.

After the introduction to the orchestra, it was time for the musicians to tell the story of Tubby the Tuba. Based on the classic 1941 children’s song (also called Tubby The Tuba), the story tells of a tuba who wants a melody of his own. As with all stories, the enjoyment often relies on the skills of the re-teller, and the conductor leading the narrative was masterful in his acting, singing and stage presence.

The performance drew to a close and the musicians came down to meet their young fans and tell them a bit more about their instruments. Getting up close to the instruments and performers is always a highlight for the kids in attendance.

We were all pretty hungry after our musical morning, so we grabbed a $7 kids lunch box from the cafeteria inside the Play House and picnicked with friends in the sun. With the Sydney Harbour Bridge on one side, and the Opera House on the other, we were in for quite a view.

BABIES PROMS: TUBBY THE TUBA
Showing: 5 – 16 August 2015
Suitable for children ages 2 – 5

Tickets on sale from the Sydney Opera House.

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Thank you to the Sydney Opera House for providing us with tickets for reviewing purposes. As always, we are their biggest fans and opinions are my own.

More things to do in Sydney

Find a list of the best things to do in Sydney with kids here.

Find things to do in Sydney for free here.

Get a list of the best kid-friendly beaches in Sydney.

Find the best animal experiences in Sydney here.

Visit the best kid-friendly restaurants in Sydney here.

Find the best high teas in Sydney here.

Head to one of the best museums in Sydney here.

Check out things to do in Sydney on a rainy day here.

Enjoy one of the best ocean pools in Sydney here.

First time visiting Sydney? Get tips for first time visitors to Sydney here.

Theatre Review: Matilda The Musical

July 31, 2015 / Sydney, Sydney Life, Theatre / 0 comment

Growing up, Matilda, by Roald Dahl was one of my favourite books. I adored the clever girl who stood up to bullies and loved to read. I never in a million years thought I would see the story come to life before my eyes the way it does in Matilda the musical, the award winning show that has just opened in Sydney.

Matilda the musical masterpiece was created by the Royal Shakespeare Company, with original songs by Aussie Tim Minchin. It opened this week at the Lyric Theatre and I was privileged to see their third performance – notable as, for the children in the cast who performed for us, it was their very first performance. The lead role of Matilda was performed by Georgia Taplin (one of four girls who share the role), making her musical debut in our performance. I’m sure the kids were brimming with nerves, but I’d never have guessed it. The kids were truly the stars of the show and shone as seasoned performers.

If you’re not familiar with the story of Matilda, it’s about a little girl who is born to parents who don’t want her. The underlying heart of the story is Matilda’s desire to have parents who love her. She is blessed with super intelligence (reading Tolstoy, in Russian, at age 5), which brings her to the attention of another soul who wants to be loved – her kindergarten teacher, Miss Honey. They bond together as kindred spirits despite the best efforts of the school’s insane headmistress, Miss Trunchbull, to make their lives miserable.

In the book, Miss Trunchbull is a menacing figure whom, as a child, I found frightening. In the musical, Miss Trunchbull is played with a comic edge that lets the show keep its light hearted feel rather than becoming a dark and despairing tale of misfortunate characters a la Les Miserables. Roald Dahl reveled in the absurd, and the musical is true to his magical story about the power of imagination and the anarchy of childhood.

The question parents are asking themselves is, “Should I take my child?”. While Matilda is a musical featuring children, it’s not a childish production. In the US theatre goers were required to be aged 6 and over for this show, which I absolutely agree with. The show features adult themes, complex storytelling devices such the show-within-a-show and a lot of fast dialogue, as well as the type of language that you don’t really want your kid to to be repeating out of context.

For a child old enough to understand Roald Dahl’s book, I would recommend this show as a must-see. I would also recommend this show to adults without kids, as I found it to be a fantastically entertaining experience. From the creative and inventive sets to the talented cast and energetic songs, this is a show that appeals to the child within us all.

Matilda is currently playing at the Lyric Theatre at Star City, Sydney. Buy tickets online.

A big thank you to Matilda’s major partner Qantas, who flew the cast and crew to Sydney and provided me with tickets for reviewing purposes.

MCA Light Show, Light Lab & Family Fun Day: Sydney Best Art Galleries For Kids

June 1, 2015 / Cheese, Indoor Play, Museums, Sydney, Sydney Life / 0 comment

The Museum of Contemporary Art has continued to surprise and impress us since we moved back to Sydney. Not only does it have world-class exhibits, it also runs kid-friendly labs as part of the exhibits, and a variety of family programing every week for kids of all ages: from babies to toddlers, preschoolers and school kids. Literally something for kids of every age.

Because of their family-friendly programs, we have been feeling brave enough to venture back into the gallery with Cheese. She is not that into art thus far, being more interested in running and causing chaos instead. With the MCA’s set-up, it means we can see the exhibit we are interested in, as well as having a way to engage Cheese that she enjoys too – win-win for everyone, and we also hope that by doing this, our child will grow up to share our love of art.

The current exhibit at the MCA is Light Show (open until July 5, 2015). Light Show is a spectacular multisensory exhibition by artists all around the world, with the one theme in common – light. The show features a variety of installations and immersive experiences that are suitable for people of all ages – including wiggly preschoolers like our Cheese.

We did see the exhibit at our typical break-neck speed, close on the heels of our speedy preschooler, but this exhibit caught her interest and we doubled back to see rooms and installations repeatedly at her insistence.

The immersive nature of the exhibit was hypnotic – the three of us were mesmerised by the glittering, twinkling lights, and visual illusions that lead us to believe we were moving, or falling, all by means of clever placement and design of light. We spoke with Cheese about the lights. See how if you move this way or that, the image we see changes? What happens if you put your hand here? Or stand there? When you look at these coloured lights, and then look at the white wall, what new colours do you see? She particularly loved anything interactive, like the dark room with the beam of light that she could dance in, jabbing her wand into the light ray to try and capture it.

Outside the Light Show is the free Light Lab for kids. Set up into two rooms, one has a light projected onto a wall which captures movement – perfect for entertaining kids and teaching them about their shadows. The second room had UV lights installed on the ceiling shining down into the art works kids were making with simple white paper and highlighters. Simple but enthralling concept: shine the light on paper and it glows. Cheese wanted more and more paper to keep creating her artworks for us, which were quite Miro in style, I have to say.

Also running when we visited was the monthly Family Fun Day. This free program gives kids activities to perform in the gallery, followed by a craft activity in the National Centre for Creative Learning next to the Light Lab on level 3. The program is aimed at school-aged kids, so around 4 or 5 and up, but there were a lot of younger kids enjoying the activities with their families.

In the main gallery area, kids were lying on the floor with their parents, drawing pictures of the outfits worn in the artwork. The “MCA Sketch” sheet they were given with the Family Fun Day activities on it asked kids to find pictures of outfits in the paintings and then draw a new one on their paper. Upstairs in the learning centre was the craft area part of the day (which had a gorgeous view of the Harbour Bridge, by the way). Friendly staff handed kids a tray filled with craft materials and asked them to create their own superhero wearable artwork, like a badge, headband or the like. The art supplies were basic pipe cleaners, paper, sparkles and so on – perfect materials for letting kids’ imaginations run free.

We helped Cheese with her outfit of crown, wand, necklace and wrist cuff. Her superpower, she decided, was “freezing” (thanks Elsa), and “flying”. After which she proceeded to “fly” through the gallery, stopping now and then to press a “button” on her cuff to power herself up again. Crazy cute. I appreciated the idea from the MCA staff to help fuel her imagination.

Museum of Contemporary Art
140 George St,
The Rocks NSW 2000
Phone: (02) 9245 2400
Get Directions

A huge thank you to the MCA for hosting us.

Jungle Buddies Play Centre: Indoor Play Centres Inner West

May 16, 2015 / Indoor Play, Sydney, Sydney Life / 0 comment

With a super active 3.5 year old, I’m a frequent visitor to play centres, particularly on rainy days. Even on days when the weather is clear, it’s still great to have somewhere safe for Cheese to burn her energy off.

Jungle Buddies at Five Dock is a huge, clean and bright play centre. The climbing structure is massive, with plenty of nocks and crannies and levels to keep kids entertained for hours. The equipment is all extremely clean and new, which is an added bonus for me and my hatred of dirty sticky things.

The cafe area in Jungle Buddies is quite unique in that they have made a big effort to create a menu that delivers guests delicious, healthy food choices. We were at Jungle Buddies for a party and were extremely happy with our menu of sliders, pizza and fruit.

If you’re dining in, there are even more choices on the menu such as salads, Serendipity ice-cream, and a range of locally-made cakes from Sweetness The Patisserie, and biscuits from Rowie’s Cakes. The ingredients for the meals are all from local producers, too, like Bowan island Bakery. It’s a real pleasure to take the kid to a play centre and not just watch her have a good time, but to be able to have some really good food myself while I’m watching her play.

For kids under 3 there is a separate soft play area.

Jungle Buddies is very light and bright, with natural light streaming in through the windows. It has clean bathrooms and baby change facilities, and a large parking area downstairs, where it’s easy to walk a few steps to the elevator which takes you right to the front door of the play centre. Very easy to navigate with a stroller.

The staff were very friendly, and were especially great with the birthday girl and her guests.

We really enjoyed our time at Jungle Buddies and will be back to play again.

Jungle Buddies Play Centre
2/97 Queens Road,
Five Dock NSW 2046
Phone: 1300 883 819
Hours: Daily 9:30am-5pm
Get Directions

Babies Proms, Country Kids: Best Shows For Kids, Sydney

May 9, 2015 / Cheese, Sydney, Sydney Life, Theatre / 0 comment

Today Cheese was introduced to country music for he first time at the wonderful Sydney Opera House’s Babies Proms Country Kids. We’ve gone to every single Babies Prom at the Opera House since arriving back in Sydney, and both Cheese and I enjoy them so much, we always look forward to he next one with great anticipation.

In case you haven’t been to a Babies Prom yet, they are a series of events aimed at kids aged 2 – 5 put on by the Sydney Opera House. Other ages are welcome, and there are usually lots of smaller babies and toddlers in attendance.

Each Babies Prom focuses on a theme (in this case, Australian country music), and amazingly talented performers teach the kids about that particular style of music through songs and engaging conversation. A big component of each show is teaching kids about the instruments used in that particular style.

With the Country Kids show, Gold Guitar winning country music artist Darren Coggan was leading the performance, with his band of talented musicians showcasing instruments such as the banjo, fiddle and double bass.

The songs chosen were familiar Aussie favourites, like “Thank God I’m a country boy” and “Waltzing Matilda” – making it the first time for many of kids to hear these classic songs.

Talented musician Coggan held the kids in rapt attention, and even managed to get the parents and grandparents on their feet to try their hand (or foot) at boot scooting to finish off the show.

As the show wraps up, the musicians (including Coggan) come down to the floor to meet their pint sized fans and let the kids have a go of the instruments. It’s a great opportunity for kids to touch the strings on the double base, or get up and close to the fiddle.

The Babies Proms run for 30 minutes, which is perfect for a kid of this age’s attention span. They manage to cram in a jam-packed agenda of songs and education, and kids leave not realise they’ve actually just been taught a lot about a whole new genre of music.

Shows like the Babies Proms are so important for the tiniest kids to learn about music from a young age. Catering to little ones like this program does is pretty unusual in my experience. Many shows cater to slightly older kids and expect kids to sit down and just watch a show. The Babies Proms are so successful because they really speak to the age of the kids and engage with them, and have created an environment where it’s ok for kids to stand up and dance, or run to and from their parents. It’s relaxing for all involved, as there is no expectation on the kids to sit down and stay quiet. In fact, the expectation is the opposite, as children are encouraged to sing, move and often play percussion instruments along with the cast.

Cheese and I love the Babies Proms and obviously can’t say enough good things about the shows. If you’re interested in taking your child to see a Babies Prom, the current Country Kids show runs from Wednesday, 6 May through to Sunday, 17 May with 9.30 am, 10.30 am and 11.30 am sessions available most days from $16.00 a ticket. Tickets are available from the Sydney Opera House.

Thank you to the Sydney Opera House for having us at this Babies Prom. We are huge fans and all opinions are, as always, very much our own.

Pirrama Park Playround And Cafe, Pyrmont, Sydney

April 29, 2015 / Outdoor Play, Sydney, Sydney Life / 2 Comments

This beautiful playground in Pyrmont has shiny, well-designed equipment, new, well-maintained bathrooms (including baby change facilities) and a cafe with shaded seating.

In the warmer months, water fountains spurt out of the ground in sporadic patterns, and a shade cloth over the sand pit gives kids a place to play without getting burned.

Undercover barbecues mean the park is great place for picnics and birthday parties, too.

Pirrama Park Playround is part of Pirrama Park, at the end of Harris Street Pyrmont.

Pirrama Road, Pyrmont
Get directions.

Golden Ridge Animal Farm: Best Animal Experiences in Sydney

April 23, 2015 / Animal Experiences, Cheese, Sydney, Sydney Life / 4 Comments

We’ve raised Cheese thus far as quite the city kid. She, like our whole family, loves animals and we try to get her out to experience the bush and country life where we can. We had the opportunity recently to enjoy a day trip to Dural for a birthday party at Golden Ridge Animal Farm.

Golden Ridge has been running as a children’s farm for 41 years. It has been owned and run by family of the current owner, Alisa Nye, for the past 26 years.

The animals at Golden Ridge are all pets (you can see more info on the animals and their names online.) and they absolutely love visitors.

A standard visit to the farm follows a path of activities, for which you must be on time to be able to enjoy. The farm opens at 10:30 am weekdays, and 11am on weekends. Activities are guided and hence if you are late, you will miss out.

The visit begins with holding baby animals. On our visit, this included ducklings, chicks and rabbits that were only a few days old. We were told how to hold them and asked to assist the children in holding the animals correctly. It was had to tell who was the most excited about holding the baby animals, the kids or parents.

Next was a walk around the farm feeding and seeing the larger farm animal varieties. We bought the $5 feed bucket option and had a wonderful time feeding the various goats, lambs, deer, ponies, cows and alpacas, all of whom were most excited to see visitors bearing delicious food for them.

Our tour concluded with feeding a baby goat with a bottle. Cheese thought this was awesome.

Afterwards, it’s lunch time, which can either be a picnic lunch or a barbecue using the farm’s facilities, or you can buy lunch from the canteen. After lunch the ponies come out and kids can take a little ride on one of the very friendly farm ponies.

One of the best things about the farm is the space. While the activities are guided, kids can return after the tour to see the larger animals, pat and feed them, or just run around and enjoy seeing a range of other animals roaming around, like ducks and a very friendly little dachshund.

For a day of hands-on country activities, Golden Ridge can’t be beat.

Golden Ridge Animal Farm
686 Old Northern Road,
Dural NSW 2158
(02) 9651 1028
Hours: Mon-Fri 10:30am-2pm, Sat & Sun 11am-2:30pm.
Prices: $15 per person entry. $5 extra for a pony ride or a bucket of feed. Babies under 1 year free.
BOOKINGS ESSENTIAL.
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Barbie Princess Power High Tea at The Langham Hotel Sydney

April 14, 2015 / Cheese, Indoor Play, Sydney, Sydney Life / 10 Comments

I was a Barbie kid myself, so it’s been an enjoyable case of history repeating to see my own preschooler getting out my old Barbie dolls and playing with them at the same age that I did. Barbie and I experienced so many adventures during our time together, and I love watching Cheese take the same Barbies (and a few new ones who have much better hair than mine) on her own magical outings.

One such outing that almost too good to be true was the Barbie Princess Power high tea at The Langham Hotel Sydney. The Langham has recently re-opened after a significant renovation and this was our first visit since the launch. Boy does it look good. The old hotel was beautiful, and the renovation has given everything a facelift to make it brighter and shinier.

The Barbie high tea was held over two weekends during the school holidays. It was more than just a high tea, it was a special event for kids who love Barbies, and their parents who love good food.

The high tea was split into two rooms. One with activities and one with tables set up for enjoying the high tea. The activities room had a paparazzi style media wall set up for some photo ops, a nail salon and an activity table with stickers for the kids to decorate their own superhero masks.

Inside the dining room, the new Barbie movie was set up to play on a large screen while we enjoyed our high tea. At each child’s place was a gift bag containing a Barbie doll, plus a blank mask for colouring in, and a poster that, when turned over, had more colouring and activities. The tables had containers filled with textas and pencils, so the kids has plenty to play with while waiting for their high teas to arrive.

The thoughtful staff confirmed who at our tables were vegetarians, and asked the girls if they would like a hot chocolate? With TWO marshmallows? Would they ever.

Next came the platters of food – top tier full of sweet delights like red velvet cake, pistachio cake, and macarons, the next tier plan and raisin scones with jam and cream, and the bottom tier savoury, with sandwiches, wraps, mini burgers, pumpkin tarts and heart-shaped fairy bread.

With one vegetarian adult and child, and one non-vego adult and child, we had quite the variety of food. It was hard to tell what was meant for who, so we let the girls choose what they felt like eating, and then ate the rest ourselves.

As you’d expect from a hotel as gorgeous as the Langham, the food was exquisite. The scones were some of the best I’ve ever tasted. The sandwiches were fresh and light, and the desserts full of flavour, with perfect pastry crusts and light creamy fillings. It was a delicious high tea.

As the event wound down, the girls were getting tired from all of the excitement, which was our cue to leave. Cheese was getting over a bad cold and was very tied and grumpy – hence the next pic we asked the concierge to take outside the Langham as we were leaving, where she refused to get in the picture. A big thanks to the concierge with the wicked sense of humour who captured my cranky daughter in the photo anyway. Does this sum up life with a threenager, or what?

We had a wonderful time at the Barbie high tea, and will absolutely be back for the Langham’s next event for kids.

Barbie Princess Power High Tea at The Langham Hotel
89-113 Kent St, Millers Point,
Sydney NSW 2000
Prices: Children’s high tea is $65 children with gift, $70 adults with glass of bubbles
Get directions.