Families fun across our generous city

Looking for a weekend that keeps curious minds and busy hands engaged? From creative play to outdoor adventure and hands-on discovery, this family-friendly itinerary is designed to help you explore, learn and have fun together. Explore fascinating places, meet the people behind them and discover Melbourne through a range of interactive experiences designed to spark curiosity in visitors of all ages.

(All programs featured in this itinerary are listed at the bottom of this page.)

A must-do for families this Weekend is exploring Mirvac’s Oli Glows at Olivine Place, where outdoor adventure, creativity and community come together. Explore Gumnut Park Adventure Playground, visit the skate park, grab a bite to eat, create lanterns and badges, and finish with the enchanting Community Lantern Walk amongst the colourful lights of Oli Glows for a magical after-dark experience.

Keep the hands-on fun going at Connected Community HackerSpace, where curious minds can press giant buttons, watch machines in action and see their names race across a flip-dot display. It’s a playful introduction to technology and making.

For budding artists, head to Firestation Print Studio and discover the world of printmaking. Children can experiment with gel plate and letterpress printing and take home their own unique creations.

Continue the creative journey at the Koorie Heritage Trust, where young visitors can make a commemorative badge inspired by their visit while exploring First Peoples cultures, art, design and architecture. Nearby, the Queen Victoria Women’s Centre invites children to try their hand at weaving and learn how to make a basket.

Families who love a challenge can join the scavenger hunt at The Salvation Army Australia Museum, searching for clues, solving puzzles and exploring the museum through interactive play. Dress-up costumes and colouring activities add to the fun.

What's on Family + Kids

At the State Library Victoria, become an explorer with Open Play and create your own compass before setting off on a Melbourne treasure hunt designed by Lovell Chen. It’s an easy place to pause, reset, and let kids lead the experience through play.

Discover where food comes from at Milk and Honey: How German Dairy Farms Sustained Melbourne, where children can make playdough cookies and dairy cow magnets, follow a garden trail and plant seeds to take home. For more green inspiration, visit Square Metre Community Gardening, where families can learn how kitchen waste becomes fresh vegetables and children can get involved in hands-on gardening activities.

See how communities come together at The Fabric, where little ones can enjoy colouring, badge making, macramé, face painting and a range of creative activities throughout the day.

For families interested in design and architecture, Snøhetta offers an interactive model-making workshop that encourages children to imagine and build their own ideas for the future.

Take a behind-the-scenes look at how food reaches people in need with a family-friendly tour of Foodbank Victoria, featuring a warehouse detective activity and creative exercises designed especially for younger visitors.

Finish your family adventure at NICA: The Joys of Circus, where children and adults can learn partner acrobatics together. Build pyramids, balance, laugh and create lasting memories while discovering the fun of circus skills as a family.

With so many opportunities to create, explore and learn together, Open House Melbourne Weekend is the perfect chance for families to discover new places, spark young imaginations and make lasting memories.

Explore the Precincts

Family fun on the Weekend

A playground structure is illuminated with colorful lights, featuring slides, steps, and netted walkways against a night sky with a visible moon
Oli Glows at Olivine Place

Saturday 25 July

Children and adults sit together on the floor around a table covered with craft materials, creating small sculptural objects using pipe cleaners, cardboard, sticks and foam shapes. Several colourful handmade creations stand upright on paper cups while children focus on assembling their projects.
OPEN Play at State Library Victoria

Photograph of the red brick facade of the old Malvern Fire Station building showing the large red doors, which previously allowed access to fire engines and is now the front entrance to Firestation Print Studio.
Firestation Print Studio

Saturday 25 July

A streetscape view of The Fabric townhouses, designed by the award‑winning Mirvac Design team, located on the entry boulevard and showcasing the laneway design with brick and metal cladding, mature trees, landscaped gardens, and a pedestrian footpath.
The Fabric

Sunday 26 July

Aerial shot of Foodbank Victoria's Altona warehouse at night
Foodbank Victoria

Saturday 25 July

People are gathered in an exhibition space, closely examining items laid out on a table with books and papers, under a warm light setting. Some individuals are walking around the room or looking at displays on the walls.
Snøhetta

Friday 24 July, Saturday 25 July

Silhouette of three female aerialists in front of coloured glass windows. The windows are coloured blue with a large yellow triangle in the middle.
NICA: The Joys of Circus

Friday 24 July, Saturday 25 July

Interior featuring warm wood and moody lighting - a panelled desk is sitting on a red carpet
Koorie Heritage Trust: First Peoples Cultures and Songlines in Art, Design and Architecture

Friday 24 July, Saturday 25 July, Sunday 26 July

Five people stand on grass holding rhubarb, with cameras around their necks in a garden setting.
Milk and Honey: How German Dairy Farms Sustained Melbourne

Friday 24 July, Saturday 25 July, Sunday 26 July

Photograph of the white stuccoed facade of 69 Bourke Street, Melbourne, an historic 1890 Victorian-era building and home of The Salvation Army Australia Museum. The five bay facade consists almost entirely of windows, with a profusion of segmental pediments, festoons and half-fluted Corinthian pilasters. The central bay is corbelled out at the second and third storeys and is capped by a Baroque style pediment on the parapet. A pair of cast iron gates and a frieze give access to the foyer area
The Salvation Army Australia Museum

Friday 24 July, Saturday 25 July

A group of people is gathered in a community garden with raised beds filled with plants. Some individuals are tending to the plants while others are standing and observing, and there is a dog in the foreground.
Square Metre Community Gardening: How to Turn Waste into Veggies in an Apartment

Saturday 25 July, Sunday 26 July

A smiling woman in a colorful sweater demonstrates string craft to another woman seated beside her in a bright indoor space.
Queen Victoria Women's Centre

Saturday 25 July, Sunday 26 July