Easy. Try your nearest library. In Maitland we have four – Maitland near the Belmore Bridge, Rutherford, Thornton and East Maitland where there’s lot of entertainment (mostly educational) for children and parents as well – especially in the school holidays.

Kids can explore all things giant and colossal at the city’s branches, including BFG, dinosaurs and fantasy beast activities or making a megamovie or megastructure. For more gigantic fun, The Dinosaur Show, a fun puppet show presented by Jeral Puppets, is not to be missed.

“There’s something to do every day of the holidays at all Maitland City branch libraries” City Librarian Keryl Collard told us.

“As well as a whole host of exciting workshops and events, families can drop in any time for Everyday Fun activities including lantern making, giant animal origami challenges, movie screenings and giant games. Our Holiday Fun program provides unique opportunities for children to use their imaginations, expand their minds and most importantly, enjoy themselves.”

And, if the children have a calling to become mini-scientists, well they can discover the world of science with the new Little Bang Discovery Club. This four-week program for children 3-5 years is designed to inspire scientific inquiry, discovery and learning in a fun and hands-on way. 

Through a series of experiences, activities and experiments using everyday objects, children will learn the basics of science and in the final week children will take part in a mini science fair, showcasing their new discoveries.

Children who join the Little Bang Discovery Club will also be loaned a Little Bang Discovery box and booklet for the duration of the program.

Hey … and all this entertainment is for free. 

*A full list of Holiday Fun activities is available at www.maitlandlibrary.com.au. Book online or contact Maitland Library on phone 4933 6952 for more information.