5 fun things to do in parks these school holidays

School hol­i­days aren’t just for the kids to chill out – they’re also a chance for you to spend some qual­i­ty time with your loved ones. And what bet­ter way than by explor­ing the great outdoors.

Think­ing of fun ideas can be a task in itself. If there’s only so many ​‘kid­dy’ activ­i­ties that you can han­dle, these ideas might be more up your alley:

1. Dis­cov­er October’s Park of the Month

Nation­al Parks SA is cel­e­brat­ing the mag­nif­i­cent Belair Nation­al Park as October’s Park of the Month. There are a range of fun events on offer and plen­ty to keep the whole fam­i­ly busy, including:

• guid­ed walks with rangers and the Friends of Belair vol­un­teer group
• guid­ed Kau­r­na Abo­rig­i­nal cul­ture walk
• Old Gov­ern­ment House Open Day
• Belair Bush Bud­dies ses­sion: ​‘All about frogs’
• ‘Come and try’ bush­care sessions

For all the details includ­ing how to book, head to the Park of the Month webpage.

2. Choose a seedling to plant

Vis­it a local native plant nurs­ery, such as State Flo­ra, and choose a seedling to plant in your gar­den. The great thing about State Flo­ra is that they are locat­ed in the mid­dle of Belair Nation­al Park, so you can make a day of it and vis­it his­toric Old Gov­ern­ment House and the adven­ture play­ground while you’re there.

3. Go moun­tain biking

Pump up those sweet wheels and head down to Anstey Hill Recre­ation Park to try out the new moun­tain bik­ing trails. If you want to ease your way into it, try the Lit­tle Quar­ry Loop first. This trail fea­tures a grav­el sur­face with easy but option­al trail obsta­cles and features.

4. Explore the Kites and Kestrels Play space

The play space at Cob­bler Creek Recre­ation Park was inspired by the kites and kestrels that fly over­head, and fea­tures BBQs, pic­nic shel­ters, toi­lets and a bike pump track. Sand­pits have been designed to look like bird nests with giant eggs in the mid­dle, and there’s a fly­ing fox and tra­di­tion­al play equip­ment to enjoy as well.

If you like the sound of this, keep in mind that there is anoth­er huge play space in Mori­al­ta Con­ser­va­tion Park.

5. Spend a night out under the stars

Take the kids on a camp­ing adven­ture to Onka­paringa Riv­er Nation­al Park or Para Wirra Con­ser­va­tion Park. Both parks are locat­ed with­in a 45-minute dri­ve from Ade­laide, so why not pack the car and head off for a night or two?

Spring is the best time to camp as you can snug­gle up around a camp­fire and watch your marsh­mal­low crisp up over the coals. If it’s your first time camp­ing, check out our guides to camp­ing with kids and 5 sim­ple but tasty camp­fire cook­ing recipes.

Want to keep the kids amused clos­er to home? Learn which native plants you should grow in your back­yard that are per­fect for imag­i­na­tive nature play.

This sto­ry was orig­i­nal­ly post­ed in July 2017.