A Guide To Surviving The September School Holidays Activities In Auckland New Zealand

Weather you live in Auckland or in New Zealand there are many ways to entertain the kids these coming September school holidays, most of the activity's will be focused in Auckland, some of the websites below you are able to check out other towns just not Auckland to see what events are on near you!

As our focus is more on living within a limited budget with a row of kids in tow, these ideas are more wallet friendly, when the kids are all done baking, making forts, all out of art projects at home, here are some not so wallet breaking activities.

With being a few weeks more organized than my last post for last school holidays which you can find here, there seemed to be not that many activities as last school holidays, they may not be put out yet but here are a list of websites and ideas where to check for some activities.

Auckland Art Centers/Galleries/Theatres
Auckland Events
Auckland Library's
Auckland Parks - Walking, Biking, Horse Riding
Auckland Regional Parks that have areas were you can Abseil, Camping, Diving, Bird Watching, Fishing, Kayaking, and more

You may also want to check out your local -
Newspaper
Community Center
Shopping Mall

Leaping into spring with the school holidays with all the newborn farm animals, just because we live in the city or suburbs doesn't mean we can't have a bit of country, Auckland has a few working farms one is Ambury Farm in Managere Bridge, another one is Cornwall Park.
Ambury Farm you can go early in the morning and feed the lambs during spring time, best to check the times for feeding time, also they have Ambury Farm Day which is a Public Family Day which is during the school holidays this year on the 8th of October from 10am - 4pm at Mangere Bridge.
We've been going for the last few years, they have family games, like hammering, sack racing, house shoe throwing, to bike riding - which the kids need sneakers to ride, best to have a pair in your bag while they wear their gumboots to doge the pattys.
There are rides that cost a coin donation (tractor carriage ride, horse carriage ride, pony & horse riding - just around the paddock with a someone holding the reins, to rides that cost about $10 each - the bungy & zorb ones, food trucks - a great idea to bring your own picnic, live music, sheep shearing, cow poo bingo, cow milking, animals to look at.
You choose what you would like to and how much you would like to spend, great idea just give the kids a few dollors and once it's gone it's gone, they may spend more wisely as it's there's, Well some do....

Need some D.I.Y help....... what about checking out your local Bunnings (not surer if any other hardware stores do this) they have D.I.Y lessons for Adults and for kids the kids ones are normally free, you may need to book a place so they don't have more than they can handle, some of the stores have some free and costing D.I.Y pamphlets or booklets, the free ones, have free on them - showing how to build shelf's, swing set, toy train, child's walker, letter box and more different projects which could be quite fun for kids to do with an adult.

How about wearing them out with a walk through the bush to build a hut, to forage for some art supplies in fallen leaves or sticks, or funky looking rocks, or taking a picnic to one of the many waterfalls spotted around Auckland.
If your heading out West you may want to head out to the Arataki Visitors Center they have a few activities for the kids like Kauri gum polishing - (need to book fast as this gets booked out each school holidays apparently).

Taking a stroll through Botanical Gardens in Manurewa to see all the lovely gardens, or grab the bikes and head over to Sir Barry Curtis park in Botany or stop in over at the playground.

The kids maybe wanting some extra cash these school holidays, why not start the school holidays with them selling some of their unwanted toy's to maybe buy some new ones at either the kids market in Sandrigham or Western Springs Market.

Do your Kids love Anime/Manga why not start the holidays off right for them, (maybe after they've sold some stuff at the western springs kids only market they might want to spend their change over at Over load at The Cloud in Queens Wharf--- and maybe some change on the gas for Mum and Dad whizzing them all round Auckland - yeah we know that's not gonna happen....) Say's cost is between $0 - $10 so unsure what that means, as they have no information to costings apart from that.
Ok so asking one of the kids whats the difference between Anime and Manga - apparently Anime is the video form and Manga is the book form - not surer if that is right, if you know would like to here what it is.....

To tie up the school holidays they may want to finish the school holidays with a splash of color by heading to the Diwali Festival in Aotea Square on Saturday the 14th to Sunday the 15th with kids activities, work shops, Dancing and music, Street Food and more.

There are many public places that are free to low cost like the Museum and art galleries - In you live in Auckland you just need to show you live in Auckland with a bill showing your address to get in for free, same for the maritime museum in the City.
There are many bike parks, bmx tracks, to toddler bike parks to a water park, to swimming pools.

With the weather hopefully getting better maybe heading down to a local wharf for the kids to try their hand at catching some dinner.

Picture Source 1 2

Thanks for stopping by, have a Fabulous Day/Evening!