For children and families

Children listening at a Library activity

For more information about the Library's program of fun school holiday events, children's films, games and activities for families, join our subscriber e-mailing list

Explore

Become a library detective!

During the school holidays, the Library's Find it! trail will lead children and families through the Library’s artworks and the reading rooms. Collect your free copy at reception. An exhibition trail is also available. 

Storytelling

Autumn Storytime (ages 4+)

Listen to stories by children’s authors whose work is held in the Library’s collection. Children must be accompanied by an adult. Bring lunch and stay for a movie.

Tuesday 16 April, 11.30 am
Conference Room, $1

National Simultaneous Storytime (ages 4+)

Join in with 170,000 children around Australia reading Nick Bland’s The Wrong Book. 

Wednesday 22 May, 11 am
Ferguson Room, free

Winter Storytime (ages 4+)

Come and share your love of reading and stories with some funny and charming yarns from the Library’s collection. Bookings not required.

Tuesdays 9 and 16 July 2013

11.30 am- 12 pm

Conference Room, $1  

School holiday activities

Art of Glass (ages 6–10)
Be inspired by windows and lights designed by Leonard French and Walter Burley Griffin and create your own stained glass designs.

Friday 19 April
10.30 am–12 pm

Brindabella Room, $15

Bookings: www.nla.gov.au/bookings

Enquiries: education@nla.gov.au or 02 6262 1271

SimCity 2000—Retro PC Gaming Days (ages 8+)

Drop in and play the classic city-building game, SimCity 2000 (1994). Have fun learning about elements of urban planning and landscape architecture.

Friday 19 & 26 April
12–4.30 pm
Training Rooms, free 

Make Like A Tree! – Craft Workshops

Be inspired by the colours and shapes of nature in our tree craft workshop. Make family trees, leaf prints, and bark rubbings from natural and recycled materials.

Thursdays 11 and 18 July 2013

Conference Room, $5

Bookings: www.nla.gov.au/bookings

Enquiries: education@nla.gov.au or 02 6262 1271 

Young Adults

Cut, Copy, Paste (ages 12+)

A hands-on zine workshop with Jeremy Staples and Eloise Quinlivan. Learn about publishing and distributing zines and make your own.

Saturday 25 May

10.30 am–4.30 pm

Conference Room, $30

Bookings: www.nla.gov.au/bookings

Enquiries: education@nla.gov.au or 02 6262 1271

Children's films

Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (2009, 90 min, G)

Quirky inventor Flint Lockwood creates a machine that causes food to rain from the sky.  Just as he begins to receive the recognition he always longed for, the machine spirals out of control, stirring up a worldwide phenomenon.

Tuesday 16 April, 1 pm
Theatre, free 

Labyrinth (1986, 101 min, PG)

From her favourite book, Sarah accidentally summons goblins who steal her younger brother Toby. She must complete a Labyrinth in 13 hours to save him. David Bowie plays the Goblin King, with puppets by Jim Henson's Creature Shop.

Friday 19 April, 1 pm
Theatre, free 

Night at the Museum (2006, 108 min, PG)

A newly recruited night security guard at the Museum of Natural History discovers that an ancient curse causes the animals and exhibits on display to come to life and wreak havoc.

Friday 26 April, 1 pm
Theatre, free 

The Lorax (2012, 86 min, G)

A 12-year-old boy searches for the one thing that will enable him to win the affection of the girl of his dreams. To find it he must discover the story of the Lorax, the grumpy yet charming creature who fights to protect his world.

Tuesday 9 July, 1 pm

Theatre, free 

FernGully: The Last Rainforest (1992, 76 min, G)

The magical inhabitants of a rainforest called FernGully fight to save their home that is threatened by logging and a polluting force of destruction called Hexxus.

Tuesday 16 July, 1 pm

Theatre, free  

Children must be accompanied by an adult for all events.