Hyde Park Barracks —An Interactive Museum Experience For Kids

A true gem of the Sydney Living Museums group, the UNESCO World Heritage-listed Hyde Park Barracks offers a truly interactive, immersive and engaging experience for kids. Following its multi-million dollar renovation last year, the Barracks’ cutting-edge technology really helps to redefine what kids should expect from a museum experience, and brings to life the stories of early colonial Australia.

Basically—forget what you thought you knew about history museums simply spouting facts! Here’s what makes Hyde Park Barracks such an engaging experience for kids, and why you absolutely must put it on your to-do list for the April school holidays!

Audio Guides

 

The Hyde Park Barracks audio guides are what enable kids to truly immerse themselves and follow in the footsteps of the real people who experienced the Barracks. From male convicts, immigrants and women in need, as well as the Aboriginal nations that were impacted by colonial Australia, there are so many stories to be heard that will enrich a child’s understanding of the country’s past.

All visitors will be given a sanitised iPod and headphones on arrival, to allow everyone to immerse themselves in the museum’s experiences firsthand!

Tailored Kids Trail

 

The audio guides help every visitor engage in the history of the Barracks, but the bespoke Kids' Trail has been tailored specifically with 5-10-year-olds in mind.

The Kids’ Trail comes with an activity guide accompaniment to the audio guide and gives them prompts and activities to do as they move through the exhibits. In the Building A Colony part of the trail, the walls of the room are covered in pictures of the colony that immerse you in the scene; and the kids are asked to find different parts of the images, such as a man chopping a log with an axe, while learning about the different jobs that the convicts did within the colony. In the Post-Convict Era section of the trail, kids are asked to find various artefacts that help them associate the history with something physical—keeping them engaged in the experience throughout.

Engaging Activities Throughout

 

As well as finding and identifying artefacts throughout, the Kids’ Trail audio guide gives clues and the chance to complete some fun activities as they move through the museum—spot the rats, draw your own convict tattoo, lie in a convict’s hammock and more!  

The ultra-interactive nature of the Kids’ Trail really reimagines what it means to experience a museum as a child. Thanks to Hyde Park Barracks, history 2.0 is here! Check out the museum yourself and book your tickets here.

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