Indoor Activities for Toddlers in Melbourne

It's no secret that Melbourne seriously turns down the temperature during winter, and if you're a parent—you'll know that regardless of the weather, kids need to get out and about before the cabin fever sets in! 

We've rounded up the best places to take under 5s during winter in Melbourne, when it's often too cold to head to your usual haunts! 

The Best Indoor Activities for Under 5s in Melbourne.

1. The Pauline Gandel Children’s Gallery

The Pauline Gandel Childrens’ Gallery at the Melbourne Museum is absolutely one of the top spots to take babies and toddlers, regardless of the weather!

Designed for the under-5s, the specially crafted features that facilitate active and tactile playing offers a space for kids to be physical without trashing your lounge room.  Kids can dance, crawl, run, explore – and best of all, they can socialise with other kids of a similar age. For colour, creativity and education this is a one-stop-shop and a great option during the winter months. 

Location: The Melbourne Museum: 11 Nicholson St, Carlton

2. SEA LIFE Melbourne Aquarium 

With plenty of indoor things to see and do, SEA LIFE Melbourne Aquarium is a great place to beat the winter chill with under-5s.

Get up close and personal with penguins, gaze at sea snakes, and marvel at sharks, seahorses, shellfish, starfish, and all other marine life. You can also enjoy Submerged—a spectacular new immersive, interactive digital experience, taking guests on a journey through living light inspired by the bioluminescent underwater world. 

SEA LIFE Melbourne Aquarium is great for capturing little minds, so strap in for a never-ending chorus of "wow's!". 

Location: King St, Melbourne

3. Storytime at the Victoria State Library 

What's better than a cosy library? Only being cosy while also sharing the delight of stories, songs, and picture books with your under-5s.  Children and families will be able to join their favourite Library storytellers at the Pauline Gandel Children's Quarter every Wednesday from 10.30 am-11 am.

Get ready to immerse yourself in the enchanting world of Storytime sessions, where timeless classics and exciting new works from talented Victorian and Australian authors are brought to life, along with songs and rhymes aplenty!

For all the little enthusiasts of STEM, mark your calendars for the third Wednesday of each month for a special Science Storytime. Put on your lab coat and get ready to dive into exciting experiments and hands-on activities that will spark curiosity and fuel your little one's love for all things science.

Location: State Library Victoria, Pauline Gandel Children's Quarter, Melbourne

4. Tumbles Playhouse

Tumbles Playhouse is a gorgeous indoor play centre for kids of all ages, but also has two separate play areas for kids under 3, and for children up to 18 months.

The "construction zone" play area for kids aged 3 and below features huge building blocks, rockers, a ball pit, and a jumping inflatable, and the gated infant play area is specially designed for crawlers and smaller toddlers to 18 months. For older kids, they'll have a blast on the giant three-story play structure made up of tunnels, slides, a Burmese bridge, a ball pit, a flying fox, a super-fast double astro slide, and two big inflatables.

The onsite cafe has a health-food twist and provides hearty meals as well as snacks like popcorn, fairy bread, fruit sticks and kids' hot chocolates.

Location: 197 Champion Road, Williamstown

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5. Ground Up

Ground Up: Building Big Ideas, Together immerses young children in an imaginative world of sensory discovery and construction-play that will ignite their lifelong engagement with science, technology, engineering and maths

Future aeronautical engineers can design and construct flying contraptions; little sparks can make patterns and pictures with lights on a giant wall of colourful light-up switches; pint-sized problem solvers get to experiment and construct colourful three-dimensional puzzles; and for all the littlies who love to touch and experiment, there is a giant, colourful car wash to be engineered into action.

In the quieter baby zone, the earliest learners and their carers can lounge within soft forms, gaze at the mirrored reflections and gently turn the wall spinners to create a cascade of materials within.

Location: Scienceworks, 2 Booker St, Spotswood

6. Museum of Art and Play (MoPA)

With locations in both Melbourne and Geelong, MoPA is a truly wonderful way to spend a day with kids of all ages in Melbourne and its surroundings.

This children's museum is dedicated to engaging and immersing kids in educational and fun ways—there's a soft play area, a creative art car, and a whole lot more—making it the perfect indoor activity with kids when it's particularly cold outside! 

Locations:
MoPA Geelong: 51 McKillop Street, Geelong
MoPA Melbourne: 247 Bay Road, Sandringham

7. LEGOLAND Discovery Centre

The incredible DUPLO Farm Adventure Zone at LEGOLAND Discovery Centre is the perfect play zone for children aged 2-5. It's designed to inspire interactive social play, support development and encourage kids to have fun!

Behind the giant barn doors, children can explore a soft play farmhouse where they can build with DUPLO and climb, crawl, slide and swing. The new zone is home to a farmyard of life-size DUPLO animals, and is a great option for somewhere to take little kids when it's too cold to be outside! 

Location: Level 2/1341 Dandenong Rd, Chadstone

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