Santa❜s Sandpit at Darling Harbour

Join Santa and his elves for a day of Christmas cheer with eBay.

While the 'dig' part of Santa's Sandpit dig is sold out, there are still so many reasons to visit Santa's Sandpit. 

Kids can explore the sandpit with life-sized interactive toys and activities including: 

• Mount Christmas - Listen for the rumbling sounds of Mount Christmas before the steam evaporates from the top of the volcano
• Giant LEGO® - Build a giant Christmas construction with enormous LEGO® blocks placed throughout Santa’s Sandpit by eBay
• Santa’s Throne - Santa is coming to town early this year and kids can visit his throne and let him know what they would like for Christmas
• eBay Christmas Window - An interactive, shoppable window to make shopping for toys easy
• Christmas Craft - Make personalised Christmas cards and decorations for friends and family

Plus face painting, meeting Santa and so much more!

Sound exciting? It's going to get even more exciting when your kids hear that Playschool's Rachael Coopes is going to be acting as Santa's little helper on the day.

Playschool's Rachael Coopes tells ellaslist why she's so excited to be Santa's little helper at Santa's Sandpit, Christmas and her favourite spots to take her family in Sydney.

We're getting so excited about Christmas over at ellaslist. Can you tell us your favourite parts of the Christmas season and what you're looking forward to most this year? 

I love the anticipation of Christmas Day, so Christmas Eve is my favourite. I know none of us are going to sleep, as we are all so excited waiting for Santa to come. I'm so excited to have extended family and friends get together this year. We'll also have some friends who can't get home to the United States over, and I love being the home they come to.

People are looking at affordability more than ever this season (it's been a tough year for families). What are your favourite traditions that don't cost a thing? 

Playing Mariah Carey on loop is very exciting, and my son has agreed that from 1st December, we can play Christmas carols, so we love doing that. I love making Christmas cupcakes. I'm not a baker, but it's super affordable, and you can even get companies to send you everything with instructions. It's become a tradition to make the cakes together and give them to Gabriel's friends as presents.

Another thing we do is wear Christmas pyjamas to help get in the festive mood.

It's great to get out and connect with people this year after two years of lockdown. We love how fun Santa's Sandpit in Darling Harbour looks and how it will bring the community together for seasonal fun. What drew you to the event, and what elements of the day are you most looking forward to? 

I love doing events where you get to see kids all together. It was hard with Gabe as an only child in the pandemic and with lockdowns, so watching people and kids together enjoying themselves is so great. The festive seasons have been so fun, like Halloween and the coming of Christmas, seeing the joy on their faces when they get to do an event with lots of other kids.

After a tough couple of years, I was drawn to an interactive event where we could see all the kids enjoy themselves and mark the start of the Christmas lead-up. The lead-up to Christmas is so fun, sometimes better than the day itself. I love the anticipation in the air.

I also loved that the toys are affordable and sustainable, which are some of the Christmas trends. Sustainability will be a big theme in our house.

Lastly, we'd love to know your favourite places to visit with your family in Sydney. Where do you go for family fun?

That's a good question. I like going to The Grounds at Christmas as they have good coffee and fun things for the kids.  

We're so lucky to have Christmas in summer, as we are big beachgoers. 

We love going to our favourite eateries and especially Gertrude and Alice.

They again have great coffee for me, books for the kids, and second-hand books that the kids can read, so we do that frequently in summer.

I like going to The Rocks at Christmas as they have interactive activities by the markets, and we can go to China Town after if we want some dumplings.

Where:  Tumbalong Park
When:   12 November, 10:00 am – 3:30 pm AEDT
Cost:     Free

Find out more about Santa's Sandpit on the Eventbrite Website.

Tell them ellaslist sent you!