Melbourne Museum – What’s On and Tips for your Visit

Melbourne Museum offers a great day out for people of all ages and the perfect activity for those all too frequent too hot or too cold/wet days in Melbourne.

Melbourne Museum

Head out for the day to one of Melbourne’s best museums – Melbourne Museum where there is something for the whole family.

Adults will be drawn to exhibits just as much as younger generations and want to explore in conjunction with chaperoning the little ones.

Make sure to put aside at least a few hours because there is so much to see. After 3 hours our kids were still engaged and did not want to leave – My curiosity was still active also.

The exhibits are informative, engaging and educational with crowd favourites being the dinosaurs, rainforest, olden day homes and the Children’s Museum (play area).

What to see at Melbourne Museum

The Melbourne Museum offers many exhibitions such as:

Dinosaur Walk

One of the most popular things to see at the Melbourne Museum by far! Learn about the lives of dinosaurs and view skeletons of 17 prehistoric animals. Animation showcases how these animals died years ago as well as lived and reproduced during their reign of earth.

Dynamic Earth

Another favourite, the kids were fascinated with Earth and where we live in our big ol’ universe. They loved the giant crystals, diamonds and gold nuggets as well as weighing themselves to understand how much they would be worth if they were made of gold.

The First People

An exhibition celebrating Victoria’s Aboriginal culture, history and achievements. Showcasing the Koorie community, aged 8 to 72 years, speak about their culture and identity.

This was perfect as both my children are learning about the history of Australia and its first residents, so I was duly informed of their extensive knowledge and was able to verify their class listening skills against the teachings of the exhibit.

Milarri Garden Trail

Walk amongst plants and waterways, explore sculptures, and caves. This is a self-guided trail while learning about indigenous flora and fauna.

The Melbourne Story

The kids loved walking through worker cottages, observing how people lived in the 1890s in a relative basic form compared to today; no big screen tv’s or fridges. This is an interesting exhibit showcasing the evolution of Melbournian life over the past century.

Forest Secrets

Listen to bird songs as you walk amongst Eucalypts, Rare Plants, Ferns and Wildlife showcasing a part of Victoria’s landscape.

Learn about the evolution of Eucalypt forests and smell the misty air and damp earth; it is sometimes nice to pretend you are out in nature instead of Melbourne’s CBD.

Bugs Alive

Kids are fascinated seeing giant spiders and redbacks, and getting up close to insects, snails, beetles, butterflies, and other creatures.

Learn about their eating habits and how they breed. This display changes regularly so you can enjoy a new version at each visit.

Children’s Gallery

A must for kids 5 and under! (however when Mums Little Explorers attended our 7-year-old could attend with her younger sibling).

The Children’s Gallery offers hands on exploration for kids to play and learn by exploring plants and their stories. The gallery gets busy and must be pre-booked online to avoid disappointment, one 50-minute session per visit is allowed and sessions are free.

School Holiday Activities at the Melbourne Museum

The Melbourne Museum is a fantastic family experience for the school holidays and will keep the whole family engaged and inspired.

There are usually some special activities planed each school holidays too. Plan for some follow through with related books, stories, or documentaries at home to keep the curiosity active.

Melbourne Museum Membership

You can now get yourself and your kids a Museums Victoria Membership which covers not only covers Melbourne Museum, but also the Scienceworks and the Immigration Museum and a whole lot of other benefits. One of the best family memberships you can buy!

Tips for Visiting Melbourne Museum

Plan to spend the day, pack some lunchboxes there is lots to do and see.
The children’s museums is a must for kids under 5, booking is essential it gets very busy and you don’t want to miss out!
There is a café inside for coffees and light snacks.
Parking is located under Melbourne Museum; the car park is open 7 days a week from 5.30am to midnight daily. Enter via Rathdowne Street or Nicholson Street.

Details

Address:
Melbourne Museum
11 Nicholson Street, Carlton, Melbourne
Opening Hours
Open 10am–5pm daily
Closed Good Friday and Christmas Day
Parking:
Flexi Bird rate of $14. Easy to park, take the lift right up to the Museum door
Website for more info>>