Winter no barrier to holiday fun
Winter may be here but there’s still plenty to do during the July school holidays.
For starters, Kidzstuff Theatre has adapted much-loved Little Bo Peep to create its own version.
With the usual Kiwi twist on traditional fairy stories, songs and audience participation, Jessica Bo Peep runs from July 7-20 at Tararua Tramping Club,Mt Victoria.
The storyline goes something like this: Jessica has lost her sheep, and while trying to find them, she has lost herself too.
Bo Peep has fun characters, silly songs, valuable life lessons and even a talking dog. Join her at 10am or 11.30am Monday to Friday, or 10am Saturdays. Tickets $10.50, children under two free, or the special opening preview on Saturday, July 7, $7. To book phone 04 385 0292 or visit eventspronto.co.nz/KidzStuff
Meanwhile, visitors to Wellington’s Space Place at the Carter Observatory can explore and create light. Suitable for children aged seven-plus, the one-day programme is on Wednesday, July 18, and Thursday, July 19, 9am-noon.
Children will learn how light enables them to see the world around them and they’ll get answers to many questions.
Like: Why do your eyes adjust to light when you go inside on a sunny day or go out late at night? How do cameras ‘‘see’’?
They will also create light art with long-exposure photography and make a pin-hole viewer that will turn their world upside down. Cost $30, bookings essential; visit museumswellington.org.nz
The ever-popular Capital E is guaranteed to pop any holiday boredom with its line-up.
At the two-day Soap Opera OnTV children aged 10-plus will create a soap opera on Wednesday, July 18, and Thursday, July 19. Cost $99 each.
Two digital days are aimed at those over eight: sports desk on Tuesday, July 10, and Wake Up NZ on Tuesday, July 17. Cost $59 each.
With sports desk, kids will liverecord a show in the OnTV studio then head to MediaLab to make music, mixing instruments, samples and beats to create their own new track.
At Wake Up NZ, kids will become newsreaders to report on strange goings-on in Aotearoa, then head to MediaLab to explore the world of 2D animation using Animation-ish software to create animated drawings and stories.
Capital E’s new Mini MediaLab taster sessions on Wednesday, July 11 and Thursday, July 12, are for kids eight-plus. At $10 per session, they can try digital painting, put their imagination on screen with 3D game design, craft a tune or try coding.
From July 9, Play HQ, Capital E’s free public play space for over threes, will become Blobbles, a lumpy-bumpy, squishy-bouncy, habitat for sensory exploration.
Kids aged five-plus can have bubble fun with the super-soapy Big Bubble Pop workshop with Richard Kerr the Bubble Man from POP, on Wednesday, July 18. For $10, they will make a bubble wand and make mega-bubbles to float around Queens Wharf.
They could even put on a lab coat, step into Capital E Slimertist Lab and make custom slime to take home. Suitable for ages six to eight, Slimertist Lab is on Thursday, July 12, and costs $15.
At the Bubble Arttack workshop, kids aged six to eight will have fun with bubble-themed print making and art creating on Wednesday, July 11, for $45.
To register for a workshop visit capitale.org.nz or phone 04 913 3740.