School Holiday Activities - Clash of the Titans!

Film: Shrek vs Buzz!

Shrek's back - it ain't ogre till it's ogre, folks - but this fourth and final adventure, Shrek Forever After, finds our hero domesticated and depressed and when a deal with Rumpelstiltskin goes bung, all smell breaks loose: witches try to capture him, pied pipers attempt to hypnotise him and villagers sharpen their pitchforks anew! Screening from 17 Jun.

Facing off against Shrek for the title of biggest family film this winter is Toy Story 3, which picks up ten years on and finds Andy leaving for college and dumping Woody, Buzz and the gang in a day-care centre where Ken Doll (voiced by Michael Keaton) and Mr Pricklepants (former 007 Timothy Dalton) convince them that home is where the heart is. Screening from 24 Jun.

Theatre: Pudding vs Gruffalo!

Norman Lindsay's classic 1918 comic fantasy The Magic Pudding is now a musical aimed at "3 to 93 year olds". The barmy yarn follows Bunyip Bluegum koala, his friend Sam Sawnoff the penguin and sailor Bill Barnacle and their adventures with a cantankerous pudding with the talent for replenishing no matter how many times he is eaten.

Battling the Pudding for the hearts of Sydney's little luvvies is the roast fox, scrambled snake, owl ice cream-devouring Gruffalo whose pursuit of Mouse through the deep dark wood made Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler's book a classic. This musical won the 2009 Sydney Theatre Award for Best Children's Production and now returns for a winter run. 

Art: Vivid vs Biennale!

Vivid Sydney is heavily adult-oriented, but Macquarie Visions is a family-friendly festival of light that promises levitating sandstone (really) and shafts of light exploding from the earth. St Mary's Cathedral,The Mint, Parliament House, Hyde Park Barracks, Mitchell Library and the Conservatorium of Music will all be transformed en route to the vividly lit Opera House sails.

Vying with Vivid for kid culture vulture kudos is Biennale. And while Cockatoo Island is a fun day out with free ferries, flying cars, prisoner maps and freak-outs, the island's jumping castle by Sydney artist Brook Andrew is adults-only! Head to the MCA instead where there's a Family Art Day with music, tours and art trails, free Mad Mondays (5& 12 July) with art classes twice a day and GenerationNext, an after-hours event for teens which is strictly "no teachers, no adults"! 

Museums: Mummies vs Dinosaurs!

Indiana Jones Juniors should crack the whip over mum and dad to get to Sydney's own Egyptian pyramid (well, quadrangle) of discovery this June. Mummified humans, cats, birds and crocodiles are all part of the ‘Travels with Herodotus' exhibition at the Nicholson Museum.

Stuffed? Yes. Stuffy? No way. The Australian Museum has been amazing Syd kids of all ages since 1827 and this June they've got live crocodiles, snakes, squid and lizards and endless nooks, crannies and bizarre artifacts to uncover. Don't miss the Dangerous Australia wing filled to the gills with interactive moving animals in their permanent Dinosaurs exhibition! 

More kids events, family friendly and activities for children in Sydney? Sign up for our weekly newsletter