Top ten museum attractions for kids

Looking for family-friendly museum experiences for the little ones these school holidays? Time Out has you covered

First published on 4 Jul 2012. Updated on 29 Jan 2013.

The Colosseum in Lego, Nicholson Museum
	It's a Colosseum. Made of Lego. A Lego Colosseum. Coinciding with the Nicholson Museum's 50 Stories, 50 Objects exhibition, Lego lovers of all ages will enjoy this take on ancient Roman history.
Insects, arachnids and crustaceans at the Macleay Museum
	Arthropodological wonders await at the University of Sydney’s natural history collection, including the positively Kafkaesque Titan beetle - the largest beetle in the world.
Manly Sea Life Sanctuary
	The dawning of a new age of aquaria: Oceanworld Manly has been revamped and reborn with an emphasis on conservation... and penguins. Oh, and fancy a swim with the Grey Nurse Sharks?
50 Objects 50 Stories: Extraordinary Curiosities, Nicholson Museum
	Nicholson Museum has dusted off stories of its extensive collection of antiquities for a new exhibition. Seven-year-old museum attendee Bill Blake interviewed curator Michael Turner about the exhibition for Time Out.
Fish in Australian Art, Australian National Maritime Museum
	Fish have been a recurring motif in Australian art since the first inspired Aboriginal daubed ochre on sandstone – but never before have so many representations of our marine friends been gathered in one place.
Deep Oceans, Australian Museum
	Who says you need a submarine to journey 20,000 leagues under the sea? The new Australian Museum exhibition showcases all the weird and rare creatures that call the deep sea home, including the vampire squid, the sea mouse, squat lobsters and the Blobfish.
Love Lace, Powerhouse Museum
	The Powerhouse Museum presents an exhibition pondering the spaces that define the boundaries of a composition: the part of the object that, strictly speaking, isn’t part of the object at all.
Madame Tussauds
	Ever dreamed of getting your photo taken with Johnny Depp or Cate Blanchett? Copping a feel of Hugh Jackman’s biceps or stealing a kiss from Angelina Jolie? Sitting on Oprah’s couch or taking a phone call for Barack Obama?
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Exhibition, Powerhouse Museum
	Now that the Hogwarts Express has chuffed its way out of the building, the Powerhouse Museum presents another glorious tribute to a seven-book children's series turned movie franchise: CS Lewis's The Chronicles of Narnia. That's right – everyone's favourite thinly veiled Christian allegory about a magical world inside a closet hits the Powerhouse in exhibition form, featuring costumes from the films, a recreation of CS Lewis's study and a strong scientific component.
Remembering Titanic: 100 Years, Australian National Maritime Museum
	As the New Yorker recently and eloquently described it, the story of the Titanic is the "drama of a flawed and self-destructive hero, a protagonist of great achievements and overweening presumption." The story that continues to capture - and haunt - the world's imagination again and again is being told in a new exhibition at the Australian National Maritime Museum.