Ten great things to do in Victoria with kids during the Easter holidays

From vintage steam trains and a night at the museum, to a sand sculpting exhibition and High Country billycart race, here are 10 of the best things to keep the kids entertained these school holidays.

Melbourne Museum sleepover

If you’ve ever fancied a Ben Stiller-inspired night at the museum, pack your torch and sleeping bag because the Melbourne Museum is throwing families on an after-hours slumber party. You’ll sleep among the dinosaurs after watching The Super Mario Galaxy Movie in IMAX and touring the exhibits by torchlight. The experience, from April 4 to 9, ends with a hot breakfast and triceratops puppet encounter. museumsvictoria.com.au

Steamrail to Bendigo Easter Festival

Hop aboard a vintage steam train from Southern Cross Station to Bendigo for an Easter Sunday jaunt that’s double the fun. Ride the rattler in a 1906 carriage, premium compartment or first-class rail car and arrive at the Bendigo Easter Festival in style. You’ll have five hours in the city to enjoy the street parade, market, rides and entertainment, before the train chugs back to Melbourne, traversing historic tunnels and viaducts. steamrail.com.au

Noojee Trestle Bridge

For a DIY window into Victoria’s rail heritage, visit the Noojee Trestle Bridge. Set amongst towering gum trees less than two hours east of Melbourne, this free attraction is one of the last remaining timber trestle bridges in Victoria. And she’s a beauty at 21 metres high and just over 100 metres long. Afterwards, call in to the Noojee Heritage Centre and Railway Goods Shed in town where the kids can don vintage costumes (donation appreciated) and scramble aboard a 1950s J Class steam locomotive. The Noojee Hotel has a free egg hunt on Easter Saturday.

visitgipplsand.com.au

Mount Buller Billy Cart Bash

Steel your nerves for an old-school billycart race through the streets of Mount Buller village. This epic April 11 community event, now in its second year, sees a fearless bunch of kids (and adults) compete for line honours in all manner of homemade racing machines. It’s a thrilling spectator sport, even if you don’t have the mettle to compete. mtbuller.com.au

Great Ocean Road trip

Check out the iconic 12 Apostles before visitor fees are introduced. An accessible viewing platform, just 500 metres return from the carpark, provides a clifftop vantage point over the seven remaining apostles and the dramatic Gibson Steps. Further west, peer into the treacherous Blowhole thanks to a new $8 million viewing platform at Loch Ard Gorge. Don’t miss the Easter egg hunts held at The Great Ocean Road Chocolaterie and Ice Creamery during the long weekend. parksvic.gov.au

1 Hotel Melbourne kids’ program

For a kid-themed city staycation that goes beyond a hotel room teepee, check in to 1 Hotel Melbourne. The new sustainability-forward Docklands hotel has a “Seedlings” school holiday program championing sport and nature-inspired fun (with some chocolatey treats thrown in). Cosmic storytelling, star-making, bubble bath workshops, cookie decorating and pickleball lessons top the program at this plant-festooned hotel close to Marvel Stadium, Sealife Aquarium and Polly Woodside. 1hotels.com/melbourne

Benalla Street Art Festival

Forget finger painting and colouring in, the Benalla Street Art Festival is visual art writ large. This free public art event, 2½ hours north of Melbourne, transforms the town into a giant open-air gallery, with a host of local and international artists set to create 11 new large-scale murals during the last weekend of the school holidays (April 17 to 19). So, what’s in it for kids? Super-sized outdoor games, face painting, entertainment, a silent disco and even rolling art (think skateboard decorating). There are also 100-odd murals to ogle. benallastreetartfestival.com.au

Australian Sand Sculpting Championships

Blow your kids’ minds with insights into what can be achieved with a humble bucket and spade at the Australian Sand Sculpting Championships. Held on the Frankston waterfront from March 28 to April 26, the event features 16 giant sculptures carved from more than 400 tonnes of sand. Fourteen local and international artists will compete for the championship title, and visitors can vote for their favourite in the People’s Choice Awards. sandstormevents.com

Slumber Safari

What’s better than a day at the zoo? A sleepover on the African savannah – sans passport. Werribee Open Range Zoo’s Slumber Safari enables families to bed down in a glamping tent perched above the animal enclosure. The 20-hour experience includes a program of up-close animal encounters, after-dark tours, African-inspired cuisine and marshmallow toasting by the campfire. And if you wake to a lion’s roar during the night, there’s no school to worry about the next morning. zoo.org.au

Enlighten Easter Festival

Did you know Bendigo is home to the largest Buddhist stupa outside Asia? And that every Easter the Peace Park surrounding the Great Stupa of Universal Compassion morphs into an enchanting garden lightscape for the Enlighten festival? This year the event will be held on Good Friday eve (April 2), kicking off a long weekend of festivities in Victoria’s third-largest regional city. stupa.au

Catherine Best is the author of Ultimate Family Holidays Australia, published by Hardie Grant.