Suitable for: all ages

NAIDOC in the City is a big highlight of NAIDOC Week each year – and it’s a great event to bring the kids for some free entertainment.

ARIA winning singer-songwriter Christine Anu is headlining the free concert, which also features soul, funk and jazz artist Bumpy, R&B artist Zipporah and hip hop artist Crooked TP.

Bring the littlies to have a boogie – and don’t forget to check out the art and design market, where you can support First Nations small creative businesses as well as join in free creative artist-led activities and workshops, run by the Koorie Heritage Trust.

When: Friday 10 July, 12pm–5.30pm

Where: Main Square

Cost: Free – just the price of your breakfast and snacks (or BYO)

Recommended for: kids aged 8+

Each school holidays, ACMI run a program of ‘Kids Flicks with Feelings’ – a curated film program designed for kids and their families to explore ideas and feelings. These holidays they’re screening two animated films exploring time travel: the futuristic animated film, ARCO and the Japanese animated film The Girl Who Leapt Through Time.

In Arco, the protagonist is Arco, an eleven-year-old boy desperate to turn twelve so he is allowed to fly and travel back in time, like his parents and older sister. Impatient, he pinches his sister’s rainbow flying suit and finds himself stranded in 2075 – nine hundred years in the past.

ACMI’s curator says of Arco: “There’s undoubtedly a big adventure here, but also a gentle message throughout the film that kids need their parents for love, support and protection and we shouldn’t take them for granted. It’s a sweet message, and one that might earn parents who take their kids to the film a quiet cuddle afterwards.”

ACMI’s curator notes that The Girl Who Leapt Through Time is “a call for compassion disguised as a science fiction adventure. The film focuses on the texture of teenage life: how our small dramas matter to us, but also how easily we overlook the way they ripple out to the people around us.”

Suggested itinerary

Follow up Japanese animated film The Girl Who Leapt Through Time with a Japanese-themed lunch – pop into Chocolate Buddha in the Main Square afterwards for a bento box or some sushi.

When: ARCO is screening during the first week of the school holidays, Monday–Friday at 1pm and is recommended for kids aged 8+. The Girl Who Leapt Through Time is screening on Monday 6 July–Friday 10 July at 1pm and is recommended for 12+

Where: ACMI cinemas, level 2

Cost: $9–14 per ticket. Babes in arms under 2 admitted free.

Recommended for: pre-school and primary-aged kids

Newly opened at Fed Square, Good Nature Hotel’s outdoor (but undercover) playground in the Upper Square will be a boon for parents.

It’s a top meeting spot if you’re making a day-out play date with other families with small children – and perfectly situated if you’re looking for somewhere to rest and recuperate while out and about, where you can keep an eye on your kids.

Good Nature Hotel also has a great kids’ menu, offering fish or chicken nuggets, a sugo pasta option, cheeseburger or parma, or a frog in a pond or ice-cream if it’s time for a sweetie treatie.

The Good Nature Hotel playground is located at the back of Fed Square, near the Main Square entrance to ACMI and the upper level entrance to the Atrium.

Suggested itinerary

Meet at Good Nature Hotel for breakie before heading to NGV Australia for their free day of NAIDOC Week celebration activities on Saturday 11 July between 10am and 5pm.

Drop into the badge-making workshop on level 3 between 11.45am and 4pm where the kids can make their own NAIDOC themed badge, then head to the Ku’ Camp Dogs drawing activity, where they can draw their Ku’-inspired drawing and learn about the camp dogs of Aurukun, up near Cape York.

Waduwurrung artist Deane Gilson will lead a Children’s tour of Wurrdha Marra at 2pm, and if the kids are looking for some more adventure, they can join the self-directed Follow Me! Activity Trail – just pick up an activity sheet from the information desk to get started.

If the kids need a pick-me-up, head back to Good Nature Hotel for chicken nuggets or out to Riverland Bar by the Birrarung for pizzas.

When: Saturday 11 July between 10am and 5pm

Where: The Ian Potter Centre: NGV Australia (enter via Atrium at Fed Square) and Good Nature Hotel in the Upper Square

Cost: Free, just the cost of your meals

Recommended for: secondary school students

If you’ve got a budding artist to entertain these holidays, we’d highly recommend checking out the free TOP ARTS 2026 exhibition at The Ian Potter Centre: NGV Australia.

The exhibition features artworks by top performing VCE art students in 2025, and might provide some inspiration for a young, creatively inclined person in your life.

The exhibition includes textile works, ceramics, photography, paintings, digital art and gives an insight into the range of themes of interest to this next generation of emerging artists, including identity, landscape and everyday life.

Suggested itinerary

Take your teen to the TOP ARTS 2026 exhibition in the morning, then head up the stairs into the Main Square afterwards to find Chocolate Buddha for express sushi. Grab a seat at the sushi train bar to select your fave sushi rolls and Japanese treats, to talk about what you’ve seen and which works resonate most.

When: TOP ARTS 2026 is open daily,10am–5pm at The Ian Potter Centre: NGV Australia, Ground Level, NGV Design Studio. Chocolate Buddha is open Wednesday–Sunday, 12pm till late

Cost: Free, just the cost of your meals

Recommended for: kids aged 6–14

The Koorie Heritage Trust’s free school holiday workshops are one of Melbourne’s best-kept secrets. The program of small-group workshops vary each school holidays, and are run by First Nations artists and creatives. The workshops provide all materials as well as something to eat and drink, while offering a relaxing space to enjoy a creative activity with your kids.

These school holidays, to celebrate NAIDOC Week and the anniversary of the Aboriginal Flag (which was first flown publicly on July 12, 1971), Kristy Dickinson from Haus of Dizzy will be hosting a free kids’ workshop, where your child can make their own Aboriginal Flag keychain in her distinct, glitzy-fun Haus of Dizzy style.

Certain to book out – we’d recommend getting in quick!

When: Thursday 9 July, from 11am–3pm

Where: KHT, on level 3 of the Birrarung Building on

Cost: Free, registrations required.