When: Wednesday 15 or Thursday 16 April

Time: Half a day, morning

Suitable for ages: Primary-aged children

Cost: Free – just the price of your lunch (or BYO)

10am – When you arrive at Fed Square, the Main Square will be bustling with activity as part of The Little Food Festival – Australia’s only food festival designed just for kids.

Head to the Welcome Tent where the kids can pick up their own map – there are different stamps for them to collect at six different activation stations, to learn all out about our food system. 

10.15am – Find the Grow station, where kids can plant their own seedling to take home! Choose from lettuce, silverbeet or an edible viola (flower) – and learn about the cultural significance of the Murnong (Yam Daisy) with First Peoples artists.  

10.30am – Visit the Move station, where kids can join in Farm Dash with Monash University students – it’s a fast-paced game of two farm journeys that helps kids learn about the different journeys that food can take to get to get to their plate, depending on whether the ingredients are bought from a supermarket or a local market.  

10.45am – All this activity calls for some quiet time. Find the Little Food Library, where the kids can relax and listen to a story book read by a children’s librarian from Melbourne Libraries. 

11am – It’s time to learn about the choices we make when we buy food, at the Buy station. Visit the market where kids can taste some delicious fruit and veg, or create a seasonal food calendar to put up at home.  

11.15am – Head to the Eat station, where the kids can taste some apple varieties, discover the secret superpowers hiding in our lunchboxes – and learn about different fruit and vegetables from the African diaspora. 

11.45am – Let’s cook! At the Cook station, kids can touch, taste and smell bush food, make cordial with Australian native ingredients –and build their own cucumber caterpillar to eat! 

12pm – lunchtime! Find something tasty at the food trucks on Swanston Street Forecourt, and then relax to watch the stage program, with emcees Thanh the Fruit Nerd and Costa the Garden Gnome (ABC’s Costa Georgiadis).

Find a deckchair or a spot on the green grass to watch the demonstrations. You might learn about how to save food from becoming waste, or how you can use your balcony or garden to grow your own food. 

12.45pm – The final station is the Recycle station – kids can make and flavour their own jar of tasty pickles, then visit the CERES stand to learn about healthy soil and our tiny and mighty friend: the worm! 

1pm – Before you head home for the day, walk through the Atrium to the top floor of the car park, to find the Test Garden. It’s a lovely spot for a bit of respite, and the kids can discover many beautiful plants and see what flowers are in bloom. If it’s a warm day, they might be able to spot some insects buzzing around the garden, collecting pollen – playing a vital role in helping more plants to grow. 

Time to head home on the train to let those young minds rest and let all that learning sink in. When you’re home, you can get into the garden (or balcony) to plant those seedlings together, to watch them grow. 

The Little Food Festival is on 15 and 16 April, 2026. Check out the full program of activity to learn more, and help plan your day.

For more free school holiday activities, check out our April School Holidays page.