School Holiday Activities for Teens & Tweens!

This article shares some of the best school holiday activities for Brisbane teens and tweens!

Are you looking for school holiday activities for teenagers in Brisbane? We know that finding fun things to do in Brisbane for teens is a sure fire way to get them worn out and happy! And when they are happy, we are happy. Right?!

School holiday activities for teenagers in Brisbane

Because finding good school holiday activities for teenagers can be challenging, we’ve rounded up our favourite teenage activities Brisbane has to offer. Share this article with your older kids and they might not hate you for suggesting it. (We must stress the ‘might’ – we are dealing with tweens and teens after all.)

These school holiday activities for teens range from indoor and quiet to outdoor and energy-burning.

Lego workshops,  gaming and coding

Building Blocks Studio

• What: Build on your electronics, engineering, and robotic interests with these great workshops and teen school holiday activities – including Lego and coding.
• When: Term time classes and school holiday workshops
• Where: 47 Noble Ave, Northgate
• Website: Building Blocks Studio

Arts and crafts school holiday activities

Flying Fox Studios

• What: From small babies to adults, play is a way to process our experiences and make sense of the world. Flying Fox Studios provide opportunities for imagination, skills, and confidence to grow and develop, in a fun and original way.
• When: Holiday program running through the spring holidays 2024 (term time lessons also available)
• Who: Suitable for ages 4 – 17
• Cost: $34 per session
• Where: 749-753 Southpine Rd, Everton Park
• Website: Flying Fox Studios

The Nest Workshops

If your teen loves the process of designing, creating, or handcrafting something unique, why not consider a craft class run by The Nest. The school holiday activities for teens classes are ideal for 10 to 17-year-olds who want to try their hand at something new and just a little bit different. Read more here.

Embroiderers’ Guild of QLD

In a similar vein, the Embroiderers’ Guild of Queensland offers workshops for kids during the school holidays. Lunch is sometimes provided and your tween or teen can try their hand at this ancient craft and take home their own embroidered pinch purse. For further details see here.

Cooking school holiday activities

Come and Cook

If your tween or teen is showing an interest in the culinary arts, a cooking class could be the activity of their dreams.

• What: Come and Cook is the brainchild of Karen Browne, a former qualified primary school teacher who began her own cooking business while living in London (2002-2010) because she wanted to share her skills and love of cooking with others.
• Who: The cooking classes are designed for a wide range of young chefs.
• Where: 11 Grenoble Street, The Gap
• Website: Come and Cook

Active school holiday activities for teens

UQ Sport

Keep fit, healthy, and de-stress at UQ Sport with so many great school holiday activities for teens. There’s an activity to suit every taste with team sports, tennis, track and field, swimming pools, and pool parties!

• When: Term time and school holidays
• Where: University of Queensland, Building 25, Union Rd, St Lucia
• Website: UQ Sport

Go Kart Krazy!

Grab your mates or be a solo challenger for a full-throttle adrenalin rush at Kingston Park Raceway. Satisfy your need for speed on the tracks and enjoy the amusement rides when you take advantage of the school holiday bonus offer. One of our favourite teen school holiday activities!

• When: Open 5 days per week (closed Mondays and Tuesdays)
• Where: 20 Mudgee Street, Kingston
• Website: Kingston Park Raceway

Segway tours

Glide along the river and explore Brisbane on a segway tour! They can last from 15 minutes to up to 2 hours. We did a segway review to show you how fun this is!

Kangaroo Segway Tours

• When: Day or night tours available, 7 days a week
• Who: Suitable for beginners to experienced riders
• Where: Leaves from Kennards Self Storage, 52 Bank Street, West End
• Website: Kangaroo Segway Tours

Scoot, skate, ride and glide at RampAttak

Visit Queensland’s largest indoor skatepark! The best fun you can have on wheels. No bookings required.

• When: Open every day from 9am to 9pm
• Where: 3 Mary Street, Blackstone
• Website: Rampattak

See Brisbane indoor skate parks here.

See Brisbane outdoor skate parks here.

TreeTop Challenge

Australia’s largest guided zip line tour and high ropes adventure park is a perfect school holiday activity for teens. Get amongst the treetops and traverse a course of rope bridges, swings, and 11 huge flying foxes and Tarzan Swings. You’ll need to leave your fear of heights at home!

• When: Daily except Christmas Day and Boxing Day
• Where: Cedar Creek Falls Road, North Tamborine
• Website: TreeTop Challenge at Thunderbird Park

Indoor rock climbing school holiday activities for teens

Indoor rock climbing and parkour are some of the most popular things teenagers can do during the holidays. And luckily in Brisbane, we have a huge range of choices.

Jungle Adventure Play

• What: Jungle Adventure Play is a huge newish indoor adventure play centre in Tingalpa that has something for everyone! A ninja warrior course, high ropes challenge, heaps of vibrant and challenging climbing walls and a 2.5m up to 5m jumping platform where your tween or teen can safely land on a giant inflatable cushion. If you also have little ones in tow there’s a dedicated play area just for them plus a massive under 8’s play gym with multiple levels, slides, and heaps more. For you, there’s a really great cafe with delicious food and coffee! It’s licensed too and a good spot to host birthday parties for the bigger kids.
• When: Mon – Thurs, Sun, 9am – 5pm | Friday and Saturday, 9am – 8pm
• Where: 31 Proprietary St, Tingalpa 
• Website: Jungle Adventure Play

Urban Climb

• What: A test of strength and skill on the indoor rock climbing and bouldering walls. No prior experience needed.
• When: Open daily
• Where:
  • Newstead: 5 Morse Street
  • Townsville: 1 Darcy Drive, Idalia
  • Milton: 17 Roy Street
  • West End: 2/220 Montague Road
• Website: Urban Climb

Crank Climbing – Indoor Rock Climbing & Parkour

• What: Develop fitness, strength, and agility on the indoor rock climbing walls and parkour (freerunning) courses at Crank Fitness.
• When: Mon – Fri, 10am – 9:30pm | Sat, 10am – 8pm | Sun, 10am – 6pm
• Where: 2/537 Kessels Road, Macgregor
• Website: Crank Climbing

Escape Room Challenge school holiday activities for teens

Escape rooms promote team spirit and bonding, which is great for families, and they give players a chance to indulge in an immersive experience in an environment that is very different from home. They require logical thinking, creativity and communication and all members of the family get to express their unique set of skills, making escape rooms the ultimate multi-generational activity.

Find hidden clues and solve puzzles in a race against the clock. Different themes and experiences available at a number of locations. See them all here.

Escape Hunt

• When: Mon – Thurs, 9am – 8:30pm | Fri – Sat, 9am – 10pm | Sun 9am – 7pm
• Where: 77 Russell Street, West End
• Website: Escape Hunt

Puzzled Room Escape

• When: Open 6 days a week from 10am – 10pm, closed Tuesdays
• Where: 5/1177 Logan Road, Holland Park West
• Website: Puzzled Room Escape

Fox in a Box

We reviewed Fox in a Box here.

• When: Open 7 days a week from 10am – 10pm
• Where: Level 1, 150 Edward Street, Brisbane
• Website: Fox in a Box

Brisbane Ghost Tours

• What: Spend an evening touring some of Brisbane’s most haunted sites, from cemeteries and old buildings to Boggo Road Gaol. A guaranteed thriller!
• When: Evenings
• Where: Various locations around Brisbane and the Redlands
• Which companies: Jack Sim or Friends of South Brisbane Cemetery (Inc)

Laser Tag

Urban Xtreme

We reviewed Urban Xtreme here.

• When: Open 7 days a week with extended school holiday hours
• Where: 4/370 Nudgee Rd, Hendra
• Website: Urban-Xtreme

Laserzone

• What: Tag your friends before they tag you! Laser tag is hide and seek with a difference as you hunt down your opponents and tag them with your laser phasers. Watch your back – the hunter is also being hunted!
• When: Mon closed | Tues – Thurs, 12pm – 6pm | Fri, 12pm – 9pm | Sat, 10am – 9pm | Sun 10am – 5pm
• Where: 561 Gympie Road, Lawnton
• Website: Laserzone

Mini Golf for school holiday activities for teens

Victoria Park Golf Complex

• What: Victoria Park’s Putt Putt Mini Golf course is like no other you’ve experienced before. This challenging and exciting 18-hole Putt Putt Mini Golf course not only weaves around a rocky terrain while sporting a magnificent view of Brisbane’s CBD skyline, but is also fully licensed! Available to play morning, noon and night, Putt Putt Mini Golf at Victoria Park is a sure winner for your next get-together with friends and family. The Putt Putt Mini Golf course features sand and water traps and swinging poles. Bookings are essential. We reviewed Victoria Park here.
• When: Sun – Thurs, 6am – 10pm | Fri – Sat | 6am – 11pm
• Where: 309 Herston Road, Herston
• Website: Victoria Park Putt Putt Mini Golf

Golf Central Brisbane Airport

• What: Navigate the hazards to get around the 18-hole course in the fewest moves in this lively, fun, miniaturised golf game. No need to book.
• When: Mon, 9am – 10pm | Tues – Sun, 7am – 10pm
• Where: The Circuit, Skygate, Brisbane Airport
• Website: Golf Central Brisbane Airport

Indoor Skating

Skateaway

• What: Indoor skating plus inline hockey and figure skating.
• When: Closed on Mondays and Thursdays, check their website for session times.
• Where: 700 Albany Creek Road, Albany Creek
• Website: Skateaway

Indoor Ice Skating

Iceworld

• What: Escape the heat and chill out with friends at an ice rink, suitable for beginners to advanced figure skaters. Also offering speed skating, ice hockey, curling and synchronised skating. We reviewed Iceworld here.
• When: Open daily, check their website for sessions. Places are limited, so book online to avoid missing out.
• Where:
  • Acacia Ridge: 1179 Beaudesert Road
  • Boondall: 2304 Sandgate Road
• Website: Iceworld

Ten Pin Bowling

Zone Bowling

• What: No ‘three strikes and you’re out’ rule applies here: the aim of the game is to get 12 strikes in a row to score the perfect 300! Most bowling alleys have a disco atmosphere and offer arcades and other entertainments too. All AMF Bowling locations have been rebranded to Zone Bowling. As far as school holiday activities for teens go, ten pin bowling is one of the best, especially on rainy days.
• When: Open daily
• Where: 
  • Capalaba: 9 Currumbin Ct
  • Upper Mount Gravatt: Floor 2 – Westfield Mt Gravatt, Kessels Rd
  • Loganholme: Hyperdome, Pacific Highway
  • Macgregor: 533 Kessels Rd
  • Richlands: 407 Archerfield Rd
  • Robina: 1 Robina Town Centre Dr
  • Surfers Paradise: 8/10 Cavill Ave
• Website: Zone Bowling

Aspley 10 Pin Bowl

• When: Mon, Thurs, 8:30am – 10pm | Tues, 8:30am – 9:30pm | Wed, Fri, Sat, 8:30pm – 10:30pm | Sun, 8:30am – 9pm
• Where: 149 Albany Creek Road
• Website: Aspley 10 Pin Bowl

Indoor trampolining school holiday activities for teens

• What: You’ll be bouncing off the walls! Each centre has huge areas of interconnected trampolines and foam pits to practice your aerial skills. This is one of our favourite teenage holiday activities in Brisbane. 

Several locations to choose from:

Urban Xtreme

• When: Check website for each activity opening hours.
• Where: 4/370 Nudgee Rd
• Website: Urban-Xtreme

Bounce Inc.

• When: Every day
• Where:
  • Macgregor: 544 Kessels Road
  • Tingalpa: 40 Enterprise Place
• Website: Bounce Inc

Flip Out

• When: Mon – Thurs, 9:30am – 6:30pm | Fri, 9:30am – 9pm | Sat 9am – 9pm | Sun, 9am-6pm
• Where: 130-134 Gympie Road, Strathpine
• Website: Flip Out

Circus Skills

Flipside Circus

• What: From juggling to acrobatics and high-flying aerials and trapeze – you don’t have to run away to the circus to learn these fun skills (or maybe just for the holidays!) We highly recommend their tween & teen school holiday activities! Read our Flipside Circus review here.
• When: Classes all year round plus school holiday workshops
• Where: Riverfront Event Space at Northshore, 33 MacArthur Avenue, Hamilton
• Website: Flipside Circus Training Centre

Encourage them with covert learning opportunities

If your tween or teen has an insatiable thirst for knowledge and a never-ending curiosity about the world around them, there are some fabulous activities these school holidays for teens that will expand their horizons without breaking the bank.

Brisbane is home to world-class museums and learning centres. For those keen to look to the stars whilst staying close to the comforts of home, check out the Sir Thomas Brisbane Planetarium.

No matter where your teen or tween’s interests and passions lie, you are sure to find an exciting activity enabling them to spread their wings, try something new, develop skills or just get out and about these upcoming school holidays.

This article was published in Issue 19 of our print magazine, December 2016/January 2017.