Spring School Holiday Program at Powerhouse Museum

A program of events, workshops and exhibitions will take place this Spring School Holiday (28 September – 13 October) at the Powerhouse Museum celebrating space travel, nature, messy science, technology and film.

Following the Powerhouse's popular winter holiday program, young astronomers, engineers and astronauts in the making are once again invited to explore the history of space travel and the 50th anniversary of the Moon landing through workshops, exhibitions and challenges.

Budding space travellers can learn about the iconic moon landing at the Apollo 11 exhibition. With over 200 objects of moon memorabilia, archival objects and life–size replicas, Apollo 11 explores this defining moment in history, its lasting impact on science, society and design, and the crucial role Australia played in transmitting the famous footage. Alongside the exhibition, visitors can gaze upon Luke Jerram's iconic installation Museum of the Moon, a seven metre in diameter sculpture combining detailed NASA imagery of the lunar surface, alongside moonlight and surround sound composition created by BAFTA and Ivor Novello award winning composer Dan Jones.

The Tinkertoreum returns to invite children and their families to use their imagination and inventiveness to help create a new habitat in space, and aspiring engineers can build a Moon Buggy to race down the museum's moon scape terrain. The Space Odyssey Guide will help navigate visitors through the various space features at the museum, including the Apollo 11 exhibition, Mars Yard, Tinkertoreum and the permanent Space exhibit. Kids will be able to complete challenges (or space missions) at the various touch points and mark them off as they work their way through (28 September – 13 October).

At the Australian Geographic Nature Photographer of the Year 2019 exhibition, families can peruse the stunning collection of breathtaking photographs celebrating the natural heritage of the bioregions of Australia and New Zealand, the Antarctic and New Guinea. The exhibition at the Powerhouse Museum, in partnership with the Australian Museum and produced by the South Australian Museum, includes 'Fin Whale's Demise' by Western Australian photographer Mat Beetson, which was announced as the winner of the 2019 Australian Geographic Nature Photographer of the Year Competition by South Australian Museum.

An abundance of workshops will run throughout the holiday period exploring the latest in science, art and technology. Highlights include: Messy Science, a full day hands on messy workshop where young scientists aged 6–7 can predict, test and observe as they combine materials, and learn all about scientific inquiry (1 October); Junior Film Director, a one–day workshop where young film makers aged 6–7 can create their own film and become both the actor and the director in an original short story (2 October); Sound Design, a day course taking a look at techniques to make an ordinary video exceptional through the use of sound, with a focus on creating sounds, remixing sounds to create something new and video editing (1 October); littleBits droid Inventor, a workshop where young engineers aged 7–8 can learn about Artificial Intelligence and what it means to be a robot while constructing circuits and creating prototypes of models with lights, switches and buzzers (9 October); Mini Art Adventures, where artists aged 5 and over can learn to use a variety of materials to make a series of different styles of art (11 October) and Mini Stop Motion, for young filmmakers who can learn how to make a film out of a series photos and see it come to life with animation (4 October).

See the full program here.