Ipswich is home to family fun

18 JANUARY 2023

Looking for something to do these school holidays, or a day out for the whole family? With parks and playgrounds aplenty, unique animal encounters and affordable accommodation options, Ipswich is the ultimate destination for family fun. Just an hour’s drive from Brisbane and brimming with adventures, we've created a comprehensive guide of the best kid friendly things to do in Ipswich.

IN THIS ARTICLE
IN THIS ARTICLE
Kids playing at the Robelle Domain water park in Springfield, Ipswich

Robelle Domain Water Park, Ipswich

Plentiful Parks

From water parks, modern playground equipment, skate parks, fitness circuits, sports fields, Australian wildlife and much more, Ipswich has some of South East Queensland’s most beautiful family parks. Find a list of our top 10 here.  

Splash' n' Play Adventure Park  

Providence’s Splash'n'Play Adventure Park is a great way to cool off on warm days with tonnes of water-based fun for toddlers to teens. Older children will love running through the water shooters and aqua arch, and exploring an enormous fort that is seven metres off the ground, while the playground has a dedicated area for smaller children, including nets, swings, seesaw and climbing equipment. Sun-safe shade sales, gazebos and rotundas, barbeque facilities and a nearby café mean you can stay all day! 

Robelle Domain  

Robelle Domain is arguably one of the most impressive parks in the Ipswich region. Spread over a massive 24 hectares, it offers water park, cafes, cycling tracks, walking tracks and play equipment including swings, seesaws and climbing equipment. The water park includes a zero-depth play area with a 700-litre tipping bucket and jet sprays but the star attraction is Orion Lagoon, which covers an area of 3.5km and is suitable for children of all ages. Why not stay for a picnic lunch? The parkland offers barbecues, sheltered picnic benches and large grassy areas.  

Lobley Park  

Plane crazy kids and aspiring pilots will love flying into award-winning Lobley Park with its aviation themed playground which boasts a RAAF Cargo Plane with a mock cockpit and a control tower complete with x-ray machine and radar screen. More traditional park fare is also on offer with swings, climbing equipment, a dedicated outdoor story area as well as many kilometres of pathways for kids to ride bikes and scooters.  

Queens Park 

Queens Park is one of the oldest parks in Queensland and offers a wonderland of free activities including a kids' playground, a Japanese garden, environmental education centre, café and gorgeous leafy gardens for a picnic. In addition to wide open spaces and gardens, Queens Park is also home to the Ipswich Nature Centre where kids can check out more than 40 specials of animal, the Japanese Gardens of Ipswich Nerima Gardens and the Queens Park Nursery where the whole family can learn more about gardening and even pick up some free plants! 

Bob Gamble Park  

Bob Gamble Park - the official name given to stage two of the River Heart Parklands - is an absolute paradise for kids of all ages. The park has two main water play areas, one containing several troughs which feed water into a maze of shallow streams meandering through the stepping stones, ideal for exploring toddlers. The other water area has numerous spouts shooting water out at varying lengths, perfect for the older kids. This Ipswich water park also has ultra-modern play equipment including a 25-metre flying fox, a huge climbing frame with massive slide, sand diggers, swings and a swing log for multiple kids to enjoy at once.

Leichhardt Park  

Home to a beautiful and unique fruit themed playground, the kids will love Leichardt Park. The junior area is fully fenced with a slide, swings, sand diggers and climbing equipment. The site has plenty of paths for nippers to ride bikes and scooters, plus a flying fox and climbing equipment for the older kids. This area also has a large sports field to kick a ball around or run free.

Henry Lawson Bicentennial Park  

Henry Lawson Bicentennial Park is just a 15-minute drive west of the Ipswich CBD in the small town of Walloon. The park has excellent facilities for toddlers through to pre-teens with modern playground equipment including a glider, spring platform, swings, spinner, climbing dome, fort and slide. For the older children, there is a skate bowl, basketball court and several kilometres of pathways for bike and scooter riding. If you’re looking for lunch after a morning of play, families can utilise the free barbecue facilities or enjoy a pub lunch at the traditional country-style Walloon Saloon. 

Johnston Park  

Johnston Park is perfect for younger children, offering a fully fenced and shaded play area with slides, swings, a train, flying fox and a reconstruction of a theropod dinosaur that lived in the region during the Middle Jurassic period. There are plenty of park benches throughout the playground for parents to rest whilst supervising the kids, along with free barbecue facilities, toilets and sheltered picnic tables.

Sutton Park  

Calling all kids who love to skate, scoot and bike! Sutton Park is a fantastic family park for kids of all ages with a miniature roadway, complete with traffic lights, stop signs, roundabouts and pedestrian crossing, that aims to build young people’s awareness of road safety while they have fun. Sutton Park has a great partially shaded modern playground with swings, seesaws, monkey bars and fort complete with slide. For the teenagers, there is a good-sized skate bowl and basketball court.

Joseph Brady Park  

Located in beautiful countryside by the banks of the Brisbane River, Joseph Brady Park is one for the families who love outdoor activities. Older kids will love the climbing dome and rock-climbing wall, while the younger kids will love role-playing in the pirate ship fort complete with a slide as well as seesaws, swings and spinners. The park has an access point for your canoe or kayak, and you can fish right from the river banks.

Awesome animal encounters

There's nothing like an animal encounter to captivate the kids and keep them entertained for hours. Ipswich is home to a number of fantastic reserves and farms, where you can find furry friends and learn about caring for them. Read on for a list of popular spots.

Haigslea EWE Nique Hobby Farm 

Set on a rural 20-acre property, the charming Haigslea EWE Nique Hobby Farm is home to sheep, lambs, alpacas, chickens, goats and geese with the opportunity to get up close and personal and pat and feed the animals. Refuel at the farm’s Baa Baa Coffee Shed which sells hot and cold drinks as well as homemade cakes, slices, muffins and take-home packs of homemade sheep cheese and sheep’s milk ice cream.

The Llama Farm 

Walk a llama, feed and pet a new friend and pose for a selfie at popular The Llama Farm. With the largest herd of llamas in Queensland, The Llama Farm is also home to donkeys, goats, miniature ponies, peacocks, turkeys, guinea fowl and two Maremma sheep dogs. Tours are available on weekends and school holidays by appointment, and they also run a Little Llama Farmers school holiday program.

A family feeding camels outside of a house at Summerland Camels.

Summerland Camels, Ipswich

Summer Land Camels 

Kids will adore a visit to Australia's largest wild camel training centre and dairy. Meet and feed the camels, embark on a camel ride or book a farm tour for a behind the scenes look. Summer Land Camels has an onsite café and camel milk products available including delectable cheese and gelato plus a range of all-natural camel-milk skincare said to hold significant rejuvenating properties.

Naughty Little Kids 

Cuddle a kid, learn about cheesemaking and take a farm tour at Naughty Little Kids – a working farm with 70 goats and 40 kids that’s sure to thrill any animal lover. Naughty Little Kids runs farm tours every Sunday afternoon, where you can pat and feed their kids, milk a goat by hand, learn about goats and sample its award-winning goat’s cheese and gelato.

Ipswich Nature Centre 

The Ipswich Nature Centre, located in Queens Park, is home to more than 40 different species including native Australian animals, cute farm animals and a vibrant bird aviary. For just a gold coin donation at entry, visitors can explore the Centre’s many exhibits and visit farmyard fiends in the barn. You can also book an Animal Encounter, meet a zookeeper and learn about how The Ipswich Nature Centre runs day to day.

An image of a family standing on a ledge in a rainforest, surrounded by large rocks and trees.