Anyday Adventures

https://www.heide.com.au/

7 Templestowe Rd,
Bulleen VIC 3105

I’ve been a stay at home mum for 2 years now, and really feel like we’ve seen and done a lot throughout our local area (south eastern suburbs of Melbourne). It was time to branch out, and see someplace new! So when I first heard about the Heide Museum of Modern Art, a place about 50 minutes from home, I just knew I had to plan a visit. The museum contains 4 galleries and 15 acres of gardens to explore, and hosts many events throughout the year. One in particular had caught my attention… Heide Art Bubs

Once a month the museum hosts “Heide Art Bubs”, an interactive guided tour for parents and carers with children aged 2-5. The session runs for 90 minutes and includes morning tea and art activities for the kids (which was actually pretty much an art activity for parents as we all got quite into it). You do need a ticket to attend and it books out well in advance for each session. Tickets are $35 per adult, and kids are free. They run the sessions to cap at 15 adults, rather than capping by the number of children in case you’re interested.

My friend and I actually got tickets some months ago, that’s how excited we were to combine our desire to coffee together, with our desire to culture our daughters, haha. The Art Bubs sessions will repeat a few times before changing to a different topic; we did one called “Sculpture Park”. Our session started off with a story outside on a large picnic rug for everyone to relax on, before really getting going…I think this was a nice way to allow to late comers to sneak in without feeling so conspicuous.

After the story it was time to head off to explore the outdoor sculpture park; all the while being guided by the lovely museum staff who were running our session.

At each sculpture that we visited the children were encouraged to participate in some little games or activities. The staff were really engaging and most of the children got really into it!

The last activity involved collected leaves and bark to take inside for the craft part of the session, I was pretty excited thinking we might be pasting.. but we were crafting a level higher than paste! We entered one of the gallery buildings to have a table laid out full of crafting bits and pieces and each child had a big lump of clay. The kids were encouraged to decorate their clay with the items they had collected, plus anything extra they liked the look of. Soon after we sat down all the kids got delivered a babychino with a straw. I thought that was super cute, and incredibly clever to serve them first. Coffee orders for the parents had been taken at the start of the session, so these arrived soon after.The kids continued with their clay sculptures as the morning tea was being handed around. The morning tea during our session consisted of toasted cheese and toasted ham and cheese sandwiches, as well as a few fresh fruit platters. There was plenty of food for everyone, and despite the simplicity of the food served, it was delicious and enjoyed by kids and adults alike.  

A little bit of colouring in rounded out the Art Bubs session, and then we were off to explore the ground and have a picnic. I was super pleased to learn we would be taking Missy Moo’s sculpture home….I do enjoy some take home art.

So…. the good bits.

The Art Bub program format.
I loved the running structure of the session. Fast paced for kids, interactive, child appropriate food and drink, and really fun.

Food.
Tasty food, and was thankful that all the kids got the same food to share…no arguing! All the food and drink were made on site and provided by the museums Heide Café, so you knew it was super fresh!

Take home items.
I love when we make art that Missy Moo can bring home to show her Dad. After our art session she got to bring home her “sculpture” and a cow drawing for the fridge.
Areas for improvement…

Cost.
Overall I felt the program was really great and good value for money. But, realistically, I feel it was a bit too much $$$ for Art Bubs to become a regular event for us… you know…stay at home mum budget and all. But I did love it, so I will probably aim to make it an annual event as a special treat for the two of us. FYI for our $35 ticket we got a coffee/hot drink, a babychino, fruit, toasted sandwiches, entertainment for 90 minutes and a sculpture to take home.

BYO Smock.
When you buy your ticket you are instructed to bring your own smock, but I really believe that they should be supplied given the price of the session.

There is a lot going on at the Heide Museum of Modern Art that we didn’t see during our visit as we ran out of time. Worth noting is how many resources are available for children, definitely look online before you visit. Entry to the sculpture park grounds is free, but the museum’s galleries are a paid entry. Here are the current prices (correct at time of publishing):

Adult $14
Concession $10
Children under 12 FREE
Members FREE
Gardens & Sculpture Park FREE

If you decide you love it, an annual membership is $75 to visit as much as you wish as well as get you discounted tickets to events throughout the year.

Overall 7.5/10… I’ll come back when Missy Moo is ready for some more culture, crafting and coffee!

Even if you don’t go for the crafting, the museum and sculptures are worth a look all on their own…and it’s a great place for a picnic.