Things to do with kids in Toowoomba & Southern Queensland Country

The Toowoomba museum holds more than 50 horse-drawn coaches, buggies and wagons. In the Coach Stop play area, kids dress up, pretend to ride a coach through the outback and sit on Socks, a life-sized replica horse. It opens 9am to 4pm daily, ramps suit prams, and a family ticket for two adults and two kids is $32.

Animals from Africa, South America, South-east Asia and Australia live in themed areas at this rural zoo near Pilton. Free talks run through the morning, including giraffes and cheetahs at 11.15am. It opens 9am to 4pm with last entry at 3pm; the sealed paths are hilly, and free sunscreen waits at the entrance.

A level 130m boardwalk at Dandabah, 125km north-west of Toowoomba, loops through giant bunya pines and strangler figs, and suits wheelchairs. Red-necked wallabies often graze the picnic area, which has free electric barbecues. The roads up are steep and winding with no fuel on top, and ticks are active all year, so check the kids afterwards.

A 2km circuit 8km east of Killarney looks over the falls, where Spring Creek drops 40m; allow about 40 minutes. Rangers say walking it clockwise is easier on the legs, and there are stairs. The picnic area has free barbecues and plenty of space for kids to run, and you might spot a koala.

This easy 1.6km circuit takes about 30 minutes, past lizards sunning on boulders to a stone arch formed by balancing rocks. Ask the kids how it hasn't fallen down. Bald Rock Creek has stopped flowing and swimming there is banned for now, and wet granite gets very slippery.

Picnic Point looks east to Table Top Mountain and the Lockyer Valley from the edge of Toowoomba. There are playgrounds for younger and older kids, barbecues, a café and a constructed waterfall. The Rainforest Gully loop is a 10-minute stroll, while the full Picnic Point Circuit takes about 1 hour 40 minutes.

This shearing shed was built in 1859–61 with 52 shearing stands and room for 3,000 sheep. A recreated 19th-century village sits beside it, a 30-minute drive west of Toowoomba. Allow an hour; it opens 9am to 3pm, and a family ticket for two adults and two kids is $30.

The Australian Army Flying Museum covers every era of military flying, near the Army Aviation Training Centre at Oakey. All tours and displays are free, and a dedicated kids area keeps younger visitors busy. It opens 10am to 3pm, Wednesday to Saturday; bring a picnic for the covered barbecues.

Bird watchers have recorded 153 species around Lakes Apex and Freeman, and cattle egrets flock here to breed from October to March. The parkland has a playground, barbecues, covered picnic tables, a bird hide and a skatepark. The Queensland Transport Museum is in the cultural centre on the same grounds.