Australia's largest botanic garden is free to enter and opens daily from 8am, until 7pm from October to March. The Garden's Playground suits kids aged 1 to 12, with sandpits, slides, climbing walls and a flying fox. The Garden's Cafe is right next door, so parents can grab a coffee while kids play.

Kids can have a go at milking a cow at the 11am or 2.30pm show, then watch the working dog and stock whip shows. Pat the sheep and goats in their walk-in area, then ride the tractor train through the paddocks. Prams go everywhere, and in school term weekday entry closes at 2pm.

Steam trains make 40-minute rides on the historic Loop Line every weekend, leaving from Thirlmere Station. Most exhibits are undercover, and the big lawn has play spaces, sheltered tables and free barbecues. Child tickets are $5 for the museum or $15 with a train ride, and under 2s go free.

On hot days kids can swim in the basin, and you can bring a kayak to paddle. Lifeguards patrol only in the Christmas school holidays, so stay close to children at other times. Cars pay $8 a day, and the park opens 8am to 8pm from September to April.

Lizard Log has a nature-themed playground, 24 free electric barbecues and 20 picnic shelters in bushland at Abbotsbury. The 1.6km Pimelea Loop circles it, and a longer track leads to Moonrise Lookout. An ice-cream van visits regularly.

This 6km loop from Couridjah picnic area passes three lakes and an old pump station, in 1.5 to 2.5 hours. More than 140 kinds of birds visit, from musk ducks to white-bellied sea eagles. The track is flat but rough, and spring brings ground orchids.

The lookout sits high above Warragamba Dam, whose lake supplies about 80 per cent of Sydney's water. Kids can ride bikes on the quiet sealed roads, and there are barbecues and picnic tables. It opens 7am to 7pm for $4 a car, but only on weekends from 12 to 23 October.

Campbelltown Arts Centre is free and opens daily from 10am to 4pm, with a café on site. Its Japanese Garden, a 1988 gift from sister city Koshigaya, has winding paths and water features. The playground at Koshigaya Park is about 270 metres away.

The museum's Vintage Village has a one-room 1930s schoolhouse, a slab hut, a blacksmith's shop and an old motor garage. Download the self-guided tour brochure and explore at your own pace. Entry is free, Tuesday to Friday 10am to 4pm and Saturday until 3pm.

The permanent exhibition, Resonances, tells Liverpool's story through objects and the lives behind them. Changing exhibitions and public programs run alongside it. Entry is free, and staff are on hand to guide visitors through the displays.