School holiday ideas – Questacon Science Museum Spiders Exhibition

If you are Arachnophobic like me, your first instinct may be to give the Spiders exhibition at Questacon a wide berth – but don’t worry – they won’t bite! The whole family is going to love this fascinating, hands-on exploration into the the Spider world! Questacon Spiders exhibition One of our favourite family museums to visit has to be Questacon, The National Science and Technology Museum in Canberra. If you’ve never been – or even if you are a repeat offender – these school holidays are a great time to visit, because their current feature exhibit is the absolutely fascinating – Spiders!

You’ll find the Spiders exhibition on the very top floor of Questacon (admission prices listed at the end of this article) – but the real fun begins in the Questacon entrance with a huge, hairy, black funnel web! If this doesn’t creep you out enough, wait until he rears-up and shows off his motorised, waving legs! Cute! (Shudder!) Needless to say, he’s a huge hit with the kids.

It's alive! The spider on the front entrance seems to come to life with the Spider app!

It’s alive! The spider on the front entrance seems to come to life with the Spider app!

Now my two girls are the type that scream “Spider” at a teeny little piece of fluff a mile away from them, but they both just loved this whole exhibition, from start to finish, and we spent a good hour going through everything.

Questacon Spiders - nothing to be afraid of in here....much!

Come on in – nothing to be afraid of in here….much! Samantha and Brooke ham it up!

Brooke and Samantha loved all the hands-on opportunities to examine spiders up close, and learn about their remarkable capabilities – how they see, what they eat, how they catch their prey – you can even watch huge videos of attacking spiders….charming!

Brooke and Samantha have a close up look at some creepy crawlies

Brooke and Samantha have a close up look at some creepy crawlies

It's fun to watch enormous spiders - just so long as they stay on that screen!

It’s fun to watch enormous spiders – just so long as they stay on that screen!

Steel yourself – the only real ones are behind glass!

It really is all creepily spell-binding, and by the time you get to the glass case full of real-life large spiders, you’ll be almost desensitised….almost! Don’t worry – all these spiders in this glass case don’t harm humans…well, not seriously!

Have you ever been freaked out by a Huntsman spider?

Have you ever been freaked out by a Huntsman spider? Well, here’s a whole glass case of ’em!!

Hello little fella.....a Huntsman Spider hides behind the glass - in full view!

Hello little fella…..a Huntsman Spider hides behind the glass – in full view!

The kids really enjoyed the hands-on investigations into what makes spiders – well – what they are – eight-legged freaks! No, no I don’t really mean that – by the end of the exhibit even I had grown far more respect and admiration for spiders. (Now I tend to stifle the impulse to whip out the bug-spray whenever I see one – well, at least for half the time!)

Speaking of bug spray, it would take a very big can to do away with this huge version of a funnel web! Press play on this quick video – if you dare!

  When you’ve had your fill of the Spiders exhibit, you can work your way down through all the other floors of Questacon’s action-filled tower of science – you’re going to need another couple of hours for a good look around.

Check out the Questacon Spider show

The Spiders show in the Questacon theatre has lots of fascinating facts!

The Spiders show in the Questacon theatre has lots of fascinating facts!

Make sure to catch one of the Questacon live shows too, located in the downstairs theatre. .

An assortment of ever-changing Questacon science shows run throughout the day. Playing for around 20 minutes, these interesting and fun live shows will have you and the kids loving learning about science! We saw the Spiders show, presented by Sam. He was very entertaining and kept the kids really engaged. We emerged from the show positively brimming with impressive spider knowledge!

Still want more? Take a pet spider home with you!

Don’t forget to drop into the Questacon shop before you go to get a cuddly tarantula, remote control spider or even a $3 plastic “pet” spider complete with scan-able coaster – this works with a special (free download) Spider app so that you can project spiders onto yourself – or at least, on your mobile phone! They even play ball – awwww!

This cheap toy works with an app to bring spiders alive!

This cheap toy works with an app to bring spiders alive!

Questacon is tons of fun for both kids and adults any day of the week, but with the added attraction of Spiders, you really should scuttle on down there before the whole exhibit up-and-crawls away – don’t worry, there’s still plenty of time – the Spiders exhibit ends in October 2016.

Giant Daddy Long-Legs gives the "Drama Queens" a hug!

Giant Daddy Long-Legs gives the “Drama Queens” a hug!

Questacon National Science and Technology Museum Info

Admission prices (as at April 2016)
Adult $23.00 Concession $17.50 Child (4 – 16 years) $17.50 Child (Under 4 years) Free Family (2 Adults + 3 Children) $70.00 ($8.00 for each additional child)

Location King Edward Terrace, Parkes, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia.

Opening hours Open daily between 9.00 am and 5.00 pm – closed 25 December.

Contact details Phone: +61 02 6270 2800 Official website – http://www.questacon.edu.au/

How to get there On Foot – Questacon is approximately 30 minutes walk from the city centre (Civic)

By Car – Paid parking is available next-door to Questacon

By BusAction buses are the Canberra bus service around the city. Find out Action bus routes here.
By Train or Tram – not available in Canberra city

Have you ever visited the Questacon museum in Canberra? Did your family enjoy it? Tell us in the comments below!

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About LetsGoMum

Hi, I'm Barbara, mum of the Let's Go Mum blog. We'd love to hear from you! You can contact me anytime with ideas on where you think we should go or what you think we should try...just drop me a line at barbara@letsgomum.com.au!
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