Children’s Gallery at Ipswich Art Gallery
Are you looking for a fun, free day out with kids? Check out the Ipswich Children’s Art Gallery, located at the Ipswich Art Gallery.
The exhibits at the Ipswich Art Gallery change a few times a year, so be sure to check to see what is on when you want to visit. The gallery closes between exhibits for cleaning and setting up.
Special events for kids at Ipswich Art Gallery tend to take place during the school holidays.
Keep reading to find more information on visiting the Ipswich Children’s Art Gallery and what to expect when you are there.
Ipswich
Ipswich is about 45 minutes southwest of Brisbane, and we have found that it makes for a great day trip.
While a visit to Ipswich Art Gallery takes up a good part of our day, we also love Workshops Rail Museum, Ipswich Nature Center, Ipswich Children’s Library, and Orion Lagoon.
There are so many reasons to visit Ipswich with kids.
Looking for more to do in Ipswich? Read 22 Fun Things to do in Ipswich with Kids.
Arriving at the Ipswich Art Gallery
Street parking is available outside the art museum, and a parking garage is nearby.
After you enter the museum, walk to the front desk. Stop there to check in. Even though you no longer need to book tickets, they will let you know what is happening in the museum that day.
Sometimes there are kid-friendly exhibits outside of the Children’s Art Gallery, in the main area of the museum.
Current Ipswich Children’s Art Gallery Exhibit
Light Play March 2026 – July 2026
Opening 28 March 2026 and closing 12 July 2026, the Light Play exhibit is a free exhibit for kids ages 3-8.
Open from 10 am until 5 pm daily, there are 2 sets of school holidays in which you can visit this exhibit, plus, of course, plenty of weekends and weekdays.
My kids experienced the Light Play exhibit in 2021.
Past Exhibits at the Ipswich Children’s Art Gallery
Here is a list of past exhibits, most of which we have attended, at the Ipswich Children’s Art Gallery. We have yet to attend a special event at the gallery.
Of course, plenty of events took place at the gallery before we started attending, so if you are interested, here is a larger list of past events.
Move It: November 2025 – March 2026
IAG Kids Move It allowed kids to race LEGO cars, use wind tunnels, build, and engineer to figure out how things move.
Geared towards kids 3+, this is another free exhibit at the Ipswich Children’s Art Gallery.
Worlds of Wonder November 2023-February 2024
Kids can rotate to various creation stations and create art at the Worlds of Wonder Exhibit at Ipswich Children’s Art Gallery.
Play with Clay 2023
We missed the clay exhibit at Ipswich Children’s Art Gallery, but it allowed kids to build and play with clay.
Wind Tubes 2022-2023
The wind tubes exhibit included various items that kids could create and put in wind tubes to see if they fly or sink.
On the wall, there were wind tubes and balls that floated through the tubes.
Wind Tubes is such a simple exhibit that kids love. One of my kids never left the wall while the other kid kept creating new projects to fly inside on a tall wind tube.
Drawing Machines 2022-2023
Do you remember spirographs? Ipswich Art Gallery had a bunch of really big spirographs and various sizes of paper. All ages enjoyed creating drawings with the spirographs.
At the same time, there were spinning disks to create circle art.
Just Be Your Selfie 2022-2023
In the main area of the Ipswich Art Gallery was an exhibit called “Just be your selfie” where all ages were able to create a selfie portrait.
A desk was set up with supplies, and the artist could choose which type of materials they wanted to draw their selfie. Selfies were then put on display on the wall.
Imagine This 2022
The Imagine This exhibit provided kids with various supplies to design their own creations, which could be brought home or hung on display in the gallery.
For little kids, there was a soft play area during the Imagine This exhibit.
Perception Deception 2022
Perception Deception had hands-on exhibits with lights and sounds.
Built for Speed 2021-2022
Built for Speed was a returning exhibit where kids could use Legos to build and then race their creations down ramps.
While most of the exhibits at Ipswich Children’s Art Gallery are free of charge, there was a fee to enter Built for Speed.
Light Play for Kids 2021
Light Play for kids had all kinds of different light exhibits that kids could touch and maneuver.
On the Move 2021
The theme of the children’s gallery changes, and “On the Move” was there from February 27 to July 18, 2021. The gallery is intended for children ages 3-8.
You can immediately tell the theme when you enter. My kids saw a car, and they wanted to hop in.
The space is not large, but there is a lot to do.
Most of the kids were at the front, so we headed toward the back.
Maisie wanted to go to the paper airplane station so I went there with her.
The first thing she wanted to do was color the pictures of the cars that were in the bags. Each bag has two so she colored one while I colored the other. You can either take them home or add them to the wall.
That station also had directions for making paper planes and a giant net for flying them. Maisie wanted me to make the planes for her and to my surprise, she had no interest in flying them.
Zach spent the majority of his time at the Lego station. The goal was to build a car and then race it on the track.
How Much Time Do You (or the Kids) Need to Spend at the Ipswich Art Gallery?
When we first started visiting the Ipswich Art Gallery, the Children’s Gallery had timed tickets, so everyone arrived around the same time. That is no longer the case.
The first time we went, I thought that two hours was long enough. The area is just not that big.
Most of the families cleared out by 11:30, which was perfect for us as my kids wanted to do everything.
M refused to leave without being able to ride in/service a car. There are 2 cars available, and while I saw them unattended many times during our time, they were being used at the end. We waited and were able to use them during the 2-hour time slot.
They had tools to take the tires on and off, and you could “pump” gas. M did not want to leave until she had enough time with the car. My kids were the last ones out.
Now that tickets aren’t for a specific time, we come and go as we want. Two hours is usually enough time, as the parents are ready to leave.
We have yet to go to an exhibit at the Children’s Art Gallery in Ipswich, where the kids say that they are ready to leave.
Lunch with Kids in Ipswich near the Art Gallery
Both kids asked me to make another booking at the Ipswich Art Gallery immediately. We went out to lunch instead. There are many restaurants within walking distance.
We ended up at Pumpyard Bar and Brewery, which was good, except I would recommend sitting outside due to the noise. It looked like rain, so we chose inside.
Afterward, we walked to Ungermann Brothers’ for ice cream as we had noticed their sign on the way to lunch.
They offer many unique flavors as well as many traditional ones.
You can sample any flavor that you want, so I tried two: blue cheese and garlic.
I would never order a cone of blue cheese ice cream or a cup of garlic ice cream, but after watching so many cooking shows where they make ice cream out of the most questionable ingredients, I just wanted to know what they tasted like. They tasted like cold blue cheese and cold garlic.
M went with lavender while Z chose chocolate.
More Day Trips from Brisbane
- Naughty Little Kids Goat Farm
- Around Ipswich with Kids
- Moreton Island
- Ziplining
- Fossicking and Gem Mining
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