Indoor Activities in New Plymouth: What to Do With Kids on a Rainy Day

Fitzroy Beach Holiday Park sits right on the sand, and most of what we’re known for happens outside.

To be fair, New Plymouth does alright for weather. We’ve got the Sunshine Cup for New Zealand’s sunniest city to prove it.

But this is Taranaki. The maunga makes its own rules, and some mornings you look out at the beach and it’s just not happening.

Don’t write the day off. Taranaki weather has never once checked the forecast before making its plans, so we keep a list. There are plenty of indoor and family activities in New Plymouth to keep everyone entertained, and most are a few minutes down the road.

Here’s our guide to making the most of a rainy day at and around Fitzroy Beach Holiday Park.

Here are the 14 indoor spots we recommend, all within ten minutes of the park.

Nearby Indoor Things to Do With Kids in New Plymouth

These are the kids activities in New Plymouth we point people at when the weather turns. All family-friendly, all indoors unless we say otherwise, and none of them more than ten minutes from the gate.

Puke Ariki Museum and Library

Puke Ariki is our museum and main library in the one building on the waterfront. The exhibits cover Taranaki history, natural history and Māori taonga, and there’s enough going on that you won’t just be reading plaques while the kids fidget. The Discovery Centre is the part built for them, hands-on rather than behind glass. If they’ve had enough of that, the library next door is a warm place to work through a pile of books.

• Where: 1 Ariki Street, New Plymouth Central
• How far: 7 minutes from the park, 3.6 km

Govett-Brewster Art Gallery / Len Lye Centre

If anyone in the family is into art, the Govett-Brewster and Len Lye Centre is worth the trip. Len Lye made sculptures that move, which is a much easier sell to a nine-year-old than most galleries. There’s usually a family workshop or something hands-on running, and the mirrored steel building is worth a look before you even walk in.

• Where: 42 Queen Street, New Plymouth Central
• How far: 7 minutes from the park, 3.8 km
• Allow: About an hour

Brooklands Zoo

Brooklands Zoo is small, free and tucked inside Pukekura Park, which makes it one of the better free things to do in New Plymouth. Capuchin monkeys, meerkats, parrots, tortoises and the usual farmyard crowd, with a playground alongside. An hour there goes quickly.

• Where: 30 Brooklands Park Drive, Brooklands
• How far: 9 minutes from the park, 4.7 km
• Cost: Free
• Heads up: Outdoors, so save it for a gap in the weather

New Plymouth Aquatic Centre

The Todd Energy Aquatic Centre is the reliable one. Indoor and outdoor pools, hydroslides, a wave machine, and a spa and sauna for whoever is supervising. There’s a café on site too. Swimming is a great way to burn off energy when it’s raining outside, and nobody notices the weather once they’re already wet.

• Where: 16 Tisch Avenue, New Plymouth Central
• How far: 9 minutes from the park, 4.6 km

Bowlarama

Bowlarama is a Family Entertainment Centre with 16 lanes of tenpin bowling, an 18-hole Black Light Mini Putt course, Underground War Zone themed laser tag and arcade games. It’s the best pick if your group runs from a seven-year-old to a fifteen-year-old, because both of them will find something they actually want to do.

• Where: 188 Devon Street West, New Plymouth Central
• How far: 7 minutes from the park, 4.1 km

Movie Theatres in New Plymouth

EVENT Cinemas New Plymouth has the latest releases on the big screens. They also run Met Opera Live and National Theatre Live, which is handy if the rain has set in for the evening and the kids aren’t the ones who need entertaining.

• Where: 119–125 Devon Street East, New Plymouth Central
• How far: 5 minutes from the park, 2.9 km. The closest on this list

Escapinator

Escapinator runs themed escape rooms in town and gives your group a set time to think its way out. Good for older kids, teenagers and adults, and a decent option once your lot have outgrown the playgrounds.

• Where: Level 1, 44 Currie Street, New Plymouth Central
• How far: 7 minutes from the park, 3.4 km
• Allow: About an hour a room
• Book: Ahead, not a walk-in

Indoor Rock Climbing at the Y

The Crux Climbing Gym at the Y Taranaki is open to the public for casual climbs, no membership needed. It’s a do-it-together activity rather than a drop-off. Harnesses and shoes are there to hire if you turn up with nothing. It’s a small wall, so temper expectations if you have got a serious climber in the family.

• Where: 83 Liardet Street, New Plymouth Central
• How far: 7 minutes from the park, 3.5 km
• Open: Thursday 4.30pm to 9pm, Friday 4.30pm to 7pm, Saturday 10am to 1pm, Sunday 1pm to 4pm
• Cost: Day pass $20 adults, $16 for 5 to 18 year olds, $10 preschoolers. Harness $4, shoes $5
• Ages: Under 14s need an adult with them. Rope holders must be 12 or over

Indoor Roller Skating

The New Plymouth Skating Arena is the proper old-school sort, with two large indoor areas, seating and bathrooms, so the weather is somebody else’s problem. Sessions do get cancelled now and then, so check the Skate Sport Taranaki Facebook page before you drive down.

• Where: East End Reserve, Nobs Line, Strandon
• How far: 4 minutes from the park, 1.4 km. The closest thing to us
• When: Fridays only. 12 and under 5.45pm to 7pm, 13 and over 7.15pm to 8.30pm
• Cost: $10 a skater, skates included. Group discount for five or more

Running Grid

Running Grid is a private interactive game room, closest thing to the floor being lava without anyone actually getting hurt. You book a room to yourselves, pick a game theme off the tablet and run around chasing lights on the floor and walls. It sounds odd written down and it makes a lot more sense about thirty seconds in. Good for all ages, and the kids will beat you.

• Where: 172 Devon Street East, New Plymouth Central
• How far: 6 minutes from the park, 2.6 km
• Sessions: 30 minutes, private room, booked online
• Cost: $15 children, $20 students, $25 adults. Groups of four or more save 20%, from $12 each
• Ages: All ages

Thermal Hot Pools in New Plymouth

Taranaki Thermal Spa has the old Tarawhata mineral baths, and the kids can come too. You pick your own temperature in the private pools. Sitting in a hot mineral pool while it buckets down outside is a hard thing to beat. Our friends park up the road has written up the whole spa and wellness scene in New Plymouth if you want the full list.

• Where: 8 Bonithon Avenue, Moturoa
• How far: 8 minutes from the park, 5.1 km
• Ages: 3 to 15 welcome, under 3s not catered for
• Sessions: Private pool 30 minutes for up to 4, public pool 1 hour for up to 8

Indoor Playgrounds in New Plymouth

Kidz Korner

Kidz Korner (1-12 years) is an indoor playground in the middle of town, with climbing gear, a ball pit and food on site. Spelt with a Z, though half of New Plymouth types Kids Korner into Google and ends up in the right place anyway. It’s the one to pick for younger kids or a spread of ages under twelve, and you can sit down with a coffee while they run it off.

• Where: 28A Dawson Street, New Plymouth Central
• How far: 7 minutes from the park, 4.0 km
• Ages: 1 to 12

MegaBounce Trampoline Arena

MegaBounce Trampoline Arena is the trampoline park in New Plymouth, a great space with fun equipment to burn off some excess energy, and it’s built to challenge all ages.

• Where: 32 Oropuriri Road, Waiwhakaiho
• How far: 7 minutes from the park, 3.9 km
• Sessions: Hourly on the hour at peak. Weekdays turn up when it suits
• Bring: Grip socks, or go bare feet

Go Wild Indoor Fun Park

Go Wild Indoor Fun Park is next door to MegaBounce, so if your kids are different ages you can split between the two play zones on one trip.

• Where: Same site as MegaBounce, 32 Oropuriri Road, Waiwhakaiho
• How far: 7 minutes from the park, 3.9 km
• Ages: 11 and under
• Bring: Socks, for adults as well as kids

Stuck at the Park? Indoor Activities On Site

Arts and Crafts

A wet day is a good excuse to get the craft gear out. We have two communal amenity buildings with kitchens and dining areas, so there’s always somewhere dry to spread out. Bring coloured paper, markers, glue and scissors, or visit the shops up in Fitzroy Village to stock up. A few ideas:

• Beach-themed crafts: shells, sand and driftwood off the beach out front, turned into something worth taking home.
• DIY photo frames: plain frames, stickers and paint, ready for your holiday photos.
• Rainy day paintings: let the kids paint the weather. It passes the time, and you get something for the fridge out of it.

Movie Time

A movie marathon is a perfectly respectable way to spend a rainy day. WiFi runs throughout the park, and you get complimentary data when you check in, with top-ups through the login portal if the marathon runs long. Popcorn, blankets, done.

Storytelling, Reading, Journaling, Blogging or Vlogging

Rainy days are perfect for diving into a good book. The communal lounge or your cabin makes a decent reading nook. Take turns reading aloud, or let everyone get into their own thing. Picture books and interactive stories for the younger ones, something longer for older kids and adults. It’s also a good chance to journal the trip, and if your kids would rather film it than write it, let them blog or vlog it instead. Either way they’ll have something to look back on.

Cooking and Baking

Both of our communal kitchens have microwaves, electric cooktops, fridges and freezers, and plenty of bench space. Homemade pizzas, cookies or cupcakes all work. The kids learn something, you get afternoon tea, and nobody has to leave the park.

Indoor Scavenger Hunt

Write a list of things to find around the cabin or the amenities block. A red pen, a book with a blue cover, a jandal that isn’t yours. This activity buys you twenty minutes, and they think it was their idea.

And pack a couple of board games and a puzzle before you leave home. You’ll be glad you did.

For more ideas check out the Taranaki Things To Do With Kids Facebook which is updated frequently.

What to Do on a Wet Day in New Plymouth

Rainy days at Fitzroy Beach Holiday Park don’t have to mean a dull day indoors. Everything on this list is within about ten minutes of the gate, so you’re never far from something dry to do. Worst case you end up baking in the communal kitchen and calling it a win. It all works just as well in the school holidays, when the weather tends to do whatever it likes.

Read our Blog: Learn more about New Plymouth activities, where to go and what to see and do and more!