Art Gallery of New South Wales Art Gallery Road, The Domain (02) 9225-1744 Cost: Free, except for special exhibits Hours: Daily 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Every Sunday afternoon at 2:30, families can enjoy special performances on various topics, including art appreciation, dance and storytelling. During school holidays, the museum schedules storytelling and performances, often in mime or Aboriginal dance, for children aged 6-12. Children can also participate in occasional hands-on art workshops.

The Australian Museum 6 College Street (02) 9320-6000 Hours: Daily 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. For children under 5, Kids Island is gaily decorated with a model hot-air balloon and features a slippery side and a shipwrecked boat with interesting cubbies to explore. The museum's dinosaur exhibit appeals to children aged 5-12. A Science and Discover Room, with microscopes, specimens and reference books, allows children to conduct their own "research."

The Powerhouse Museum 500 Harris Street (02) 9217-0111 Hours: Daily 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. The museum's many interactive displays are geared to peak the interest of smaller children. A NASA space station will entice their older siblings. Occasionally, the museum offers supervised children's activities from crafts to storytelling, free with entry

Sega World Darling Walk, Darling Harbour (02) 9273-9273 (note: this number is correct) Admission charged. Hours: Monday-Thursday 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.; Friday 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Saturday 10 a.m. to 11 p.m.; Sunday 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Kids clamor for the virtual-reality underwater trek and outer-space war games offered by this high-tech indoor theme park. Rides include a dodgem cars, a roller coaster, and a haunted house that lets adventurous kids hunt ghosts with a ghost-zapper. An arcade is populated by over 200 video games, and the Magic Motion Theatre requires viewers to strap into their seats for a wild sensory ride.

Australia's Wonderland Walgrove Road, Rooty Hill (02) 9830-9100 Admission charged. Hours: Daily 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. with occasional later hours on summer Saturdays Featuring more than 80 rides in seven "fantasy lands," Australia's Wonderland guarantees screams from the Space Probe, a free-fall plummet of 23 stories that reaches speeds in excess of 75 mph. Kids can cool off at The Beach, a manmade stretch of sand complete with waterslide.

Luna Park Milson's Point (02) 9922-6644 Hours: Rides open weekends and school holidays; call for seasonal hours Built in 1935, modeled after Coney Island's Luna Park and set against the backdrop of Sydney Harbour, this is a loud, brash, in-your-face amusement park that features a variety of classic rides. Visitors enter beneath the ghastly, grinning face of a painted clown, who has evolved alongside the park's collection of attractions.

Taronga Park Zoo Bradley's Head Road (02) 9969-2777 Hours: Daily 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Admission charged. Taronga lets children visit nearly nose-to-nose with some of Australia's most spectacular and exotic creatures - native koalas, of course, but also kangaroos, dingoes, Tasmanian devils and wombats. Kids will squeal at the inhabits of the Reptile House.