Free School Excursion to the 2026 Show - REGISTER NOW!
Hands on kids' activities & education at Australia’s premier garden show
Wednesday 25 March – Friday 27 March
The Melbourne International Flower and Garden Show, in partnership with Victorian Schools Garden Program, are delighted to welcome school-aged children and their teachers to enjoy a free suite of gardening activities to encourage the use of outdoor spaces at schools, and educate and inspire the next generation of green thumbs. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Ut elit tellus, luctus nec ullamcorper mattis, pulvinar dapibus leo.
Registration: NOW CLOSED – please contact the VSGP office.
Children's Activities at the Show
Information on the 2026 Melbourne International Flower and Garden Show (MIFGS) children’s activities will be updated as it becomes available.
Click here to download a list of all Children’s Activities at this year’s show.
Click here to download the Beyond Blue’s Activity Timetable.
Click the map on the right to download all children activity locations.
The VSGP Wildplace Children’s Garden activities are listed further below.
Wildplace Children's Garden - Site A44
The VSGP has invited Urban Discovery to create The Wildplace Children’s Garden, a unique garden experience for visitors of all ages.
The garden integrates sensory elements, edible plantings including native bush foods, and nature-based play, with loose parts supporting STEM learning and creative exploration. Spaces are designed for outdoor learning, play, and community gathering, promoting inclusivity and resilience.
Drawing on research, regenerative design, pedagogy, and Indigenous knowledge, The Wildplace demonstrates how nature-rich, play-based environments support children’s learning and wellbeing.
Play - Explore - Learn
Wildplace includes:
- Contribute to Bunjil’s nest and yarn with Wurundjeri man, Craig Murphy
- Build huts and ideas and new friendships in the construction zones
- Weave a forest pod with artist Gay Chatfield
- Taste native fruits, seeds, berries and leaves with Wurundjeri man, Craig Murphy, and be grateful for natures abundance
- Spin, jump, run, tumble; there’s lots of space to move about in. Outside voices encouraged.
- Dig in the giant sand-play-scape
- Experience traditional woodturning techniques with the Pop’s Shed team and decorate a classic timber spinning top toy to keep forever
- Hide, creep, balance, fossick; there’s lots of interesting nooks to explore.
- Make new plant friends; there will be lots of plant species endemic to Wurundjeri Country that you may have never seen before.
- Imagine, investigate, dream, soften; there’s lots of time to let your mind wander and your body relax.
We invite visitors of all ages to the VSGP Wildplace at MIFGS 2026. Lose yourself in an immersive children’s play garden, where you can leave behind life’s troubles and rediscover the joy of making mud pies.
Victorian School Gardens Program - Site A45
The VSGP is offering a complimentary potting-up activity with children during the course of the show. Children can learn how to pot an edible seedling to take home and watch grow. Children are also able to decorate a wooden plant label to accompany their seedling, adding a personal touch to their gardening experience.
Agriculture Victoria’s presence at the show highlight the Great Biosecurity Quest.
The Great Biosecurity Quest encourages Victorians to become Watchout Warriors by keeping an eye out for pests and diseases. The Quest promotes citizen science activities and reporting of pests through the iNaturalist app.
Agriculture Victoria is partnering with Zoos Victoria and the Dalki Garringa nursery to tell the story of the Golden-rayed blue butterfly.
Zoos Victoria
The conservation of Victoria’s only endemic butterfly species begins with plants.
Learn how you and your garden can make a difference for insects and help us find butterflies on their favourite plant around the gardens.
Foodcube reveals how edible landscapes can flourish in any space, nurturing curiosity, connection and a deeper understanding of the living world.
Habitat Farmer Sustainable Scarecrow Competition
All Victorian schools and kindergartens are invited to enter the Sustainable Scarecrow School Competition.
Entries will be showcased at the 2026 Melbourne International Flower and Garden Show sharing and inspiring the possibility of recycling and reusing for the community.
This year’s Scarecrows will encourage the helpful visitors to the garden protecting the habitats that they live in and teaching others about how to create habitats in and around the garden.
Registrations are now closed.
Click here to view the 2026 Sustainable Scarecrow Delivery Brief 2026 Sustainable Scarecrow Brief and Delivery information and entry process.