Gold and Conspiracies School Holiday Program

Strike gold and uncover glittery conspiracies these school holidays!

Explore gold rush thrills and mysterious conspiracies with hidden trails and hands-on challenges. Strike it lucky as you search the Museum and uncover secrets waiting to be revealed.

Dig in for a golden school holiday adventure packed with creativity and fun.

Free drop-in activities

Gold Bar Trail
Find the Hidden Gold Bars around the Museum. Locate them all and collect a special prize at the end!
Suitable for ages 4 – 17.

Laser challenge 
Some gold vaults use a system of invisible lasers to detect people trying to break in – stepping through a laser sets off an alarm which calls police directly to the vault. Now, you can try to sneak through the Museum’s replica (string) laser field and reach the gold bar!
Suitable for ages 4+ years.

Gold panning
Try your hand at gold panning by looking for gold-painted rocks in the Museum of the Goldfields’ mini river station!”
Suitable for ages 4+ years. Parent/guardian supervision is required.

Play bank 
Become a bank teller or a customer at our WA Bank Display.
Suitable for all ages. 

Crack the safe challenge
Solve the puzzles to work out the safe code. Then crack the safe and obtain a token.
Suitable for ages 6+ years. 

Build a model headframe 
Did you know that the Museum’s iconic headframe was once used for mining? Headframes were used to move people, equipment, and rocks into and out of mines. Build a scale model of a headframe with a working pulley system.
Suitable for all ages. Parent/guardian supervision is required for younger children.

Jewellery crafting
One of the most common places we see gold now is in jewellery. Make your own jewellery using our string and collection of beads.
Suitable for all ages. Parent/guardian supervision is required for younger children.

Gold mine play pit 
Practice your excavation skills at our gold mine play pit! Dig through the sand with our digger to find the buried treasure, then load it onto a truck to sell!
Suitable for all ages. 

Gold under the microscope
Get up close and personal with gold by looking at it under a microscope! Compare pieces of gold leaf with samples of other material like gravel to see what makes gold so special.
Suitable for all ages. 

Calm Zone
Take a break and relax in our cozy reading corner and sensory tent with a calm box. This zone is perfect for winding down after an exciting visit!
Suitable for all ages.

School holiday workshops

Pitman and Walsh escape room | $20 per session 
4 April - 19 April | 10am, 11am 12pm, 1pm, 2pm | 1 hour
In this escape room, investigate a gold theft by finding clues, solving puzzles to escape! 
Suitable for ages 12+ years. 

Cookie mining workshop | $5 
7 April and 16 April | 11am - 1pm
Our cookie mining workshop will show you some of the decisions companies make by getting you to mine chocolate chips out of a cookie (and then eat the cookie after!).
Suitable for ages 7+ years. 

Core sampling workshop | $5 
9 April and 14 April | 11am - 1pm
In our core sampling workshop, we will assemble a small terrarium with some soil and gold in it, then take a sample to see how that reflects the chances of finding gold.
Suitable for ages 7+ years. 

Participants aged 12 and under must be supervised by a parent or guardian.
All required materials are provided.