Child's Play

About the program

Students will learn what life was like for the Wentworth family and their servants at Vaucluse House in the 1860s.

Working as ‘history detectives’, students will explore the bedrooms, kitchen, drawing room, scullery, and kitchen garden, uncovering clues as to how a grand estate operated.

Students will engage in a range of hands-on activities and object-based learning. They will:

  • do the washing by hand in the service courtyard
  • complete tasks in the kitchen, such as polishing cutlery, grinding spices and churning butter
  • investigate the kitchen garden and plant a bean seed (which they can take home)
  • see and discover children’s clothes from the 1860s in the family nursery.

By the end of the program, students will be able to describe the daily life of the Wentworth family and contrast it with the experiences of the servants who worked for them.

They will also observe tasks done without electricity or running water and compare life in the past with their own lives today.

To accommodate larger groups, the program also features a teacher-led component, including:

  • a walk to the estate’s waterfall
  • a visit to the horse stables
  • the chance to play 19th-century games such as croquet, skittles, cup and ball, quoits, and hoop and stick.

If applicable, prepare your group with a social story available under program resources. This resource supports teachers, including those working with students with differing learning needs.

Wentworth Road, Vaucluse NSW 2030

Vaucluse House

Wentworth Road, Vaucluse NSW 2030
  • Restaurant
Cost (GST free)
From $165 for up to 15 students

See page details for the full cost scale

Duration

1 hour 30 minutes presenter led program followed by 1 hour 30 minutes teacher supervised game playing

Session offered
Monday to Friday 10.30am–2pm
Maximum students
45 per session
Supervision ratios

The supervision ratio is 1:10 for primary groups and 1:15 for secondary groups. Teachers and parents attend free of charge at these ratios. One carer per student with special needs will be admitted free of charge

Additional visitor costs

Each additional visitor will be charged at the concession rate of $12.

Browse all
A student feeds the chickens as part of the Early to Rise program at Rouse Hill Estate
Onsite

Early to Rise

This Stage 1 History program gives students the opportunity to explore the working areas of the former farm, and investigate what life would have been like for children living there 120 years ago

Students laying in the hammocks at Hyde Park Barracks on the Home: Convicts, Migrants & First People Learning program
Onsite

History Adventures at the Barracks

Join us for a one-of-a-kind museum experience, where kids will discover what life was for the convicts at the Hyde Park Barracks!

Children and adults dressed in period costume holding ribbons attached to pole.
Onsite

Lessons from the Past

Integrating outcomes from History, PDHPE and Creative Arts, this program gives students the opportunity to learn firsthand about what school life was like in the late 19th century

Student and carer looking at convict bricks on wheelchair tray.  Cayn assisting.
Onsite

Making Connections accessible program

Onsite program at the Hyde Park Barracks for primary and secondary school students with access requirements

Students doing laundry in the courtyard.
Onsite

Now and Then

As students are guided through the property, they discover that the household lived without the benefits of running water, bathrooms, electricity, appliances or paved roads

Two girls pumping water at Meroogal House
Onsite

Then and Now: Playing with the Past

Students investigate how home life has been changed by the domestic and leisure technologies introduced since the late 19th century as they explore Meroogal, built in 1886