A smash-hit family exhibition from Scienceworks in Melbourne will touch down in Kirikiriroa Hamilton this month, as Air Playground opens at Te Whare Taonga o Waikato Museum and Gallery on 31 October 2025.

Hamilton will be the first city in New Zealand to host Air Playground, which explores the invisible but powerful world of air. On tour from Museums Victoria after a successful run at Scienceworks in Melbourne, the hands-on exhibition has captivated people of all ages with its playful approach to science and discovery.

Visitors are invited to step into a world of fun and discovery to explore the science of aerodynamics through ten large-scale interactive experiences including:

• Squish: Embark on a full-body experience as you squish and squash a giant jumping inflatable sculpture. It’s like a giant hug from the air as you learn about how gases move in the soft container underneath and around you.
• Fly: Experiment with air resistance by crafting different paper plane designs and launching them to discover which plane can fly the furthest and why. It’s an aviation enthusiast’s dream come true.
• Whoosh: Brace yourself for a whirlwind of excitement as you ‘whoosh’ scarves through a tangle of air tubes and try to catch them as they are ejected high above and drift down towards you, cushioned by the air like a parachute.

Te Whare Taonga o Waikato Museum and Gallery curator Jon Primmer said kids will love Air Playground’s colourful, immersive blend of entertainment and education where learning is as exciting as it is enlightening.

"Air Playground is not only a celebration of the wonders of the atmosphere but a fun-filled day out for families to explore and learn through play."

Don’t miss this new opportunity to embark on a journey of scientific exploration, discovery and fun. Engage your senses, spark your curiosity and let science blow you away.

Air Playground opens at Te Whare Taonga o Waikato Museum and Gallery on 31 October 2025 and runs until 19 April 2026. This is a ticketed exhibition, with tickets on sale now at tewharetaonga.nz

Note

For te reo Maaori, Te Whare Taonga o Waikato Museum and Gallery uses double vowels (uu) in place of vowels with a macron (ū) to represent a long vowel sound. This spelling approach is the preference of tangata whenua in Hamilton Kirikiriroa and Waikato iwi for te reo Maaori words. Artists’ titles are shown in their original form.

FAQs

Where has this exhibition come from?

Air Playground was developed in-house by a team of science experts from Museums Victoria.

What’s the exhibition about?

Air Playground encourages curious kids and families to actively experiment and play with the amazing elemental force of air.

What are some of the key exhibition experiences for visitors?

Experience the science of aerodynamics and the amazing invisible elemental force of air through 10 fun-filled, interactive exhibits. Visitors will have the opportunity to explore the science of aerodynamics through experimental play: float objects in mid-air, release material in a fast-flowing airstream and launch your own paper plane design. Learn about the complex physics of air by challenging your friends to an ‘aircade’ game, tinkering with the speed and direction of airflow or collaborating to create a spinning, flapping air show.

What will visitors experience?

• Whoosh explores the force of air and how it can push, as well as how has volume and air resistance can slow things down. Visitors place fabric scarves into a tube system and watch them whoosh through the tangle of tubes before ejecting and slowly drifting to the floor. Visitors can experiment with directing air flow and trying to predict where the fabric will land.
• Hover examines how air flows around a ball’s curved shape and traps it in a pocket of lower pressure. Two colourful mounds hold beach balls hovering enticingly in mid-air. A button activates air flowing out of surrounding tubes so that visitors can experiment with balancing balls and objects in the air flows.
• Lift asks visitors to test objects or create contraptions that may lift into the air, hover, spin or flutter when they fall – mimicking seed pods in nature. Visitors can press a button to turn on the air flow and experiment by adjusting the windspeed.
• Swirl asks visitors to work individually or collaboratively to activate fans which blow air to direct a ball around obstacles and into a goal. Visitors get a feel for the chaotic way that air interacts with itself and physical items around it.
• Squish welcomes visitors into an inflatable sculpture, showing that air is a gas and can inflate soft containers. Visitors use their feet, arms, in fact, their whole body to squish the giant inflatable – where does the air go when they squish it? Visitors will discover how when you squash air in a soft container, it doesn’t compress, it displaces, creating wobbly, bouncy fun!
• Float experiments with the pull of gravity against air pressure, showing how a ball interacting with a low-pressure pocket will stay in place. Visitors suspend a ball in the air flow which they activate by pressing a button, manipulating the air stream to float the ball through a goal.
• Puff tests how air has mass and can push objects, even uphill! Visitors work quickly individually or collaboratively to pump puffs of air in time to move a ball up a hill. Like mini-golf, the aim is to get the ball to the goal before it gets stuck or rolls back down.
• Gust generates a high-volume air flow environment using large industrial fans. Visitors can feel the wind through their hair as they learn about the difference between mechanically generated wind and natural wind, which is created by the Sun unevenly heating up the Earth.
• Flow delves into how diverting air flow can change air pressure. Visitors connect pipe pieces in different configurations. When they activate the air flow with a button, they can use soft fabric tubes or small balls to help visualise how this flow changes. Challenges include constructing a spinner or a launcher.
• Fly explores why a folded plane flies better than a flat piece of paper. Visitors follow illustrated guides or create their own paper plane, discovering how shape, weight centring and surface area all affect how a plane glides. Visitors can choose to go for distance, for a target or for tricks. Every plane thrown creates a mass display of paper planes which builds up over the course of the exhibition.

Who is this exhibition designed for?

The exhibition is designed for families with children aged 6–10, however there are many exhibits with open-ended creativity which appeal to visitors of all ages.

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