The give away has now closed. The winner of the give away was Jem
My eight year old’s dream is to be number 1 in the world (He’s talented and determined so who knows??!!) He watches tennis for hours on TV analysing the pros game so he would love to sit in the stands watching them play live. We took him to the Aussie Open once when he was three and couldn’t believe how long he sat quietly watching the tennis. It is a great event, I’m sure your family will love it.
This post is sponsored by Nuffnang.
With five kids aged from 14 to 3, it can be tricky at times to find a family activity that everyone will enjoy. I have written before about how when it comes to the movies now, we often split into two and see two movies at the same time. When it comes to art/craft activities that the younger kids love, the eldest two are now too old for them and don’t come along.
I had considered taking the kids to the Australian Open before as they have enjoyed watching the tennis on the TV, but thought it would fall into the category of being too hard to entertain all of the kids. I imagined it would be too much quiet sitting for the younger ones to be able to cope with. Looking further into it though this year when I was writing up my Christmas Present Ideas post, I changed my mind and we will head along with all the kids to the Australian Open 2013.
We will go using Ground Pass tickets which will entitle us to access to all outside court action including Margaret Court Arena (subject to availability & scheduling). In the map below you can see the areas that we will have access to. {Click on the map to see a larger version.}:
A Ground Pass is an economical way for the family to see some great tennis. A Family Ground Pass (2 Adults & 2 Children or 1 Adult & 3 Children) if you buy it now is only $90.00. Once the tournament starts the price is $95.00. Additional tickets are at $34 each (pre-tournament prices).
As the Ground Pass allows access to Garden Square and Grand Slam® Oval, we will be able to mix up tennis watching with activities for the kids, especially the younger ones. The older boys will be able to sit for much greater periods, but I know the younger ones will need to run out some energy after spells of quiet sitting! Activities on offer include:
MLC Tennis Hot Shots
Families can play on the mini courts and learn about Tennis Australia’s kid’s starter program for kids aged five to 12. Local tennis coaches will put children through their paces at Margaret Court Arena prior to the start of the first day session match on the first seven days of the tournament.
The MLC Tennis Hot Shots is run at local tennis centres through out the year. You can go to the Hot Shots website to find your local centre and if you sign the kids up now they get a free SpongeBob Square Pants Backpack.
MLC Autograph Island
MLC Autograph Island is located at the MLC Tennis Hot Shots mini courts in Garden Square. Here kids have the unique opportunity to meet their favourite tennis players up close and obtain their autographs during the first eight days of the Australian Open.
MLC Fan Zone
The MLC Fan Zone is located at Grand Slam® Oval and is created to be an interactive zone where kids have the opportunity to actively participate in tennis-related activities. They can try the Tennis Tornado and play on the mini tennis courts.
But MLC Fan Zone isn’t just about the kids, mum and dad will be able to find some activities of interest at Grand Slam® Oval too, like the Beer Garden, Wine Bar and live bands!
The Gift Of A Ground Pass
A Ground Pass makes an ideal gift for those hard to buy friends and family. A Family Ground Pass is an excellent option from my perspective, because while it is fab that each of the kids get lots of lovely toys etc at Christmas, when you times all those gifts by five that is a significant influx of “stuff” to the house.
Experience based gifts like tickets to the Australian Open, don’t take up any space! And they have the added bonus of providing entertainment for the kids through out the school holidays.
For those that work you can actually get an “After 5” Ground Pass which will provide access to the Australian Open from 5:00pm for all sessions between 14 January until 19 January 2013.
You can go online and book the tickets now via Ticketek before the Australian Open starts to save on your ticket prices.
The Australian Open has created a fantastic online guide which gives you all the info you need so you can make the most of your time at the tournament. The guide combined with referencing the tournament schedule and entertainment schedule for Grand Slam® Oval will make it easy to get the kids involved and plan out how we will spend our time at the Australian Open.
Australian Open 2013 Give Away
Thanks to the Australian Open I have 2 x Family Ground Passes for the Australian Open 2013 (4 tickets) to give away. (A Family Ground Pass is valued at $90 at pre tournament prices.)
To enter all you need to do is leave a comment letting me know what part of the Australian Open your kids would love the most? The give away is open to Australian residents only and will close on 5:00 pm AEDST on Friday 7th December 2012. Please see the full terms and conditions here.
Good luck!