The Museum of Fire {Penrith NSW} | Kid-Friendly Sydney

At the start of the new year my extended family and I visited the Museum of Fire, in Penrith, west of Sydney. The first time I visited the Museum of Fire was ages and ages ago, back when I was about 10 years old. My family has a connection to the Museum, in that my Great-Great-Great-Great-Great-Great (got that!) Grandfather, Andrew Torning, formed the first volunteer fire company in Sydney, The No. 1 Fire Company.



As a lover of history I find it really interesting to learn about how my relatives first came to this country and the contributions they made. Andrew Torning arrived in the colony in 1842, and after purchasing the Victoria Theatre he then purchased his first fire engine for 250 pounds, which he used to set up the No. 1 Fire Company.

The Museum of Fire is filled with the history of firefighting in our country, and has an incredible amount of information and antiques from the earliest years of Australian firefighting. It's a not-for-profit registered charity and a community museum. Many of the staff are trained firefighters and are passionate about preserving the history of some of the country's bravest men and educating the community about the dangers of fire and fire safety.

The main hall of the museum is filled with a huge array of firefighting vehicles and trucks, all of which are in working order. The museum takes these trucks to antique machinery shows and it's amazing the work that goes in to finding parts, restoring them, and keeping them in running order. If you have a kid that loves trucks or Fireman Sam then they will LOVE this!

As well as the history and antiquities, there is also heaps of information on fire safety, with interactive displays where you can get hands on when learning about fire safety in the home and outdoors. There are timelines of the major Australian bushfires, including footage of firefighters in action and the people affected by those fires. There are also videos and touch screen computers with lots of interesting facts and tidbits. There is so much fun stuff for kids (and adults too!) that it doesn't feel like learning at all!

By far the favourite section for Punky and Zee was the Junior Firefighter Training area. There are tables set up with pictures and coloured pencils for colouring, life-size fire engines for the kids to get in and explore, as well as an episode of Fireman Sam to watch. Fire hats and coats hang on the wall so kids can have a little dress-up, and one of the fire engines has a video screen set-up where you can pretend you're driving the fire truck yourself.

The staff are absolutely wonderful, and the manager even took the big boys out to the shed where they restore the fire engines and told them all about the process they go through. With some of the older trucks, it takes the purchasing of up to 5 other trucks to be able to source enough parts to get them in working order.

There's a gift shop with heaps of cool trinkets and collectibles to satisfy both kids and adults alike. The admission prices make this a really affordable outing at $10 for adults, $8 for concession and $6 for kids 2-13 years old. There's also a family ticket (2 adults + 2 kids) option for $25, which the cashier was nice enough to charge us, even though technically Zee was free, being under 2, so we saved a dollar. Score!

The museum is located 5 mins from Penrith Westfield if you feel like having lunch at a nice cafe or restaurant afterwards, otherwise there are picnic areas and a big playground for the kids if you want to take a packed lunch with you.

I highly recommend checking out the Museum of Fire if you're looking for a fun and interesting place to visit with the kids. It's really kid-friendly with plenty to keep everyone entertained, and of course you might even learn a little something in the process!

Have you been to the Museum of Fire? Do you ever take your kids to Museums?


Looking for more kid-friendly things to do in Sydney? Look no further...

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