The army museum makes a good stopping off point if you’re driving along the SH1 or SH49 around Waiouru, especially on a rainy day if the kids just need a break from the car. There’s a lot of information to take in, so it might pay to look at the website to select a few areas that you think your kids would be most interested in. You could also ask if they have the treasure hunt activity worksheet available which gives kids a good focus for their visit.

Depending on your kids’ interests and ages, if they’re struggling with the displays, there’s a kids’ room where they can dress up in military uniforms, learn morse code and outside there are tanks the kids can climb on. Otherwise there are typical war scenes depicted with real items (vehicles, tents etc) and models, which aren’t particularly life like (for an adult) but they’re not trying to shock in the same way that the Wellington War displays are.

If you know you’re going or want to follow up a visit, there are downloadable kids’ activities available here.

There’s a cafe onsite.