The Arts

Holidays and Guesthouses with Spiri Tsintziras

A three-minute film and creative learning activity for children in Levels 2-6 with a focus on history, primary sources, and creative writing.

Join Spiri Tsintziras, a Melbourne author and teacher of writing, on a walk through the beautiful old Alpine Retreat Hotel in Warburton. Listen to stories about holidays in the Yarra Ranges in the past and look at original vintage postcards and historic photographs. Spiri invites us to imagine we are staying at a guesthouse in the 1940s and talks us through writing a postcard or letter about our holiday.

This is a Yarra Ranges Regional Museum Creative Learning Activity.

How to run the activity

Step 1: Print copies of worksheets, vintage style postcards or notepaper designed by Beci Orpin, either in colour or black and white.

Step 2: For the postcard option, cut the printed templates in half to make A5 sized double sided postcard worksheets.

Step 3: The notepaper option is for longer classroom sessions or more advanced writers.

Step 4: Introduce the session and play the three-minute film Holidays and Guesthouses with Spiri Tsintziras.

Step 5: Distribute the printed worksheets and writing materials.

Step 6: Reflect on the activity, questions could include why people travelled to the Yarra Ranges for holidays, and how holidays in the past were different to compared to holidays now.