Seven Fun Activities to Try in Your City If You Promised Yourself You'd Do New Things This Year

In partnership with

With every new year comes new ambitions, goals and hopes for the next 12 months. Despite not quite ticking off everything from last year's resolutions list, there's something about a new year that restores your faith in your own ability to achieve your dreams this time around. And, if the world has shown us anything these past few years, it's to lean into fun while you can.

While trying new things can be somewhat daunting, we hear that getting out of your comfort zone is where the magic happens. Whether you've been promising yourself to sign up to an acting class for years or you feel like trying a different sport, there are loads of ways you can get involved in a new activity this year. We've teamed up with Just Play to give you some inspiration for your extracurricular activities in 2022.

PLAY A TEAM SPORT

After so much time in solitude and indoors over the past few years, there's never been a better time to get involved in a team sport. Although this may sound very intimidating to some — especially if your high school dabbled in dodge ball — being part of a team sport can be a completely supportive and enjoyable experience.

If you're ready to play but haven't got enough mates who are as keen you, Just Play is here to help find you a team. Simply sign up to one of the sports on offer — basketball, netball, futsal, soccer, touch footy, cricket, volleyball and more — as an individual or with a mate and you'll be added to a team in your area. How good. Once you've registered, Just Play will then send you a playing top and you'll be off and away with your new teammates.

LEARN A NEW CREATIVE SKILL

There's something super satisfying about getting your hands dirty to learn a new skill or to make something. And Work-Shop offer plenty of courses that will leave you feeling creatively fulfilled.

You can try your hand at workshops across various art forms including ceramics, jewellery making, pot painting or simply sip on some wine as you paint a watercolour masterpiece. It even offers Kintsugi classes — the art of repairing broken pottery. By the end of each workshop, you'll leave with a beautiful piece of art and a story to tell your mates at dinner. Plus, classes fall on a range of different days and timeslots, making it easy to fit in around your busy weekly schedule.

VOLUNTEER FOR A CAUSE YOU CARE ABOUT

Volunteering is a top-tier way to get involved in your community and potentially discover new areas of interest. In Sydney, Story Factory has ongoing volunteer opportunities, both online and in person, focusing around greater western Sydney schools. If helping under-resourced communities through creative writing sounds like something for you, this will be right up your alley.

There are heaps of other places you can volunteer, too. Consider yourself an animal lover? You could volunteer at an animal shelter. Love to read? Libraries could use your help. Or, if you like life on the more dramatic side, your local theatre is likely to love your creative input. Go Volunteer can help you get started with opportunities and organisations listed or Volunteer Match can help you find something that aligns with your interests. 

HIT YOUR MARK IN AN ACTING CLASS

Ever think you could be the next Cate Blanchett or Eric Bana but just haven't been discovered yet? Well, it might be time to enrol in a NIDA Open course to help you discover your true acting ability or to simply have a bit of fun centre stage.

There are intensive part-time courses and shorter weekend and evening classes available in stage acting, screen acting, stand up comedy, design, writing and more. Some courses require an audition to enter but many are available to anyone ready to take on a creative challenge. The best bit? NIDA Open offers regular classes in Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne.

ELEVATE YOUR CULINARY SKILLS

You can never stop learning when it comes to cooking. Some of us simply want to master the art of slicing things up a little more intricately. Others might want to figure out which spices should go with what dishes while some might want to perfect a pad thai recipe. Whatever skill you want to refine, a cooking class could be your answer.

You can find a range of classes on Red Balloon to suit a range of palate preferences. Want to finally learn how to make some proper Italian pasta? How about delicious Japanese or Middle Eastern food? Either way, Red Balloon has you covered. You can even take a cocktail masterclass and impress all your mates next time they come over for drinks.

ENROL IN A LANGUAGE COURSE

Learning a new language is one of those things that perpetually seem to be on the 'I should get around to finally doing that' list. Wouldn't it be nice to be able to answer 'Parlez-vous Francais?' with more than 'Oui'? Well, this could be the year.

There are plenty of courses to help. The Vocational Language Learning Centre offers courses in Arabic, French, Italian, Greek, German, Japanese, Indonesian, Russian and Spanish at centres in Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne. 

EXPLORE YOUR CITY ON SKATES

Time to limber up those legs and get on some skates to see your city in a whole new way. Rollerskating is an excellent way to keep active and try something new and still maintaining an element of social distance (ideal in 2022).

There are plenty of routes for you to roll around in our major cities. Hit up the St Kilda Beach Promenade in Melbourne, let loose on the long and scenic Brisbane River run or lap it up at Centennial Park in Sydney. In terms of purchasing the gear, Impala Roller Skates online store has plenty of good stuff. Or, there's Bayside Blades in Melbourne, Extreme Skates in Brisbane and Skater HQ in Sydney. 

Ready to try something new in your city this year? For more information on Just Play, visit the website.