TOP 38 THINGS TO DO WITH KIDS THIS MAY
London's BEST Family Events this May 2024 and Half-Term
WARNING: Do not approach May without reading this guide.
We've cherrypicked the best family events for May, its half-term and Bank Holidays, from the Paddington Bear immersive experience, to monsters and crocodiles exploding from page to stage, village fetes with a twist, jousting matches at castles, bugs, Manga, kiddie raves, Lego shows, dinosaurs and trips to the moon with an A list host.
There are plenty of free experiences and something to entertain every age and flavour of child, so read the below immediately, if not sooner.
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Paddington Bear Immersive Experience
Everybody’s favourite, Peruvian bear is getting the immersive treatment, with The Paddington Bear™ Experience.
Launching on 31 May, the marmalade-addled, interactive adventure across more than 26,000 square feet of Southbank’s London County Hall will invite guests into a series of themed rooms, inspired by iconic locations from the Paddington stories.
Fittingly, it kicks off at Paddington Station, where guests will be greeted by a friendly Station Master and taken on a colourful train journey through London’s most famous landmarks, to the Browns’ charming, No. 32 Windsor Gardens home.
Once inside the famous, tree-adorned hallway, guests will embark on a multi-sensory adventure to help the Brown family and Paddington prepare for the all-important Marmalade Day Festival.
The Paddington Bear™ Experience, London County Hall, Westminster Bridge Road, SE1 7PB. From 31 May. Adult tickets £34pp. Children (2-15) £24. Under 2s go FREE
There’s a Monster in Your Show
Parents of young children know the drill with Tom Fletcher’s hit series of interactive, Who’s in Your Book? stories.
So turn your phone upside down, blow the screen, clap three times and jump to the next sentence, because it’s gone from page to stage and will be at Blackheath Halls on 25 May. Over the course of a high energy, 50 minutes - with sets and puppets which are forensically faithful to illustrator, Greg Abbott’s colourful drawings and new music by Fletcher, Barry Bignold and Miranda Larson - the show is just as interactive and imagination-pumping as the books.
It’s a perfect introduction to theatre for little minds and a wholesome and fun celebration of friendship, imagination and books.
There’s a Monster in Your Show. Blackheath Halls. 25 May
Greenwich Peninusula Urban Village fete
This colourful twist on the traditional fete is back and bigger than ever. Expect a canine circus, fun from the Bureau of Silly Ideas, sports day games, DJ Gilles Peterson joining forces with sonic storyteller, Jamz Supernova, plus street food, and interactive workshops for all ages.
Greenwich Peninsula, London, SE10. 19 May. 11am - late
Sticks ’n’ Sushi Celebrates Japanese Children’s Day
On 5 May each year, families come together to celebrate the health and happiness of their children on Kodomo no Hi - Japanese Children’s Day.
This year, Sticks 'n' Sushi is inviting families to join in the festivities by gifting free bento boxes to all children dining with a paying adult. There will also be 100 gift bags at each restaurant, with colouring pencils, removable tattoos, origami paper as well as a Koinbori set. Sticks’n’Sushi Shoreditch has partnered with Kids Table for arts and crafts, games and tabletop adventures. And a Japanese calligrapher will be on hand at the newly opened Richmond restaurant to write children's names in kanji characters.
Sticks ’n’ Sushi. Multiple locations. 5 May. 12-4pm
The Enormous Crocodile at Regents Open Air Theatre
The Enormous Crocodile is weaving his way through the jungle in search of delicious little fingers and squidgy, podgy knees at this gorgeous, outdoor theatre.
Only the other jungle creatures can foil his secret plans with clever tricks. This new musical adaptation of Roald Dahl’s picture book has tunes by Ahmed Abdullahi Gallab and features a menagerie of mischievous puppets by co-director and puppetry designer, Toby Olié.
Regents Park Open Air Theatre, The Regent's Park, Inner Cir, London NW1 4NU. 18 May - 8 June 2024. Tickets from £17.85 pp
My Neighbour Totoro
RSC's extraordinary theatrical adaptation of the iconic 1988 animated movie broke the Barbican’s Box Office record for most tickets sold in a single day. After bagging five star reviews in very corner of the press, My Neighbour Totoro has now moved to the West End.
The enchanting celebration of childhood and the magic of imagination uses mesmerising puppetry, design, a live orchestral performance of Joe Hisaishi’s score and stellar cast, to tell the story of two young sisters, who discover magical creatures and the ancient protector of the forest they call "Totoro."
They are soon swept up in exciting adventures with their new friends, in a long-forgotten realm of spirits, sprites and magic.
My Neighbor Totoro, Gillian Lynne Theatre, 166 Drury Lane, London, WC2B 5PW. Tickets from £25. RSC £10 Tickets for 16-25s per performance. Until 2 November 2025
Queen’s Joust at Leeds Castle
Leeds Castle will resound to the thunder of hooves and the clash of lances on shields over the May Bank Holiday weekend, as it hosts The Queen’s Joust (25th – 27th May).
Travel back in time to a world of medieval knights and chivalry, for displays of combat and action, and medieval living and feasting. Competing over three days for the coveted Leeds Castle International Cup, a team of skilled fighters from France will battle against brave competitors from England, each with their own horse and precious armour for the attentions of the Queen.
In addition to the feats of strength and skill, all-day encampments offer a fascinating insight into 15th Century trades and activities including blacksmithing forge, medieval food and drink, coin-minting, tailor’s workshop, weaving and spinning.
Leeds Castle, Broomfield, Maidstone ME17 1PL. Adult tickets £31.50 pp. Child £22.50. Family £74. 25-27 May
Chelsea Physic Garden Spring Workshops
This glorious botanical garden never disappoints, and this month, their childrens’ workshops include meet and greets with friendly insects in different micro-habitats and making dyes, paints and pigments from plants to use in your own, artistic masterpieces.
Chelsea Physic Gardens, 66 Royal Hospital Rd, London SW3 4HS
Japan: Myths to Manga at Young V&A
Take a trip through Japan and explore how landscape and folklore have influenced Japanese art, technology and design, featuring a seal shaped robotic comforter, Hello Kitty paraphrenalia, draw your own Manga characters and learn nifty facts about Sylvanian Families toys being born out of hundreds-of-years old netsuke animal sculptures.
Young V&A Museum, Bethnal Green, Tower Hamlets, Cambridge Heath Rd, Bethnal Green, London E2 9PA. General Museum access, free.
Flower Power Family Rave
Get those tiny hands reaching for the lasers for the pioneers of family raves, Big Fish, Little Fish’s hippie disco at Horniman Museum. Expect DJs like Aphrodite and Aston Harvey plus food, bars, blooming lovely floral crafting activities, author readings/signings, bubbles, balloons and foam.
Horniman Museum & Gardens, 100 London Road, Forest Hill, London SE23 3PQ. 25 May. 2-6pm. Adults £20pp. Kids £15pp
The Princess and the Pea
Unicorn Theatre has teamed up with New Vic Theatre and leading contemporary circus company Upswing for a show which bulges with breathtaking acrobatics, clowning, and fairytale adventure.
This funny and playful remix of Hans Christian Andersen’s classic tells the story of a pampered Princess who has everything her heart desires. But one dark and stormy night, she ventures beyond her palace walls and everything changes.
Unicorn Theatre, 147 Tooley St, London SE1 2HZ. 17 May - 16 June. Under 18s £7 - £18.50 / Adults £10.50 - £26.50
Suitcase Circus at Puppet Barge Theatre
Little Venice’s magical, floating theatre brings this glorious tale about Wobulous Discombobulous, the anarchic sock, who presents a line up of extraordinarily talented performing objects, all with their own unique and captivating storylines.
Suitcase Circus features the most unlikely of performers, including the world's only acrobatic potato sack, a daredevil ski glove, an incredible dancing milkshake straw, the hypnotic tie snake Windsor Knot, and the lovable yet bizarre magical Mexican hat, Timrek.
Puppet Barge Theatre, opposite, 35 Blomfield Rd, London W9 2PF. 4 May-3 June 2024. Adults £14. Children £10. Ages 5+.
Immersive Lego Exhibition
Aptly opening on Brick Lane, The Art of Brick brings its Lego masterpieces to London, following tours of more than 100 cities in 24 countries.
The exhibition features artist Nathan Sawaya's Lego recreations of some of the world’s most famous artworks, from Michelangelo’s David to Van Gogh’s Starry Night and Da Vinci’s Mona Lisa. Among the wonders, visitors will also find a 6-metre-long reproduction of a Tyrannosaurus Rex skeleton
Kids (and big kids) can also make their own masterpieces at the play and build area.
The Boiler House, 152 Brick Lane, London, E1 6RU. Until 12 May
The Moonwalkers: A Journey with Tom Hanks
Lightroom leapt inside David Hockney’s art for his jugggernaut of retrospective and now turns its immersive technology to space, with added Tom Hanks.
The Apollo 13 star narrates the audio-visual experience, which offers a unique new perspective on humankind’s past and future voyages to the moon.
Telling the stories of the Apollo missions in intimate detail, The Moonwalkers also provides an insight into the impending return of crewed surface missions by going behind-the-scenes of the Artemis programme, including interviews between Hanks and Artemis astronauts.
If your own trip to the moon is unlikely, the immersive gallery promises the next big thing, with its tech-wizardy taking visitors on a voyage to our closest celestial neighbour.
Lightroom, 12, Lewis Cubitt Square, London N1C 4DY. Until 13 October 2024. Tickets from £25
Dinosaur rEvolution
South East London’s hidden gem, The Horniman Museum launches its roarsome new dinosaur exhibition for February half-term. The show invites us to rethink everything we thought we knew about dinosaurs, exploring the relationship between dinosaurs and birds.
It includes five large, animatronic models, a gaggle of fossil skeletons and skull casts, as well as touchable, detailed graphics by the acclaimed artist Luis V Rey, dress up, games, and more.
It will also be your last chance to see its beloved, overstuffed, taxidermy walrus until 2026, when the Natural History Gallery will reopen after a two-year refurbishment.
Horniman Museum and Gardens, 100 London Road, Forest Hill, London SE23 3PQ. until 3 November. Tickets from £9 per adult and £7 per child.
iFly Childrens’ Skydive
Anybody from the age of 3 to 103 can experience the superpower of flight at iFly, as long as they can comfortably wear a helmet.
The instructors allow children to safely feel the sensation of an exhilarating, 12,000 ft free-fall and flight, without jumping out of a plane.
Along with watching the instructor perform a mesmerising dance on air inside the vertical wind tunnel, your family can enjoy the extraordinary sensation of weightlessness, soaring around the glass tube and unlocking a core memory of their newfound super powers.
iFLY London at The O2, Peninsula Square, London SE10 0DX. Tickets and vouchers to fly can be purchased by clicking here and are available from £69.99 per person
Wizard Exploratorium
Soho's magic-themed Wizard Exploratorium is a five-storey, geek wonderland, offering a 4D wand-making workshop, immersive trick shop and suitably magical afternoon tea encompassing tea brewing, molecular gastronomy, and technology.
Wizard Exploratorium, 26 Greek St, London W1D 5DE
Slimy Gootopia Sessions
Slime is a gloopy rite of passage for every child - parents quickly learn the art of removing it from hair and unwitting pets and it’s up there with ice cream in the kiddie delight department. Enter stage left: Gootopia, which brings its gloopy joy to Brixton and Lewisham. The venues have shelves of ready-made slime, slime ingredients, activator, and their ‘goo-to-go’ slime vending machine. They also offer a range of activities and experiences for kids of all ages, including slime workshops, birthday parties, school science workshops, drop-in slime-making sessions and live slime-making demonstrations by goo alchemists
Gootopia. Brixton and Lewisham locations.
Pampering for all the family at Pan Pacific London
Family activities that involve lying down and being pampered? Count us massively IN.Pan Pacific London has partnered with luxury children’s brand Bonpoint, to create a unique offering for the hotel’s dedicated Wellbeing Floor. The first partnership of its kind in the UK, the duo have created a range of unisex skincare treatments and packages for children aged 6 – 16 years old, that provide an opportunity for parents to spend quality time with their children and teens and enjoy a spot of pampering.Pan Pacific Family Pampering, 80 Houndsditch, London, EC3A 7AB. Treatments start from £100.
Power Up at the Science Museum
Following five successful runs, Power Up will make its permanent home at the Science Museum from July, allowing visitors to try over 160 consoles and hundreds of the very best video games, all year long. With the new Power Up annual passes, visitors can return whenever they fancy, to journey through the world of gaming. Experience the evolution of gaming – from classics such as Pong and Street Fighter to the latest PlayStation and Xbox – while discovering the science and history behind gaming’s most iconic developments. Power Up Ticketed, daily passes: £10, annual passes: £15 . Age: 5+. Science Museum, Exhibition Rd, South Kensington, London SW7 2DD
The Young V&A
The former Museum of Childhood has had a three-year transformation - the biggest in its 150-year history - into the UK’s first museum designed by and for 0-14 year olds.
The Bethnal Green cultural destination is FREE (woo) and packed with interactive and hands-on activities for kids and families.
Highlights of the £13m revamp will include colourful, sensory playscapes, including a finger skateboard park, an ‘Imagination Playground’ construction zone, a performance and storytelling stage and sandpit.
The museum has been shaped around childrens' interests to encourage playful learning and spark their imaginations. Three galleries, Play, Imagine and Design, will help children build the skills and creative confidence they need to thrive.
Young V&A. Bethnal Green, Tower Hamlets, Cambridge Heath Rd, Bethnal Green, London E2 9PA. General Museum Access: FREE
Get the Kids Climbing the Walls
Get the kids climbing the walls at London’s Parthian Climbing centre in Wandsworth.
The 25,000 square foot beast combines climbing with lifestyle, thanks to its café, bar, gym, retail and co-working space. And it is the first indoor climbing facility in the UK to feature an exact replica of The Titan Olympic bouldering wall, which will be used at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
They offer a range of kids’ sessions and courses for ages 3 and up. There are instructors for little ones taking on their first climbing experience, as well as the National Indoor Climbing Award Scheme (NICAS) for a progressive syllabus. They also host kids’ parties, for 1.5 hours of climbing activities and games which are the perfect antidote to ‘Fun Freddie’ wrestling a balloon into a drooping sausage dog.
Parthian Climbing Centre, 52 - 58 Garratt Ln, Wandsworth, London SW18 4TF
Titanosaur: Life as the Biggest Dinosaur
For the first time ever, the colossal Patagotitan mayorum titanosaur - one of the largest known creatures to have ever walked our planet - will go on display at Natural History Museum. Four times heavier than Dippy the Diplodocus and 12 metres longer than Hope, the museum’s legendary blue whale, this gigantic creature is a spectacular sight. You can view this gargantuan dinosaur skeleton up close at this fun, interactive family exhibition. You'll follow the life of a titanosaur, from a football-sized egg plucked from its nest to a fully grown adult, bearing the marks of an encounter with a ferocious predator that took a bite out of its tail. As you weave your way around the gallery, you'll handle specimens, stare into its gigantic sauropod skull and even smell its poo. Natural History Museum, Waterhouse Gallery, South Kensington, London. Under 3s are free. 4-16 are £9. Adults £16.
Avora Family Experience
Up an unassuming, Shoreditch street is a secret portal to another planet. And on school holidays and Sundays, you can take your kids for a well-deserved break from Earth, on planet Avora.
Head here for our full review of this worthy and otherworldly adventure, encountering scientists, mocktails, aliens, army villains and closing with a child-pleasing, farty finale.
Avora: Family Immersive Adventure 5C, 127 Hackney Road, London, E2 8GY. Sundays, 12pm – 3:30pm. School Holiday weekdays. £24.50 per child (6-13) £29.50 per adult.
The Gunpowder Plot at Tower of London Vaults
Older children (12+) will be catapulted into the most exciting history lesson of their lives, in this explosive new, immersive experience, starring Harry Potter’s Tom Felton. Your mission is to go undercover and unmask the mysterious figures behind history’s most infamous plot. But when you’re surrounded by traitors, who can you trust? With surprises around every turn, descend into the vaults and experience a combination of live and digital actors, virtual reality and fancy pants technology like motion simulators and special effects, transporting you back to London 1605 in the heart of the Gunpowder plot.
The Gunpowder Plot, 8-12 Tower Hill Vaults, London, EC3N 4EE
Play Captain on a GoBoat River Picnic
If you’re looking for somewhere to spend a genuinely relaxing few hours for parents and children (plus dogs, if you have one) we recommend a GoBoat trip.
You can enjoy a picnic as captain of your own, electric boat through Canary Wharf, Paddington, Kingston, Thames Ditton or Birmingham.
GoBoat UK, Open 7 days a week from 9am - dusk. Prices start from £85 for 1 hour and £125 for two hours on the 8-person boats. GoBoat Canary Wharf, 22 Churchill Place, London, E14 5RE
Paddington Afternoon Tea Bus Tour
Brigit's Bakery launched the first, official Paddington Bear afternoon tea bus tour, celebrating the capital.The double-decker has built-in screens, so that Paddington and Mrs Bird can provide an animated guide to the tour, which includes some of Paddington's favourite landmarks, like Big Ben, The Houses of Parliament, Westminster Abbey, Hyde Park, Nelson’s Column, Downing Street, St. Paul's Cathedral, Borough Market, Green Park and Piccadilly Circus. The tour takes just under two hours, while you scoff treats including glittering shortbreads, designed to look like nibbled marmalade sandwiches, mini pizzas, smoked salmon and cucumber pretzels, turkey ham and cheddar or cream cheese and cucumber finger sandwiches and naturally, marmalade sandwiches. And for those who share the bear’s sweet tooth, the homemade sweet treats included a rice pudding studded with chocolate honeycomb, chocolate cupcakes crowned with Paddington’s chocolate paws, lemon meringue tarts, chocolate macarons and freshly baked scones with cream and jam. Brigit’s Bakery also provide vegan, vegetarian, gluten-free and halal afternoon teas.
Paddington Afternoon Tea Bus tour Departs from Trafalgar Square, Wednesdays to Sundays. Prices from £45 adult, £35 child.
Discover Children’s Story Centre
Stratford's immersive, sprog-storytelling Mecca is brimming with entertainment across three floors, plus a wonderfully imaginative Story Garden. Creep through caves, find fairy worlds within magical trees, explore hidden ships, perform in a puppet castle, leap over alligators and man your own spaceships and rockets across two floors, which also host art and craft stations, beautiful reading corners, storytelling sessions, immersive events and installations. Or head outside to the magical new play area to discover Baba Yaga’s hut held up by chicken legs, climb Hootah’s castle and slide out of the Stratford Sputnik. Check out our review here
Discover Children's Story Centre 383-387 High St, London E15 4QZ
Whizz Down The ArcelorMittal Orbit
How about hurling your children down the world’s tallest slide? The 178m long ArcelorMittal Orbit was the iconic landmark of the 2012 London Olympics and is now an attraction with three adventure experiences. Families can speed down the winding slide, abseil, or walk around the glass orbit at the top. You can also pretend it's a high-brow, cultural experience, because the orbit is also a sculpture by Anish Kapoor and Cecil Balmond. And it beats the usual views of grubby swings and bins, because here you can check out the stunning views of Queen Elizabeth Park. To ride the slide, children must be at least eight years old and over 1.3m.
ArcelorMittal Orbit, Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, 5 Thornton St, London E20 2AD. From £10.75.
Cutty Sark Rig Climb Experience
Originally climbed when the ship first arrived to Greenwich in 1954, visitors can now recreate this, by clambering up the famous masts of the Cutty Sark.The Rig Climb Experience invites kids and brave parents to step up from the main deck onto the ship’s ratlines and climb up its top mast, as hundreds of sailors did during the Cutty Sark’s heyday. Once at the top, climbers will experience a controlled descent from the rigging. Participants will be rewarded with some of the best views in London, overlooking St Paul’s Cathedral, The Shard and Tower Bridge.
Cutty Sark King William Walk, London SE10 9H
Snot, Sick and Scabs at the Centre of the Cell
Deliciously disgusting and sneakily educational centre in a futuristic, light-studded pod suspended above the laboratories of the Blizard Institute in Barts and the London School of Medicine and Dentistry. Children can learn about the heart, teeth or senses, see scientists at work and enjoy their delightfully vile ‘Snot, Sick and Scabs’ session.Centre of the Cell, 4 Newark St, London E1 2AT
Out-of-Hours at the British Museum
Your little ones can walk in the footsteps of the ancient Greeks, Pharoahs or journey through the cultures of China at The British Museum's family-friendly, out-of-hours tours. Taking place between 8.50 – 10am, before the galleries are open to the public, you can beat the unsavoury crowds. And from 4 - 25 March, children can explore Roman history through Minecraft, create a Japan-themed family photo (11 March) and make mosaic masks inspired by the Aztec gods on 18 March.The British Museum, Great Russell Street, London, WC1B 3DG. Under fives go free. £16.50 for 5-15 year olds. £33 Adults
Monopoly Lifesized
Go big or go home… or straight to jail at Monopoly Lifesized, an immersive, on-your-feet version of the classic, family game, played on a 15m x 15m lifesized Monopoly board. Enter the 4D experience and compete in challenges for your chance to buy properties. Stage a heist in Mayfair, compete against a clock to build some of London’s iconic buildings, solve a baffling murder mystery or step into the world of codebreakers. The 80-minute experience is suitable for kids from 9 and older and is open every day except Mondays.
Monopoly Lifesized, 213-215 Tottenham Court Road, W1T 7PS. Tickets £49 pp
Crystal Maze LIVE Experience
Older children (from 8 onwards) can take on this immersive adventure, which brings the hit 90s TV show to life.Run around like mentalists, yell, complete a host of difficult challenges and end the game in a fetching, satin bomber jacket. Crystal Maze Live Experience, 22 - 32 Shaftesbury Avenue W1D 7EU
Holiday to Space at Royal Observatory Greenwich
Join Ted and Plant as they explore the Solar System in search of the best place to take a holiday in an intergalactic morning adventure, including a planetarium show and interactive workshop. Recommended Age: 3 - 6 yrs. Open 10am-5pm daily
Royal Observatory Greenwich Park, Blackheath Avenue SE10 8XJ
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