Top 5 Family and Kids Activities
Marvel Superheroes 4D, Madame Tussaud’s
Enter the world famous house of wax-work and come within touching distance and beyond with all your favourite superheroes. Climb into the ferociously strong grip of the Incredible Hulk, hang out with Spiderman in the awesomely creative upside-down office, try on a pair of Wolverine’s knuckle spikes, or fade into the background via cool special effects with The Invisible Woman. All at Madame Tussaud’s, you’ll never hear the end of how your children met their comic book idols.
Image credit: Freerange PR
The art of storytelling has been at the foundation of relationships, particularly between a parent and child, since the dawn of time. At Discover, London’s only children’s museum over in Stratford, kids can create their own stories. Explore the story trail with its cave, puppets, soaring tower slide and jump around on the noisy polka dots. Play outside with a story guide and clamber over a spaceship or pirate ship. There’s so much to keep the little ones active and engaged at Discover; it’s a wonderful solution when you’re stuck for ideas.
Steering away from the more popular Kensington museums, the Horniman Museum near Dulwich, South London, is as calm and peaceful as it is interesting and enriching. Straight away you’ll have a good impression of things to come thanks to the fairytale-esque clock tower attached to the outside of the building. Inside, you can get hands-on in the handling section which should keep young minds occupied for a time. Then there are the gardens of varying themes to explore. Otherwise, enjoy the aquarium and other areas with natural history, nature, music and worldly culture featuring in choice.
Image credit: Laura Mtungwazi
Escape from London’s busy city streets and take refuge in Spitalfields City Farm. Located on Buxton Street, in trendy East London's Shoreditch area, the farm is spread across 1.3 acres of land. Children can make friends with Bayleaf the donkey and Bramble the goat. There are also miniature animals such as the kune-kune pigs and a small Shetland pony. Among these animals are ducks, geese, sheep and an aviary of exotic birds. Kids can learn about vegetables, where they come from, and what they look like before they end up on your plate at the Spitalfields Community Garden. Finally, don't miss out on the much- loved goat race in springtime.
Image credit: Spitalfields City Farm
With a dedicated Kids' Zone, the National Army Museum knows how to look after children, and what to provide for them. The museum is generously divided, giving both adults and kids an injection of interest in equal measures. Lunchtime lectures, specific talks and celebrity speakers are a constant at the NAM. But so is the Action Zone where children can get their hands and minds busy in discovering what sort of soldier they'd have been, or get really creative in the Kids' Zone with pick-up-and-play objects and instruments. The museum also caters for birthday parties and provides acess to the Kids' Zone for the first hour, and a birthday tea in the second hour.
