London’s Best Free and Affordable Baby, Toddler, Child and Family Events June 4th-11th
Spotted Zebra, London’s premier bespoke nanny agency, has begun offering Pop-up Nurseries around London: Clapham, Queen’s Park, Newington Green. Book in 48 hours in advance, leave your child in a small nursery cared for by a 3:1 staff of highly qualified nannies.
Take Stars Gym and Creche up on their fantastic offer to try out their gym and crèche. Pay what you like, try it for free, try it for £5, take a look around and see if you could use Stars gym to keep up your current fitness levels or improve. Monday – Friday: 9:30 – 11:30 Ofsted registered crèche, very clean, very kind, very good, for 0-5 Review
Half Term Activities, Workshops, Events:
Royal Procession from The Palace of Westminster to Buckingham Palace. Tuesday, 5th June 2:20. HRH Queen Elizabeth and her most royal posse will be travelling by gilt and golden carriage through the streets of Westminster. Check out the procession route and timings. Balcony appearance and fly by included!!
British Museum: Horses, Hawks and Hounds Half Term Family Event. Monday, 4th – Friday 8th June; 11:00-4:00pm. Come to the Great Court and take part in a variety of activities including Falconry demonstrations, make a clay horse, take part in a royal procession … check the daily programme for events before you set out.
V and A: Make-It Calligraphy. Monday 4th – Thursday 7th June, 10:30 – 12:30 & 2:00-4:00. Bring the family and take part in a two hour artist-led workshop. In the past, my 6 and 3 year old have enormously enjoyed these events. £5 per child, booking required.
There is also an imagination station craft activity on each day, if you can’t make the workshop.
Wallace Collection
- Fabulous Furniture, Wednesday 6 June, 10.30am – 12.15pm & 2pm – 3.45pm Free, drop-in art workshop. Ages 5+. Children must be accompanied by an adult. Come and draw swags, swirls, flowers and the dancing monkeys that grace our wonderful decorative gilded brass and turtle-shell furniture. Then make your own collage pattern in gold and bright jewel colours with the help of artist William Riding.
- · Rubbing Shoulders with a Knight in Shining Armour, Thursday 7 June, 10.30am – 12.30pm & 2pm-4pm. Ages 7+ Cost £7 per child. Children must be accompanied by an adult. Accompanying adults free. Bookingessential on 020 7563 9527 or [email protected]– Limited places still available! Explore the armouries and try on original and replica armour then spend time with the Wallace Collection’s Brass Rubbing knight! Artist Gilly Gretton will teach you how to make a brass rubbing, and then how to turn it into a self-portrait, using collage, of yourself as a knight (or lady).
Saatchi Gallery: Family Art Workshops, Sunday 3rd – Tuesday 5th June, 11:00am and 3:00pm. Come join artist Valeria Amadei in the Saatchi Gallery for a gallery walk and then make a self-portrait or celebrate the Jubilee and make a royal portrait. £5 per child, book ahead: contact Valeria [email protected] or 07794727062
National Gallery: Royal Regatta and Jubilee Art Labs: Monday 4th and Tuesday 5th June, 11:00-3:00, drop-in. Join Harriet Hill and Marc Woodhead and create your own boat to sail across the gallery (or take home). A wonderful way to create a quality artefact from the events going on in Westminster. Free, tickets allocated half-hour before start. Ages 5+ with younger siblings welcome.
Gate Picturehouse, Tales of the Night: various times and dates over half-term. Come and see the latest from the creator of the magical and pensive Kirkou. Tickets £8.50 for adults, and £5.50 children.
Holland Park Ecology Centre: half term activities. Wednesday 6th – Friday 8th June, 10:00 – noon and 2:00-4:00pm daily. Your kids will take part in well-organised activities where they create a wilderness shelter, use a compass, collect mini-beasts, plant herbs … well-staffed, well-resourced and just a fabulous way to spend a morning or afternoon. Over 8’s can be left. Ages 5+, £4 for RBKC residents, £5 for non-residents. Book early to avoid disappointment.
Greenwich National Maritime Museum: June Half-Term Family Events. Monday 4th – Friday 8th . Bring the kids out and explore the historic River Thames by making your own pirate ship, meeting historic sea fearers, make a map, explore a royal barge and more activities. A variety of activities for all ages, all free, most drop-in.
Weekend Events for the Bigs, Smalls and the Whole Family:
London Green Fair: Come and enjoy a day of celebration, dance, debate, learning, singing, crafting, in Regent’s Park in the annual two-day London Green Fair. The children’s area will have an interesting variety of activities including felting, planting, herb walk, make a tree sprite, textile workshops. Parents can take part in a Waldorf parenting workshop where Steiner teachers will be on hand to discuss parenting.
BP Saturday at Tate Britain: Saturday 9th June, 10:00-3:00. Come and enjoy a variety of activities for children around the museum. Create sound performances, create your own art to share … for the entire family, free.
Gate Picturehouse Kids Club: Tickets £1 each for £4 annual membership. Great way to get some down-time over a busy morning of exploring the near-by Kensington Palace, Princess Diana Memorial Playground, Kensington Gardens, Notting Hill Farmer’s Market and more ..
Just for Babies:
NCT Kensington and Chelsea Bumps and Babies Group: Gymboree, Baden Powell House. Every Tuesday 12:30 – 1:45pm, if you are new to motherhood, or have a new baby, this is a fantastic way to meet other people in the exact same boat. Its open to anyone, please drop by this welcoming and warm group. If you have a little one, they will love playing on the very clean, very fun Gymboree equipment. [email protected].
Gate Picture House Notting Hill: Big Scream. Come and enjoy a vintage theatre’s screening of Moonrise Kingdom with your infant. Great chance to see current cinema without having to shell out for a sitter. Nappy changing set up, dim lights so you can see what they are up to … fabulous morning out.
Baby and Toddler Events:
Classical Babies: Wednesdays, 11:00am, Belisize Park, Interchange Studios. £10 per family for a delightful classical concert that is completely baby and toddler friendly, the perfect mid-week bit of brain candy read more about the fabulous bit of motherhood: My review
Classics with my Baby: As seen in the Independent, Time Out, and Gramophone Magazine, this critically acclaimed concert series specifically designed for parents and children (0-5 years) to enjoy together. Tickets: Adults £10, children FREE ( special offers for online tickets from website) Eat cake and mingle from 10:00am and concert begins at 10:30am. This is such a treat, easy to get to and worth every penny. My review
Baby and Toddler Classes
Culture Kids Music Class: Chelsea, Marylebone and Hampstead
Check out their new web site!! Come along for the most amazing, dynamic, invigorating, multi-sensory, multi-instrumented music class. There is not the usual scrum for the shakers, every single kid gets a chime, ladybird game, sunglasses, gorgeous set of fairy wings, caterpillar costume … there are literally scores of props that come out with each song. Further, these props all change the following week when the class explores a new theme. Read my review.
If you “like” Culture Kids on Facebook and write “fabwebsite” on their wall, you will get a discount on your classes. Check the schedule for times and prices and age groups.
Classes for Big Kids
Judo Classes at Stars Gym Wednesdays 4pm (4-8 years) and 5pm (8+) with prospective Olympians Jonathan Purssey and Alex Farbon. Further, starting 3rd April, the engaging Carlos Andrade will be teaching Kickboxing on Tuesdays, 4:30 (4-9 years). Carlos’s class is drop-in, £9 per session, so come along when you like and have fun!!
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That calligraphy class at the V&A sounds fab!! x
I know!! Fingers crossed we can make it…
Went to the Horses, Hawks & Hounds Family event at the British Museum today on your recommendation here. Thanks Laura! We had a lovely morning out - the falconry demonstration was amazing, well worth going! And we just enjoyed looking around at some of the exhibitions in the museum too, we didn’t get a chance to do any of the other activities. But hiring the drawing kit from the Families Desk was a great hit as well.
Thanks again!
hey!!! Brilliant!! Thanks so much for sharing. We should have gone but our free days were shortened by the festivities Monday and Tuesday.