What’s On: Michael Morpurgo, Barn Dancing, Prehistoric Pots and Treasure Island
This weekend for older kids (and perhaps their younger siblings)
LPO FUNharmonics, The Pied Piper of Hamlin, Royal Festival Hall. Bring the kids for what should be a fabulous afternoon of music and story. Micheal Morpugo himself will be narrating his story with the original score by Colin Mathews. Tickets are £14 children, £18 adults. Children age 7+
National Theatre Family Day: Head over and explore Treasure Island with a variety of activities for children over the age of 8. There is Buried Treasure at 11am and 3pm with A Pirate’s Life at Sea at 2 and 4pm. Tickets are £5 for adults and £3 for children.
Somerset House: head over on Saturday from noon-3pm and make your very own 3D maps with artist Maggie Li, author of Big City Explorer. The workshop is in conjunction with the current exhibit, Mapping the City.
National Gallery, Drawing Sunday: Come and join Marc Woodhead to create your very own concertina storybook complete with illustrations. Sunday, Ages 5-11, 11am-12:20 and 2-3:20, free.
Royal Academy: Make your own monsters this Sunday, 11-3pm. Entry is free and the workshop is drop-in. The new café is supposed to be lovely, an added incentive to take the kids to the workshop.
Of special note, Villa Pia, the quintessential Italian holiday for mums and babies (read my review) is offering London Baby and Kids readers £100 discount off their already exceptionally valued all-inclusive holidays between 18th April and 23rd May. Grab your mates and the kids, and enjoy a holiday of eating, drinking and relaxing in the Tuscan countryside. Do check with Villa Pia, as there may be a few mid-week arrivals available which will bring down the cost of flights.
This weekend for the Family:
Mini Vaults at Waterloo: take the kids down for a groovy stroll through the family section of the Vaults Festival at Waterloo. There will be live music, storytelling, circus acts, kazoo orchestra, face painting and street food (hopefully street booze, too). 11am-3pm Saturday and Sunday. Festival entry free, shows £8.
Pumphouse Gallery Sunday Social: Prehistoric Pots, Sunday, 11:30-3:30pm. Join ceramic artist Amy Hughes and work with clay to fashion what the first humans may have used for pots. Family tours taking place on the day, 11:15 and 2pm. Free, all ages.
Family Barn Dance at The Cecil Sharp House: Bring all the kids who will still speak to you after taking them folk dancing in Camden. Tickets are £7 adult, £5 child, children under 2 are free. All ages from 3pm Sunday.
Babies and Toddlers
For Crying Out Loud, Wigmore Hall. Friday 6th February. Come listen to Mezzo-Soprano Ann Harvey accompanied by Ian Tindale on the piano at 11am tomorrow. Tickets are just £7.50, the concert is only open to carers with infants under 1 year of age.
New Playgroup in W2: Stay and Play at St. James’s Church, Sussex Gardens. This gorgeous church is located just off Hyde Park, near the Italian Fountains, opposite Lancaster Gate station. They have just opened a lovely little playgroup complete with homemade cakes, tea, coffee, and juice for the kids. There is singing, but the rest of the time is unstructured time to mix and mingle with other parents, carers and children. Stop in Mondays 10-noon, all are welcome.
Tendre Deal: This is a site just set up by the lovely London Mumpreneur, Alexandra. Tendre Deal is a membership site (free to join) where regular flash sales give discounts up to 70% for French brands like Jacadi, Chupeta, Janod and Leontin. Great mum, great site and great brands at a bargain
Ritzy, Brixton, Toddler Time:Thursdays 11am, £3 per child, adults free.
Electric Cinema, Electric Scream: Mondays. This week’s feature: Birdman. Bring babies under 12 months to this amazingly plush cinema, relax with some coffee and catch a flick.
Ritzy, Brixton, Big Scream: Fridays, 11am. £7.50. This week’s feature: Kingsman: Inherent Vice
Family Cinema:
Curzon Cinema, Victoria: Do head over and check out Victoria’s swish, new cinema, right off Victoria Street. This week’s Kids Club programme: Rio 2. Saturday and Sunday, 10:30. £3.50 per person.
Gate Picturehouse, Kids Club: This week’s programme: London International Animation Festival £1 with £4 membership, popcorn and juice £2. (best £3 you will ever spend on a rainy Saturday)
Barbican Family Film Club: This week’s feature is Shuan the Sheep. Tickets are £2, bring the kids and escape the cold while you chill and watch a movie. Great price. 11am, all ages.
Electric Cinema, Kid’s Club: This week’s feature, Night at the Museum, Secret of the Tomb, 9:30am. Check out the Electric Cinema with its plush, red velvet beds, sofas and armchairs. Looks like a great way for Dad to occupy the kids on a Saturday morning.
