What’s On: London’s Best Family Events This Week
This Weekend for the Whole Family
Belgravia Christmas Sunday: head over to Elizabeth street and Pimlico Road for a beautiful festival complete with choirs, brass bands, balloon modellers, Father Christmas will be hosting a black cap photo booth… market stalls and great do and drinks. Sunday 11am-5pm
Cecil Sharp House Family Barn Dance: Sunday 3-5pm, bring the kids to take part in dances from the British Isles. Live music and expert callers. £7 adults, £5 children, under 2s free.
Cadogan Hall, Mr. Popper’s Penguins: Start off the season with a family musical complete with songs and puppets. Tickets are £14.50, for ages 3+, Friday 1:30 and 4:30, Saturday 10:30 and 1pm.
Royal Academy Family Studio, Fancy Dress Spectacular: Head to Piccadilly and create your own textile designs to create a fancy dress to parade outrageous outfits through the RA. Drop in, all ages, free. Sunday 11am-3pm.
Gwenelda, London’s Premier home beauty service for mums, kids and families has a great offer: £36 for a child’s haircut and a blow-dry for mum (or grandma). Enter discount code LBXmas15 at checkout. Read a bit more here
This Weekend for Older Children (and perhaps their younger siblings)
National Theatre, Making Costume wonder.land: Find out how some of the costumes in wonder.land were made and have a go at making your own mask, hat or headdress. Saturday, 11am-1pm, 2:30-4:30, ages 6+
Rich Mix, Soundhoppers: Sunday 11am-noon. Waged Yaseen and Helen Frosi have created an fabulous workshop designed to help children to become more nuanced to different kinds and and qualities of sound. Free, booking essential, ages 3-11.
BFI Family Sunday: Head over for a hands-on animation workshop where you create your own comedy situations with prizes for the best story. This workshop if free to those holding tickets to the preview of Snoopy and Charlie Brown 3D. £4 under 16s, £11.75 adults
Le Institute Francias, Game Lab: head over and enjoy the last session of this fun session of gaming, its great fun, booking in advance is essential as they are VERY well attended. 11am, in easy French (honest!) £7
Half Moon Theatre, Oddly: Saturday 5th, 3pm, £6.50. Based on the loved book written by Joyce Dunbar. Puppets, inventive design and original music.
This Weekend for Much Older Children
Royal Academy, Ai Weiwei: now until the 13th of December. I took my daughter for her big 10th birthday to the exhibit and cannot recommend it more highly. The artwork is provocative, reactive, concrete and some works incredibly abstract. The installation includes life-sized models of his time in prison. The exhibit is not at all appropriate for young children as the installations are too easy to touch. £16 for adults, children are free.
Hackney Aquatic Club Swim Squad: HAC is putting together a new squad, for competitive and non-competitive swimmers. Book in advance for a brief trial where you will be advised the best squad to join.
Babies and Toddlers
Wigmore Hall, Relaxed Concert with the Aurora Orchestra: head to the warm and welcoming Wigmore Hall for a relaxed concert where parents can enter and leave the hall as they desire, lights will kept on while audience members listen to Haydn, Dvorak, Britten, Park and Piazolla. Friday, 11-noon, £5.
Rich Mix, Musical Rumpus, Lyrebird: Musical Rumpus is an award-winning, interactive, multi-sensory opera adventure especially made for children ages 0-2.5 years. Friday 4th and Saturday 5th, 10:30 and 12:30, £8 per child, £2 per accompanying adult.
Pimlico Toy Library: Pimlico Toy Library has a new web site showcasing all their wonderful children’s workshops and baby playtimes. This is a fantastic resource for any parent or carer, the toys are fastidiously cleaned and the art workshops are brilliantly planned with high quality materials
Electric Cinema, Electric Scream: Mondays, 10:30. This week’s feature: The Lobster. Bring babies under 12 months to this amazingly plush cinema, relax with some coffee and catch a flick.
Everyman Belzise Park, Baby Club: Head up to Belsize Park and catch a film with the baby, this week’s feature: Brooklyn. Tuesdays, 10am
Clapham Picturehouse, Big Scream: Head to Clapham and see Bridge of Spies and Carol Sundays and Thursday, 10:30, £7.50.
Ritzy, Brixton, Big Scream: Fridays, 11am, £7.50. This week’s features: Sunset Song and Carol.
Rich Mix, Parents and Babies: See The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2. Various dates, Monday 23rd November - 3rd December. £6
Family Cinema
BFI, City Lights: Charlie Chaplin falls in love with a blind flower girl. Saturday, 1:10. £4 under 16s, £11.75 adults, 1 adult and 1 child for £10.
Rich Mix Kids’ Cine Time: Nativity 2: Danger in the Manger. Saturday and Sunday, noon. Tickets just £1.75
Curzon Cinema, Victoria: This week’s programme,Bill. Saturday and Sunday, 10:30. £3.50 per person. .
Gate Picturehouse, Kids Club: This week’s programme: Strange Magic. £1 with £4 membership, popcorn and juice £2. (best £3 you will ever spend on a rainy Saturday)
Bloomsbury Curzon: 10:30 Saturday, this week’s screening is Bill. £3.00 per person.
Ritzy, Brixton, Kids’ Club: Saturdays, 10:30am. £1.50. This week’s feature: Strange Magic.
Electric Cinema, Kid’s Club: This week’s feature, Home Alone, 10:30am. 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.
