It’s probably time for me to snap out of my denial – the summer holidays are well and truly with us. We have the best part of 7 weeks until Reuben starts Big School and it could be hard work. But we have some ideas for how to entertain ourselves, and I thought I’d share them with you too.
My first tip is a H2G2-Inspired one – always know where your towel is. Yesterday we were at Myatt’s Fields, using the towel to dry off after water play. Today, we were using it to wipe down the seats in a soggy Kennington Park. A towel always comes in useful.
On that note of unpredictability, what do you do if it rains? I mean it’s a very worst and a highly unlikely scenario, but what if the British Summer collapses into a puddle and your dream of spending the whole summer playing in paddling pools and sandpits collapses with it? Well, here are some ideas for free family fun that ‘s undercover this summer.
Let’s start with LWAT favourite, the Horniman Museum. They are running free family art workshops throughout the summer, as well as storytelling and hands-on workshops. The craft workshops are ticketed, so get there early and get your hands on some. These workshops get very popular.
And another fave of ours, the Southbank Centre, has a series of events through August as part of their Festival of Neighbourhood. All kinds of exciting things are happening, from baby discos to a Pirate Dinosaur theatre show. Have a look at their events calendar for more info.
Then, of course there’s the Science Museum, which is always ace for kids but has extra events over the summer, including storytelling and science shows. Both the Science Museum and the Natural History Museum get ridiculously crowded over the school holidays, so get there early!
There are more family craft events at the Museum of Childhood and mask-making at the British Museum, and tomorrow Tate Britain is holding an interactive event called “Big and Small” for under 5s (and their older siblings). We may pop along to it at some point, if our hectic social schedule allows. You’ll recognise us by the chocolate-smeared toddler girl and the boy with his trousers on backwards.
And for something that’s not free, but is pretty good value….Crazy Chimps is running a drop-off session, with an summer club for children aged 4 and above. It’s £25 for 4 hours and includes lunch and a snack. Wonder if they’d notice if I didn’t pick Reuben up again?
So, enjoy the summer holidays and if you go to any of these places, leave us a comment below to let us know what they were like!
