Keep kids occupied in London

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5 April 2012

At times like this, I envy my children. My summer holidays as a child were largely spent frittering away weeks in the countryside, and indeed West Country kids' summers are probably still pretty boring. My kids, by contrast, shuttle between summer drama, music and art courses, to tennis lessons, to French camp, to rock climbing - to say nothing of visits to museums, parks, the swimming pool and that hidden south London gem, Vauxhall City Farm. For if London by night is an endlessly varied adults' playground, by day in summer it offers children an almost limitless round of diversions.

Naturally, it takes some organisation to get kids to such activities. some are more fun for adults than others: I'd go to the Horniman museum's brilliant aquarium over the Hampstead Heath teddy bears' picnic any day. You might perhaps feel the need to camouflage any overtly educational content - climate change and the science of survival at the science museum, anyone? Or then again, you may be pleasantly suprised by your children's willingness to learn when freed from the grind of sats. And everybody wins if they're occupied - and, hopefully, worn out by bedtime.

THE GREAT OUTDOORS
Feed the animals at a city farm
Urban farmyards, one of London's great hidden resources, are magical places for small children where they can have cows, pigs, goats, sheep and ducks eating from their hands.

At the largest of the lot, mudchute (9am-4pm daily, Pier Street, Isle of Dogs, E14, 020 7515 0749, www.mudchute.org), you have to pay for the horse-riding at its unique equestrian centre (one hour group lessons for seven to16-year-olds start at £15). Surrey docks Farm (10am-5pm Tues-Sun, South Wharf, Rotherhithe Street, SE16, 020 7231 1010, www.surreydocksfarm.org.uk) is beautifully situated next to the river.

East London has hackney city Farm (10am-4.30pm Tues-Sun, 1a Goldsmiths Row, E2, 020 7729 6381, www. hackneycityfarm.co.uk) and there's one at Kentish town (9am-5pm Tues-Sun, 1 Cressfield Close, NW5, 020 7916 5421, www.ktcityfarm.org.uk).

Learn wildlife at Chelsea Physic Garden
10.30am-2.30pm, Thursday 14 August, 66 Royal Hospital Road, SW3 (020 7352 5646, www.chelseaphysicgarden.co.uk) £5
Chelsea Physic Garden is a delightful oasis of botanical curiosities. Over the summer, it puts on family days comprising talks, activities and games. Next thursday, Wildlife Gardening day will teach you how to make your own garden more attractive to passing wildlife. Bring a packed lunch. For seven-year-olds and up.

FOR ACTION BOYS AND GIRLS
Have a summer of sort at the 02
11am-10pm daily, until 5 September, O2, SE10 (0844 856 0202, www.theo2.co.uk). Free
The London Piazza inside the O2 has been transformed into a vast sports arena this summer. it's the perfect place to take any nipper who's been inspired by euro 2008, Wimbledon, the Olympics - even the cricket, unlikely as that may seem. each week sees a different sport take over the vast space - tomorrow, the David Beckham Academy is sending coaches to run youngsters through drills, while next week it's Olympics week, with team GB's exploits in Beijing projected onto the big screen.

Play laser tag
11.15am-8.45pm, until 30 September, O2, SE10 (0844 856 0202, www.theo2.co.uk) £5
While you're down in Greenwich, there's Laser tag on offer, played in 15-minute bouts with high-tech lasers - or "lightsabers" as any budding Jedi will doubtless call them.

Climb the treetop walkway at Kew
9.30am-6.30pm daily (7.30pm weekends), Kew Gardens, Richmond (020 8332 5655, www.apps.kew.org/trees) £13 adults, £12 concs, under-17s free (must be accompanied)
Kew Gardens always has a soothing effect on parents - but now it offers something for the adventurous kids in the new Xsatra treetop Walkway. You begin your walk among the roots of the trees and ascend 18 metres to their branches. there's also the Kew aquarium, a human-scale badger sett and insect-eating plants for the less intrepid visitor.

Follow the great Kenwood trail
11am-4pm, until 31 August, Kenwood House, NW3 (0870 333 1181, www. englishheritage.org.uk). Free
Perfect for families wanting to enjoy the glories of Kenwood, these trails lead you around the grounds, solving clues and learning about the wildlife. there's a different theme each time in case you want to repeat the trip.

HANDS ON
Make a movie at Filmsteps summer school
9am-4pm, five -day courses run until 22 August, Sutton House, E9 (0870 024 2522, www.filmsteps.com) £275 per child, siblings £250 (7-16 years)
Budding Steven Spielbergs can direct and star in their own movie and, at the end of the week, show it to friends and family at the red-carpet premiere.

Get creative with the Tate Britain Trolley
11am-5pm, daily in August or weekends, Tate Britain Rotunda, Millbank, SW1 (020 7887 8888, www.tate.org.uk/families). Free
Silence moaning children and spark an interest in the Old masters with the ever-popular art trolley. materials and an inspiring assistant are available to supervise painting, design, collage-making and other creative activities.

Meet a Dalek at the Doctor Who Exhibition
10am-6pm until 18 September, Earl's Court Exhibition Centre, SW5 (0871 230 1092, www.doctorwhoexhibition.com) £9 adults, £7 children
The Doctor may be treading the boards as Hamlet but there are still enough Cybermen and Daleks here to keep the most avid fan happy - or scared out of their wits, more likely. The exhibition features interactive exhibits, wall-to-wall monsters, and props used in the TV show.

Make music at the Horniman
10.30am-5.30pm daily, Horniman Museum, 100 London Road, SE23 (020 8699 1872, www.horniman.ac.uk). Free
The Horniman museum, that delightfully old-fashioned south London gem, offers a huge range of special activies for children. Look out for the music area, providing 1,600 musical instruments for kids to play on, and the aquarium with its jellyfish, seahorses and tropical frogs.

FUN SCHOOL
Explore the Foundling Museum Tues-Sat 10am-6pm, Sun noon-6pm, 40 Brunswick Square, WC1 (020 7841 3600, www.foundlingmuseum.org.uk) £5
A wonderful place to take spoilt brats, the Foundling museum tells the story of London's old home for abandoned children in a way that's easy for today's children to relate to. Throughout the summer it puts on family activities on tuesdays and thursdays at 10.30am and 2pm.

Learn the science of survival at the Science Museum
10am-6pm daily, Science Museum, Exhibition Road, SW7 (0870 870 4868, www.sciencemuseum.org.uk) £6
This is for children over eight with a conscience, who want to learn about the perils of global warming in a hands-on exhibition that lays out the future as it could be in 2050. If this all sounds a little worthy and alarming, you can always take them along to Burp Day! Tomorrow, which coincides with the publication of Glenn murphy's book How Loud Can You Burp? There are free shows at 1pm, 2.30pm and 4pm in the ground floor lecture theatre.

See the amazing butterflies at the Natural History Museum
10am-5.50pm daily, until 17 August, Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, SW7 (020 7942 5000, www.nhm.ac.uk) £5, £3.50 concs, family ticket £14
An appealing exhibition for all ages, Amazing Butterflies explores the life cycles of the beautiful ex-caterpillars through a giant maze and a fabulous butterfly house teeming with exoticwinged specimens. Puzzles, games and a zip slide add to the fun.

Check out the Horrible Histories at the Imperial War Museum
11am-4pm daily, Imperial War Museum, Lambeth Road, SE1 (020 7416 5320, www. iwm.org.uk) £8, £7 concs, £4 children, £19 family ticket
The imperial War museum is always a hit with boys - even if they're not quite old enough to appreciate Halle Berry's bikini in the James Bond exhibition For Your eyes Only. Horrible Histories: Frightful First War will prove more informative and appealing, taking its cue from the popular history books to teach the history of the Great War without them even realising they're learning.

Gross out at the Hunterian Museum
10am-5pm Tues-Sat, Royal College of Surgeons, 35-43 Lincoln's Inn Fields, WC2 (020 7869 6560, www.rcseng.ac.uk). Free
One for slightly older children, this - but anyone with a liking for the macabre will get a lot out of the museum dedicated to the brilliant 18th-century surgeon John Hunter, whose shady, criminal activities paved the way for many of today's medical procedures. Among the fascinating cabinet of curiosities are 3,000 of his specimens, including mutant animals preserved in formaldehyde and some very frightening surgical saws.

Go stargazing at the Royal Observatory
2pm daily throughout August, Peter Harrison Planetarium, Royal Observatory, Greenwich, SE10 (020 8858 4422, www. nmm.ac.uk) £6 adults, £4 children, £16 family ticket
Stargazing for Beginners is a breathtaking show that makes for an absorbing journey for under-fives through time and space in the beautifully refashioned planetarium. Also aimed at children is the 11am Secret of a Cardboard Rocket, while a full programme of shows, from Black Holes to the Sky Tonight Live, cater for older visitors. There are great galleries, too, where interactive displays make astrophysics easy-ish, and a glorious terrace café with rolling views over the park.

PLAY TIME
Petite rouge at the Scoop
6pm, Wed-Sat, 13 August-7 September, The Scoop, More London Riverside (by City Hall), SE1 (www.morelondon.com/scoop). Free
That's Little Red Riding Hood to you and me, in a lively new family musical staged at the lovely - and most importantly, free - Scoop amphitheatre near City Hall. Joan Cushing's adaptation of Mike Artell's best-selling children's book sees our heroine and her cowardly cat TeJean dodging the jaws of an alligator in New Orleans during Mardi Gras and comes complete with a jazz score. The Scoop is also playing host to free performances of Lorca's Blood Wedding: both shows are suitable for older children.

The Fiddler at the Unicorn
7.30pm, 13-16 August, Unicorn Theatre, 147 Tooley Street, SE1 (020 7645 0560, www.unicorntheatre.com) £9, £6 concs
In this imaginative and haunting new drama from Faith productions, packed with music and dance, Lee and his friends find themselves haunted in adulthood by the mysterious dark force called the Fiddler, who inhabited the shadows in their childhood stories. Suitable for children over 14.

Videk's Shirt at the Little Angel
10am, 11.30am and 1pm, 16 and 17 August, Little Angel Theatre, 14 Dagmar Passage, N1 (020 7226 1787, www. littleangeltheatre.com) £8, £6 concs
The enchanting Little Angel Puppet Theatre is still run by the mother of Joe Wright - the director of Atonement and Pride and Prejudice - who credits it with inspiring his visual imagination. Videk's Shirt is a Slovenian nursery story, suitable for two to five-year-olds, about a young boy whose animal friends help him search for an errant chemise blown away by the wind. From 20 August, you can see Alice and the White Rabbit, a shadow-puppet adaptation of Lewis Carroll's Wonderland stories, suitable for families. The theatre will also be running a Saturday Puppet Club for five to 11-year-olds from 27 September.

Brilliant at the Polka Theatre
11am and 2pm, until 16 August, Polka Theatre, 240 Broadway, SW19 (020 8543 4888, www.polkatheatre.com) £7.50
Fevered Sleep Theatre Company present a magical, fantastical, dreamlike world of light that comes into existence after bedtime in this dynamic show designed specifically to stimulate the imagination of preschoolers aged three or four (who must, however, be accompanied by an adult, so no sloping off to the coffee bar).

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Chelsea F.c.

Keep kids occupied in London

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