Top 5 Activities for Kids
From pigs at the farm, to trapeze artists to an urban swim festival, there really is something for everyone. Carefully choosen events that your children will love.
You won’t be able to miss this venue positioned in the Jubilee Gardens at South Bank - unless giant inflatable upside-down purple cows are a regular sight in your neighbourhood, that is. That’s the distinctive design of this venue, which houses a lively mix of comedy, theatre, circus, dance, children's shows and music. Sticks, Stones and Broken Bones is the family event, showing on Saturday 16 and Sunday 17 July. Jeff Achtem makes bits of junk magically come to life as shadow puppets. Adults and children will be thoroughly entertained everyday, from noon til late.
One of the great things about London is that you’re bound to stumble across a place you’d least expect to find in a bustling city. This historical farm is a piece of the countryside fitted around the railway of Kentish Town. Sounds of chugging trains and hooting car horns are intermingled with bleating sheep, quacking ducks and croaking frogs. Many hands-on activities are available, including weekend workshops and an under-fives activity room. The farm will run a busy summer programme from mid July - engrossing your youngsters and educating them, too.
The one activity children can’t relish in the hot sun is frolicking in the tumbling rain. So why not take the family to the next best thing: Jeppe Hein’s interactive fountain near the River Thames, flowing until 18 September. Jets of water rise and fall to create different ‘rooms’ and the object of the game is to run in and out to avoid getting wet – unless you want to of course!
Are your kids fascinated by trapeze artists? Then this is the ideal outdoor activity to keep them amused for 90 minutes. Participants are taught the basics of an aerial circus trick, involving hanging upside down and being caught by a trapeze artist. Don’t worry, it’s very safe: catchers are well-trained to grab hold of any youngsters that may fall. But for heavy adults, this may prove to be a little dangerous. Recommended for ages six and over, this summer experience runs until Sunday 21 August.
Featuring a beach and two 12metre heated outdoor pools, this urban swim festival hosts a range of family-friendly, aquatic activities. Have fun playing water polo, learning how to save lives, swim with the family or fool around on the temporary sand. Or simply pull up one of the deckchairs, sit back and relax. Invented by Olympic swimming medallist Stephen Parry, it’s claimed that 2,000 people have already been taught to swim. Running until Sunday 17 July, children will take to it like fish to water.
John Logie Baird first demonstrated how his new invention, the television, would work, in his laboratory in Frith Street, Soho, back in 1926. The laboratory was above what is now Bar Italia.
