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- 🐳 43 things to do in London this weekend with the kids (6–7 June)
🐳 43 things to do in London this weekend with the kids (6–7 June)
Jeff – Dads in London
June 03, 2026
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Hey DILFs!
At the time of writing, everyone in London is incredibly hot, disgustingly sticky, and about three signal failures away from open warfare. If you’re the kind of person who “basks” in this weather, I’d love to borrow your internal thermostat for a few weeks. (You can borrow my good screwdriver set as a thank you.)
So I’ll keep this intro short: you’re impatient enough already.
Lots of the events and activities below are air-conditioned or shaded, so you now have every reason to leave the house – even though anything involving movement currently feels like a terrible idea. I promise they’ll all be worth the sweat required to get there.
Enjoy (and stay cool)!
Jeff xx
World Ocean Day 2026
Saturday 6 June, 10:30–16:45
National Maritime Museum, Romney Road, SE10 9NF
FREE
Is it World Oceans Day or World Ocean Day? Plural or singular? UNESCO, The United Nations, National Geographic, Britannica and BBC and all say it’s plural. Gov.uk and the National Maritime Museum are convinced it’s singular. And the World Wildlife Fund changed its mind somewhere between its URL and page heading.
Seeing as it was the plural-favouring UN that formally designated the day in 2008 (backed by the equally plural-favouring UNESCO, after two plural-favouring conservation organisations petitioned for the day to take place in the first place), I’m keeping the “s” in. But you do you, National Maritime Museum, because none of this matters to anyone but me.
World Oceans Day is a global celebration of the vital role the oceans have in everyday life. They regulate the climate, feed billions of people, supply ingredients for modern medicine and support an absurd amount of life – all while we chuck inflatable flamingos into them and treat coral reefs like somewhere to park jet skis.
Recognising that we’re completely dependent on our oceans but shamelessly unappreciative of them, World Oceans Day is also a chance to inform us of how our silly human behaviour wrecks these waters and the marine ecosystems they contain.
At the National Maritime Museum, this celebration and education takes the form of an incredible programme of activities throughout the day:
👋 Dance to the music of a percussion street band.
👋 Take part in a story performance exploring the life story of the ocean.
👋 “Capture the enchanting rhythms and the melodies of the Pacific” with dance group Beats of Polynesia.
👋 Watch a comedy science show, “Ugly Animals” by biologist Simon Watt, which will introduce you to some of the more “aesthetically challenged” creatures of the deep.
👋 Learn why sperm wales are awesome, with ocean science expert Dr Russell Arnott.
👋 Meet the real animals behind the mermaid myths, from giant squid to oarfish.
👋 Take a virtual reality dive with mantas, try your hand at photo ID matching, and learn more about manta rays through a scavenger hunt.
👋 Discover how looking at Earth from space helps us understand our home a bit matter – from the ocean to the life it supports.
👋 Make a flying puffin puppet you can take home while learning all about them.
👋 Watch the world premiere of a brand new ocean literacy animation.
👋 Meet scientists and campaigners throughout the day and get answers to your big ocean and conservation questions.
👋 Check out the recently refurbished Ocean’s Court – with its “giant map of the world according to fish”, new objects and displays, plus “a wave of colour washing over the walls”.
And that’s only part of it. You can read the full event schedule here, and it’s all completely free. (Note: the official World Ocean(s) Day is on Monday, but this event is on Saturday.)
🌟 The Golden Ticket: an extra weekly email about the events seriously need to book ahead for. (Because the best things book up waaay in advance.)
🌟 Access to my complete database of future events (the ones you’ll need to book), so you can browse, plan and book any time.
The Artists’ Fair 2026
Saturday 6 June, 12:00–18:00
Somerset House, Strand, WC2R 1LA
Pay what you can
I’d love to have been at the meeting where the itinerary for The Artists’ Fair 2026 was agreed. Thinking about it, it can’t have been a meeting: it must have been a free-association exercise that nobody successfully stopped.
The main draw is the Artist Market – which is the closest thing here to a conventional art fair. The organisers describe it as “Peckham Car Boot meets Frieze Art Fair”, and say that stalls will feature “everything from studio detritus to artworks, props, DVDs, bric-a-brac, posters and pre-loved clothing”. We’re also told that selling these items creates “an informal income stream for artists” and offers audiences “a rare opportunity to encounter the objects that sit alongside and inform their research and practice”.
I’m pretty sure they don’t intend for it to sound scammy, but it does have a ring of “let’s hoodwink you into buying a couple of used pencils and a half-eaten packet of Wotsits by presenting it as an intimate insight into the artist’s process – while also helping fund their rent” about it.
Mind you, some of the artists involved are proper contemporary-art-world names with serious institutional kudos behind them, so whatever ends up on their trestle tables will presumably have some degree of artistic cachet. And if studio detritus isn’t your thing, there’ll also be books, records and clothing sold by “publishers, record shops, and artist support services”, according to the website.
But the Artist Market is only one component of a much broader and more bewildering programme. And this is where I really wish I’d been at the meeting (or group hallucination, or whatever it was) where the itinerary was agreed. Here are just a few of the things on offer:
The Walk with Tara Fatehi (16:15): an audio-guided wander through the fair, where Fatehi observes the people, sounds, materials and objects around her in real time.
Studio Outlaws: Working Off the Record: (15:00): a panel discussion about a recent Bermondsey exhibition called b-sides, where participants will explore why “b-sides” functions as a metaphor and what that metaphor might actually mean.
Today’s Letters (13:00): a reading session bringing together letters written in response to “the present moment” and the political, social and emotional state of modern life.
Spaghetti Club Kids Workshop (14:00, £7.50 per child): a session for 7–10s exploring DIY zine-making as a form of self-expression, collective storytelling and questioning authority. No expertise required – “just curiosity, mischief, and a willingness to flip ideas like pancakes”.
At the very least, it sounds impossible to accuse this fair of lacking range. Where else can you buy creative ephemera, go on an interpretive audio walk and teach children to challenge authority in the space of a single afternoon?
While you’re there…
👍️ Want to see how 19th-century London dealt with men peeing in alleyways? Head to Clifford’s Inn Passage, a little cut-through off Fleet Street that was once notorious for drunken detours.
So much urine hit the walls here that the brickwork started to corrode, so “urine deflectors” were installed: long strips of angled metal designed to funnel the stream into the gutter. The gentlemen of the time were NOT happy, since more often than not, their pee ended up splashing straight back onto their shoes.
👍️ Pose for a picture outside 10 Downing Street. I mean 10 Adam Street. The doors look identical, so you may as well try to fool as many people as you can.
👉 Brief interruption in a horrible colour: if this newsletter has earned its keep, you can buy me a coffee. (Completely optional, of course.)
Marilyn Monroe: A Portrait
Daily until 6 September, 10:30–18:00 (Friday and Saturday until 21:00)
National Portrait Gallery, St Martin's Place, WC2H 0HE
Adults £27, under-26s £5, under-12s free
Isn’t it crazy how you might never have watched a Marilyn Monroe film or even heard Marilyn Monroe speak, yet you could still probably identify her from the silhouette of her head? This exhibition explores how that happened – bringing together the photographers, artists and personal belongings that chart the transformation of Marilyn Monroe from Norma Jeane Mortenson into one of the most recognisable people who has ever lived.
A lot of the exhibition centres on the photographers who helped create the Marilyn Monroe image, including Richard Avedon, Cecil Beaton and Eve Arnold. Before reading about all this and learning more about her in general, I think I’d assumed the glamorous image was who she really was and how she really felt about herself – that she really did spend her most famous years permanently wearing full-on make-up, feeling sexy and looking pouty.
In reality, it seems Marilyn Monroe was a persona – and one she was heavily involved in constructing herself. There are stories of photographers watching her walk around completely unnoticed in public, only for “Marilyn” to suddenly appear the moment she sensed people looking at her. Apparently even her voice would change.
The photos are much more interesting once you know this – especially the vulnerable ones taken in her later years, when the whole Marilyn Monroe machine seems to have been exhausting her.
The exhibition also includes her books, scripts and clothes. Back in the day, people were shocked when they found out she loved reading – and photos of her with a Dostoevsky or James Joyce novel in her hand would boggle their brains. How strange to be THAT famous – that you’d be photographed reading a book, and complete strangers would bang on about it because they thought they had you all figured out.
The other problem with that level is fame is that you start becoming available for reinterpretation by artists. The exhibition includes works by Andy Warhol, Pauline Boty and Marlene Dumas, and they all seem to have projected their own ideas about fame, beauty and celebrity culture onto her image. By then, the Marilyn Monroe look had become so culturally embedded that artists barely needed to draw an actual face anymore. Platinum curls + red lips and everybody immediately got the reference.
Based on all this, I think we can all agree that fame sounds exhausting. Marilyn Monroe spent decades becoming one of the most recognisable humans on Earth, only for everyone to react with amazement whenever she picked up a book or looked tired in a photograph.
While you’re there…
👍️ St James’s Park is the best park in London. You can disagree with me all you like, but I’m right – and I think you know it deep down. If you’re intent on pointing out the lack of a rose garden or swimmers’ lake or view over London or wedding ceremony venue or ability to hold an open-air concert compared to other parks, I will see your points and raise you the best park playground in central London.
Open Gardens Weekend 2026
Saturday and Sunday; various times
Various locations
Adults £26.15; 12–17s £11.31, under-12s free
For one weekend only, you can poke around some of London’s most beautiful gardens and squares that are normally hidden behind gates, railings and “RESIDENTS ONLY” signs. More than 120 are taking part this year, and most are included in a single weekend ticket that lets you wander in and out throughout the weekend. (A tiny number require separate booking or ballot entry, but I’m afraid I think you’re too late to book/put your name down for any of them now.)
While the Open Gardens website is an aesthetic abomination, it actually has a bunch of useful pages: a live map of participating gardens; a list of guided walks and cycle tours between gardens; a list of self-guided walking routes; and information about which gardens are accessible to wheelchair users (and are therefore also likely to be easy for pram users). Each “garden” page also contains interesting information about its history, what to find there, and nearby gardens with similar opening times (to help you plan your day).
If you suspect your children will shriek “Booooorrrrrriiiiiinnnnngg” as you drag them out in search of a rose pergola or herbaceous border, you might be interested in some of the gardens that are putting on events. Granted, kids are unlikely to be on board with a walking tour explaining the history and development of Highbury Quadrant Estate Nature Gardens, but you might notice a fleeting facial expression that implies, “I don’t hate that idea” when you mention the clay workshop, arts and crafts activities and orchestra performance at Hoxton Trust community garden.
Serpentine Pavilion 2026 by LANZA atelier
Until 25 October 2026, check website for precise timings each day
Situated by Serpentine South, Kensington Gardens, W2 3XA
FREE
I have just learned a LOT about niche wall-related terminology! I’m sure we all know (or could guess) that the Serpentine Pavilion in Kensington Gardens takes its name from the Serpentine Lake, which stretches across both Kensington Gardens and Hyde Park. What I hadn’t appreciated is that the lake itself was named after a wall.
A Serpentine wall is a wavy brick wall – and they’re useful because curves are structurally stronger than straight lines, meaning you can build them thinner and with fewer bricks. Better still, they’re also known as “crinkle-crankle walls”, which is an astonishingly fun phrase for something so functional.
Anyway! Every summer, the Serpentine invites an internationally renowned architect to create their first built structure in England – a large temporary Pavilion in Kensington Gardens. This year, the architect is a Mexico City-based studio called LANZA atelier, founded by Isabel Abascal and Alessandro Arienzo. They’re the reason I know about Serpentine walls, because this year’s Pavilion riffs on the brick style that gave the nearby lake its name.
Their Pavilion consists of predictably wavy brick walls that work around the nearby trees – which is a nice bit of “working with nature” in action. There’s also a translucent roof that lets in daylight and air, so that it feels semi-outdoors rather than like a sealed building.
When you walk through it, you’ll find yourself winding through brick pathways, sitting in shaded semi-open areas, seeing sunlight filtering through the gaps, looking at how the curves frame the park and trees, and marvelling at how nobody seems to have thought to build around the Pavilion’s actual name until now.
It’ll only stick around for a few months, and it’s totally free – so get there while you can (and while the weather’s decent).
Find out more: https://www.serpentinegalleries.org/whats-on/serpentine-pavilion-2026-by-isabel-abascal-and-alessandro-arienzo-lanza-atelier
While you’re there…
👍️ The Serpentine Pavilion is holding Family Days on select Sundays between June and August. The first one is this Sunday 7 June, and you’ll get to enjoy free activities throughout the day (11:00–15:00) – such as natural dyeing and weaving, seed sowing, and outdoor games.
Other listings
This section brings together both new events I don’t have room to expand on and selected older ones from past newsletters that are still running. If you see a “(see my write-up here)”, that’s your cue to click through and rediscover whatever Past Me felt strongly enough to write about.
The Sun and The Moon: Art Inspired by the Celestial (full review coming soon!)
Until 8 September, 10:00–18:00
Saatchi Gallery, Duke of York’s HQ, King’s Road, SW3 4RY
Adults £20, 6–16s £13, under-6s free
Family Film Club: Tiddler + The Snail and the Whale
Saturday 6 June, 11:00
Barbican Centre, Silk Street, EC2Y 8DS
Adults £5, under-18s £2.50
Age guidance: 3+
Take Flight
Friday and Saturday, 11:00, 13:00 and 15:00
Half Moon Young People’s Theatre, 43 White Horse Road, E1 0ND
Baby + one adult £18
Age guidance: 0–2
Criminal: An Untold History of Homelessness, Resistance and Survival
Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays until 25 July, 12:30–16:30
Museum of Homelessness, The Manor House Lodge, Inside Finsbury Park by Manor House Gate, Seven Sisters Road, N4 2DE
Free – no booking required
Kids and Caregivers Marbling Workshop
Sunday 7 June, 11:00–13:00
Big Penny Social, 1 Priestley Way, E17 6AL
One adult + one child £25
Age guidance: 8+
Winston Churchill: The Painter (see my write-up here)
Daily until 29 November, 10:00–17:00
The Wallace Collection, Hertford House, Manchester Square, W1U 3BN
Adults £18, 12–17s £6, under-12s free
Origo: Delcy Morelos (see my write-up here)
Daily until 31 July, check website for opening times
Sculpture Court, Barbican Centre, Silk Street, EC2Y 8DS
FREE
Holy Pop! (see my write-up here)
Daily until 9 August, various timeslots throughout each day
Somerset House, Strand, WC2R 1LA
Pay what you can
Museum of Illusions (see my write-up here)
Open daily, permanently, 10:00–19:00 or 20:00 depending on the day
Museum of Illusions, 15–17 Tottenham Court Road, W1T 1BJ
Adults (15+) £29, 5–14s £24, under-5s free
Age guidance: suitable for all
Splats and Spindles: Six English Regional Chairs
Tuesdays–Sundays, 10:00–17:00
Museum of the Home, 136 Kingsland Road, E2 8EA
Free – no booking required
Elizabeth I: Queen & Court
Until 10 July, weekdays 09:30–18:00
Philip Mould & Company, 18–19 Pall Mall, SW1Y 5LU
Free – no booking required
James McNeill Whistler
Until 27 September, various timeslots throughout each day
Tate Britain, Millbank, SW1P 4RG
Adults £24, 12–18s £5, under-12s free
Jurassic Oceans: Monsters of the Deep
Until 3 January 2027, timeslots between 10:00 and 16:30
Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, SW7 5BD
Adults £17.50, 4–17s £8.75, under-4s free
Age guidance: 8+
Bubble Explorers
Until Friday 23 October, various timeslots each day
Science Museum, Exhibition Road, SW7 2DD
£4.50 per person (under-2s free)
Age guidance: 7 and under
The Rapping Princess
Until 21 June, various start times each day
Polka Theatre, 240 The Broadway, SW19 1SB
£11 per person
Age guidance: 3–6
The Flying Bath
Until 12 July, various start times each day
Little Angel Theatre, 14 Dagmar Passage, N1 2DN
Adults £15.50, 1–17s £13.50
Age guidance: 2–5
Toto the Ninja Cat and the Great Snake Escape
Until 19 July, various start times each day
Little Angel Studios, Sebbon Street, N1 2EH
Adults £15.50, 1–17s £13.50
Age guidance: 5+
Skate 50 (see my write-up here)
Various dates until 21 June, various timeslots
Southbank Centre, Belvedere Road, SE1 8XX
Pay what you can: £0–£10 (free for skateboarders)
Age guidance: suitable for all
Zurbarán (see my write-up here)
Daily until 23 August, 10:00–18:00 (Fridays until 21:00)
The National Gallery, Trafalgar Square, WC2N 5DN
£20–£22 (off-peak/peak), under-18s free
NIGO: From Japan with Love
Daily until 4 October, 10:00–17:00 Monday–Thursday and 10:00–18:00 Friday–Sunday
Design Museum, 224–238 Kensington High Street, W8 6AG
Adults £19, 6–17s £10, under-6s free
Paulo Nimer Pjota: Encantados
Wednesday–Sunday until 23 August, 12:00–18:00 (Wednesdays until 21:00)
South London Gallery, 65–67 Peckham Road, SE5 8UH
FREE – no booking required
David Bowie: You're Not Alone (see my write-up here)
Until 10 September (most days), 10:30–16:30 or 17:30 depending on the day
Lightroom, 12 Lewis Cubitt Square, N1C 4DY
Adults £29.50, 3–18s £19.50, under-3s free (family discounts available at certain times of day)
Age guidance: suitable for all
Early Netherlandish drawings (see my write-up here)
Daily until 20 September, 10:00–17:00 (until 20:30 on Fridays)
British Museum, Great Russell Street, WC1B 3DG
FREE
Paint! Pattern! Print! The Textiles of Susan Collier and Sarah Campbell (see my write-up here)
Tuesday–Saturday until 13 September, 11:00–18:00
Fashion and Textile Museum, 83 Bermondsey Street, SE1 3XF
Adults £11.50, 12–17s £9.50, under-12s free
The Wallace Collection at War
Daily until 25 October, 10:00–17:00
The Wallace Collection, Hertford House, Manchester Square, W1U 3BN
FREE
Konrad Mägi
Tuesday–Sunday until 12 July, 10:00–17:00
Dulwich Picture Gallery, College Road, SE21 7AD
Adults £18, under-18s free
The Coming of Age
Tuesday–Sunday until 29 November
Wellcome Collection, 183 Euston Road, NW1 2BE
FREE
The Last Princess of Punjab
Daily until 8 November, 10:00–18:00
Kensington Palace, Kensington Gardens, W8 4PX
Free with admission (adults £24.70, 5–17s £12.40, under-5s free)
Mundo Pixar Experience (see my write-up here)
Until 28 June, 09:00/10:00–20:00 (earlier start time on weekends)
Fulton Road, Wembley, HA9 0TF
Adults £34–£36, 2–15s £22–£24, under-2s free
Age guidance: suitable for all
Fairy Tales (see my write-up here)
Until 23 August, various timeslots throughout each day (usually 09:30–16:30)
The British Library, 96 Euston Road, NW1 2DB
Adults £13.50, 5–16s £13.50, 1–5s £6.75, under-1s free
Age guidance: 3–10
Cleopatra: The Experience (see my write-up here)
Daily until 12 July, timeslots from 10:00
Immerse LDN, Excel Waterfront, ExCel, E16 1XL
Adults £27, 4–15s £22, under-4s free
Age guidance: suitable for all
Beauty and Destruction: Wartime London in Art (see my write-up here)
Daily until 1 November, 10:00–18:00
Imperial War Museum, Lambeth Road, SE1 6HZ
FREE
Age guidance: suitable for all
David Hockney: A Year in Normandie and Some Other Thoughts about Painting (see my write-up here)
Tuesday–Sunday until 23 August, 10:00–18:00
Serpentine North, West Carriage Drive, W2 2AR
FREE, but booking required
Inside Aardman: Wallace & Gromit and Friends (see my write-up here)
Daily until 15 November, 10:00–17:45
Young V&A, Cambridge Heath Road, E2 9PA
£11 per person (under-4s free)
Voyage to the Deep – Underwater Adventures
Daily until 1 November, 10:30–17:30
Horniman Museum & Gardens, 100 London Road, SE23 3PQ
Adults £9.80, children £7, under-3s free
Age guidance: 2+
Octonauts: Adventure at the Horniman
Daily until 1 November, 10:00–17:30
Horniman Museum & Gardens, 100 London Road, SE23 3PQ
FREE
Tracey Emin: A Second Life (see my write-up here)
Daily until 31 August, 10:00–18:00
Tate Modern, Bankside, SE1 9TG
Adults £14, 12–18s £5, under-12s free
Queen Elizabeth II: Her Life in Style (see my write-up here)
Daily until 18 October, 10:00–17:00
The King’s Gallery, Buckingham Palace, SW1A 1AA
Adults £22, 5–17s £11, under-5s free
🌟 The Golden Ticket: an extra weekly email about the events seriously need to book ahead for. (Because the best things book up waaay in advance.)
🌟 Access to my complete database of future events (the ones you’ll need to book), so you can browse, plan and book any time.