🪁 5 things to do in London this weekend with the kids (10–11 August)

Helloooo DiLFs, 

I always knew it would be fun to research and write the Dads in London newsletter, but I NEVER expected to have quite so many readers in such a short time! There are now nearly 5,000 of you, and – apart from one arsey email and one “marked as spam” report – you seem to enjoy receiving it. 

I’m now in the unexpected situation of trying to figure out what to do next with the newsletter. To be honest, I’d love to find a way to make a small income from it: it takes me an incredible amount of time to compile each one, and that’s on top of a regular job. 

Sponsors?
Affiliate links? 
Subscription payments for super-valuable content? 
Dedicated events? 

Who knows! It’s an exciting place to be, and I’m trying to figure it all out. If you have any thoughts or just want to say hi, please email me right back! 

Now time for the links! 

Jeff xx

1: Play old-fashioned games in a beautiful indoor street

Our Street at Barbican
Saturday and Sunday, 10:00–18:00 (and every day until 23 August)
Silk Street, EC2Y 8DS
FREE (book a free ticket online, but they accept some walk-ins if all the tickets are gone)

We’re a couple of weeks into the holidays, so I’ll assume you’ve now reminded your kids hundreds of times that, when you were young and bored, you’d play hopscotch with your friends or go inside for a game of Monopoly if it was raining. And if everyone else was busy, you’d relax on the chesterfield with a copy of the Beano. 

Except you didn’t, obvs, because you weren’t born in the 1930s. But it sounds better than “In between watching two identical episodes of Neighbours, I’d feed my Tamagotchi, pretend to smoke chocolate cigarettes, and blow into my GameBoy cartridge whenever Tetris froze.”

“Our Street” is basically an attempt to get everyone back to those halcyon days of childhood before any of us (or Minecraft) existed. It’s an imaginary avenue set inside Barbican, in which you can relive your grandpa’s early years with hopscotch, hula-hooping, board games and crafting. There’s also an exercise bike for no discernible reason, long jump markings, and a very weird game (?) in which you can sort the laundry. I’m not sure I could guess what those are all about, but it doesn’t really matter: it’s all excellent fun, and my boys were entertained for hours.

In addition to the selection of always-available activities, Our Street is hosting other events throughout the month – including street parties each Saturday. This weekend, the street party features space-hopper races, giant beachballs, round-the-world hopscotch (whatever that is) and more street games. Just like when you, eh hem, were young. 

Find out more: https://www.barbican.org.uk/whats-on/2024/event/our-street-the-curve-takeover 

While you’re there… 

👍️ Ricochets is an immersive exhibition (also at Barbican) that features multi-screen videos of children playing games in different contexts and environments around the globe: musical chairs in Mexico, conkers in England, hopscotch in a refugee camp in Iraq, kite-flying in Afghanistan (which was previously banned by the Taliban), jump rope in Hong Kong, snail-racing in Belgium, and so on. It was filmed by the artist Francis Alÿs, who spent TWO DECADES travelling the world to capture all the footage. Here’s a rave review that does it more justice than I have. 

The exhibition also features a new selection of animated films showing both traditional and lesser-known hand games played by kids and adults alike. 

I’m so annoyed with myself that we didn’t visit when we went to “Our Street”, but we’ll definitely return another weekend. It’s open every day until 1 September, and tickets are going fast. 

2: Do vaguely sporty things at the Team GB King’s Cross Fanzone

Official Team GB King’s Cross Fanzone
Saturday and Sunday, 12:00–22:00
Lewis Cubitt Square, 11 Stable Street, N1C 4DR
FREE

I don’t know what’s come over us, but my family and I have been SO into the Olympics this year that we actually splashed out a TV. We’ve never owned one before, but we were struggling to appreciate the quality of various BMXers’ attempts at the Suicide Barspin (get me!) when watching on a 13-inch laptop. 

If you joined the Big Telly Club a while ago, you probably won’t be all that excited by the massive screen at the Official Team GB King’s Cross Fanzone. That’s fine: now that I have a 55-incher at home, I don’t care about big public TVs anymore either.

But the Fanzone isn’t like the one-trick pommel horse guy: it’s so much more than just a place to watch live sports throughout the Games. There are sports workshops in skateboarding, judo and rowing; athlete appearances and Q&As with Olympians as they return from Paris; hosted quizzes; fitness classes; DJs; and daily entertainment. 

You have to download a bloody app to see the full schedule of activities, but I swear it won’t be as complicated as getting to grips with BMX tricks on a 13-inch laptop. 

Find out more: https://www.kingscross.co.uk/event/official-team-gb-fanzone 

While you’re there… 

👍️ Screen on the Canal at King’s Cross has been running for a few weeks now, but this weekend’s films are particularly noteworthy: there’s Mary Poppins (the original one), Encanto and Cool Runnings on Saturday, and The Wizard of Oz, Jumanji (the original one) and Next Goal Wins on Sunday.

3: Finally discover a new reason to visit Trafalgar Square (now that the pigeons have gone)

Summer on the Square by The National Gallery
Saturday and Sunday, 11:00–13:00 and 14:00–16:00 (and every day until 1 September)
Trafalgar Square, WC2N 5DN
FREE

As the home of 17 Monets, 30 JMW Turners, three Botticellis and four Van Goghs, I could forgive The National Gallery for resting on its laurels and giving zero tosses about a bunch of childrens’ crayon unicorns. 

But the gallery is actively encouraging our youngsters to be the tortured, penniless, ear-deprived and reclusive greats of tomorrow – woohoo! – by creating a child-focused festival of art for the entire month. 

It’s called Summer on the Square, and it consists of free, daily creative sessions and activities in Trafalgar Square “to inspire you to create your own masterpieces”. This weekend, activities include: 

• hunting for paintings that match certain themes, then drawing the collection and discussing your favourite parts (Saturday, 12:00 and 13:30). 

• enjoying a bite-size introduction to the paintings in the gallery, and thinking about paintings in a whole different way (Sunday, 11:30, 12:30 and 13:30). 

• learning how to create your own abstract masterpiece, or recreate your own version of a whole painting (Saturday and Sunday, all day except between 13:00 and 14:00).

• being inspired by children who participated in the Take One Picture exhibition (every day until 1 September). 

This video from The National Gallery explains it all brilliantly, and features two narrators who are so ridiculously perfect for children’s TV that they must be AI. 

Find out more: https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/whats-on/free-festival-of-art 

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. 

4: Have a fun-filled picnic in a beautiful courtyard

Queer Family Picnic, presented by Pxssy Palace
Saturday 10 August, 12:00–18:00
Somerset House, Strand, WC2R 1LA
FREE

You wouldn’t think that an arts platform called “Pxssy Palace” would be involved in a courtyard picnic outside Somerset House. And you definitely wouldn’t think that such a picnic would be suitable for children. 

Well, it seems you (ok “I”) thought wrong: this event really is just a genteel family picnic with a bit of music and self-expression thrown in. While Pxssy Palace is known for producing club nights for “black, indigenous and people of colour who are women, queer, intersex, trans or non-binary”, the picnic is for everyone. And unlike the club nights – where “straight cisgendered men” must pay £100 to enter – it’s free for everyone too. 

FYI, the people behind Pxssy Palace are really into getting people to explore their “authentic selves”. I think I need to find out in advance if they’re ok with all authentic selves, as I have a feeling mine will involve a lot of puppy videos and dancing to Girls Aloud.

Find out more: https://www.somersethouse.org.uk/whats-on/summer-in-the-courtyard-2024/queer-family-picnic 

While you’re there… 

👍️ Waterloo Bridge has my favourite views in London. Look west to Big Ben, the South Bank and London Eye, and look east for Tower Bridge, Canary Wharf and St Paul’s Cathedral. 

👍️ If you want to check out Pxssy Palace but can’t be arsed to put together a picnic, you could always fill up on sandwiches and scones aboard the deepbreathbecausethisislong Peppa Pig Afternoon Tea London SIghtseeing Bus Tour. It departs from Somerset House at 12:15, 14:45 and 17:30 most days throughout the summer, and it’s a hoot (I’ve been three times). Whenever you pass a landmark that features in a Peppa episode, little monitors on your table will play the relevant excerpt. 

Bus tours are always expensive, and afternoon tea is always an absolute swizz. Combine the two and you get an experience that’s swizztastically expensive. But actually not that much more than afternoon tea or a bus tour on their own: £50ish for adults and £40ish for kids, depending on the day. 

5: Play “Guess how much?” at one of the most exciting exhibitions of the year

Summer Exhibition 2024 at the Royal Academy
Saturday and Sunday, 10:00–18:00 (and every day until 18 August)
Burlington House, Piccadilly, W1J 0BD
Adults £22, under-16s FREE

The RA’s Summer Exhibition is one of the cultural highlights of my year: it features a huge range of contemporary paintings, sculptures, photography and prints, which have been accepted for inclusion by a panel of professional artists. There’s such an assortment of art that you’re bound to appreciate some of it and feel like others are a piss-take. 

One thing I love about the exhibition is how it feels more like a fun event than a regular gallery viewing. I’ll admit this is partly because there’s a wine bar in the middle of one of the galleries, but it’s also very buzzy and filled with chatter – which is different from any regular exhibition. 

When you enter you’re given a tiny, ridiculously thick catalogue, which you’ll struggle to read if your eyesight is anything less than 20/20. (On the plus side, some of the artwork definitely benefits from a bit of myopia.) The catalogue contains all the artworks and their prices, because – fun fact – everything is available for purchase. 

As you probably won’t be in the market for a scarily realistic model of a dead cat for £66,000, you can instead play a brilliant game of “Guess how much this costs” with your family. And when you get home, you can use your anger about some of the prices in a constructive way – by strategising how to get your kid’s collage of leaves and bird poo onto the walls of the Royal Academy next year. 

Find out more: https://www.royalacademy.org.uk/exhibition/young-artists-summer-show-2024 

While you’re there… 

👍️ The Young Artists’ Summer Show is back at the RA too. It’s a free, open-submission exhibition for anyone aged 4–19 who’s studying in the UK. This year, more than 21,000 students submitted something, and the selection was whittled down by a panel of artists and art professionals. The chosen pieces are displayed in the Clore Learning Centre of the RA. Unlike the grown-up Summer Exhibition, this one is completely free. (You can also look at the artworks online here.)

👍️ One of the loveliest things to do at this time of year is to get a cold drink or ice cream from the kiosk in front of the Royal Academy, then sit in the courtyard while your children run around and climb the temporary sculpture in the centre. The sculpture is called A Meddling Fiend or The Meddling Fiend, depending on which sentence you trust most on this very short page. It’s made from dead matter such as horsehair and sheep fleeces, which isn’t surprising because it smells very much like something died when the wind passes in certain direction. I have no idea if kids are actually allowed to climb it, but ours did and then a load of other kids copied, and no one told them off. 

Keep scrolling for extras this week!

6 (Extra!): Watch puppets put on a magic show 

Out of the Hat! at Little Angel Theatre
Saturday and Sunday at 10:30 and 13:30
14 Dagmar Passage, N1 2DN
Adults £14, children (1–17) £12, under 1s free

We’ve been to Little Angel Theatre so often that it’s possible my son has done more wee-wees in their loo than in our own. The productions are normally puppet shows, and they’re almost always unique, beautiful and captivating for both adults and kids. (A recent performance about clay was a rare miss. Email me if you saw it: I want to know if others found it lame too!)

The show this weekend looks to be classic Little Angel. It’s about Doris and Delilah who decide to put on the world’s greatest magic show – and they get help from a transformative moth, a band of musical frogs, an artistic spider and a sassy glow-worm to realise their dream. 

There’s music galore, and the stills from the production look great, so I have high hopes for this one. 

Find out more: https://www.littleangeltheatre.com/whats-on/out-of-the-hat/ 

Bonus! Other events and activities this weekend

👍️ The Festival of Fairytales at the Garden Museum (Sunday) looks so magical and beautiful that I’m now annoyed I didn’t write about it in the main section. I can’t do it justice in a brief description, so please check it out here. 

👍️ There’s a Family Festival at Dulwich Picture Gallery (Saturday), which features activities inspired by Japanese printmaking. You can take part in an origami workshop, learn how to draw manga characters, go on a self-led art trail, and do a bunch of things that don’t seem all that Japanese- or printmaking-inspired – like creating your own badges and eating jerk chicken. 

👍️ Arts, crafts and stories are all on offer for free at Guildhall Art Gallery (Saturday). It’s free but requires a ticket.