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- đ 5 things to do in London this weekend with the kids (18â19 January)
đ 5 things to do in London this weekend with the kids (18â19 January)
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Hello!
My family and I have just moved flat (yesterday!), so everythingâs feeling a bit discombobulated and disarrayed. Weâre not letting that stop us this weekend, though: thereâs SO MUCH BRILLIANT STUFF to look forward to.
Iâll keep this intro short: otherwise youâll just end up with my random thoughts about where the plates should go and how to turn off the fridge âdoor openâ beeper noise.
Enjoy the weekend!
Jeff xx
Family Workshops - P-P-P-Penguins!
Saturday and Sunday, 10:00 and 11:30
Little Angel Studios, Sebbon Street, N1 2EH
Adults and children ÂŁ9.50
Little Angel Theatre age guidance: 3â6
Question: ââWhatâs black, white, and waddles all over?
Answer: A confused referee.
And there you were, groan-muttering âa penguinâ while rolling your eyes. I live for misdirection: itâs why my friends call me âClever Trevorâ. Just kidding â they donât.
So, puppet penguins. If youâve ever been to more than one Little Angel puppet-making workshop, youâll know that the format and materials are often very similar. It could be a princess, an owl, a bird or a bear; whatever it is, youâll be using a wooden spoon, split pins, paper, sticky gems and ribbons to make it. Which isnât a criticism at all: every single workshop is delightful and fun, and the puppets genuinely work and last ages if you take care of them. (We still have our âQueen Elizabethâ puppet, which is more than can be said for the real thing.)
So whatâs surprising about this new workshop is that wooden spoons are being replaced by SOCKS â which means the penguin puppets will be lovely and cuddly, albeit potentially smelly.
Itâs to celebrate Penguin Awareness Day on 20 January, which needs to be renamed because weâre all clearly âawareâ of the existence of penguins. If you want to do something helpful (in addition to putting googly eyes on Grandpaâs old foot cosies), you could adopt a penguin or donate to the Global Penguin Society.
While youâre thereâŚ
đď¸ Milner Square Playground isnât anything spectacular, but itâs a cute, quiet space with equipment suitable for a variety of ages.
đď¸ Head to Udderlicious for incredible ice cream flavours â such as salted vanilla cookie dough, dragon fruit & banana, malt & crushed Maltesers, and Biscoff & honeycomb. Thereâs also plenty for the vegans.
Town Mouse & Country Mouse
Sunday 19 January, 11:00 and 14:00
artsdepot, 5 Nether Street, Tally Ho Corner, N12 0GA
ÂŁ12.75 per person
artsdepot age guidance: 3â7
If I were to meet Aesop today, Iâd bring up the story of the town and country mouse immediately. âYou know that story about the mice?â Iâd say. âYou seem to be making the point that a simple life in the country is better than an extravagant life in the city, because the city is dangerous and scary, right?â Aesop would smile patronisingly and congratulate me on understanding his toddler-level tale.
âBut⌠itâs just. OK, firstly: the countryside is f**king dangerous. Murder mysteries are based on real life, you know. And setting aside the cold-blooded stuff, it might interest you to know that fatalities on rural roads are four times higher than on rural ones.â
Aesop would start to explain that cars didnât exist in his day, but Iâd interrupt: âYou had your say back in 600-ish BCE. Now itâs my turn, mâkay? So⌠the countryside is better than the town, you claim? More enjoyable? Do you KNOW how many people left their home cities during covid, thinking they wanted âmore spaceâ and âa garden for the kids to run aroundâ? The answer is: loads of them. And do you know what became of those people? They moved back to the city, because they were miserable.â
âWhatâs covid?â Aesop will ask. âNever you mind,â Iâll say. âItâs entirely relevant, but not worth getting into.â All you need to know is this: youâre wrong. Iâll take my kids to your show because I like artsdepot and the productions are always good. But youâre most definitely wrong. And now Iâm doubting that the tortoise ever really won against the hare. I think he just cheated and took a shorter route to the finish line.â
Aesop would throw up his hands in exasperation and defeat. I would smile just as patronisingly, take my kids to see Town Mouse and Country Mouse, then spend the entire journey home explaining why Aesop was misguided.
Find out more: https://www.artsdepot.co.uk/event/town-mouse-country-mouse/
While youâre thereâŚ
đď¸ N20 Kids Club is a soft-play space less than a mile away. Iâve never been, but the reviews suggest you take the â3 months to 11 yearsâ suggested age range and smash it to smithereens. Six years old seems like the upper limit.
đď¸ Little Tea House is a gem of a place, with spectacular teas and beautiful cakes and pastries (which are all made in-house by the owner). Board games are apparently available; I didnât see them when I visited, but that might be because my own kids looked too feral to be trusted with a load of Jenga blocks.
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Thames Rockets 50% off Sunday Funday
Sunday 19 January (and 26 January)
The London Eye Pier, Boarding Gate 1, SE1 7PB
Tickets are normally about ÂŁ50 per person at full price, so theyâre about ÂŁ25 per person on Sundays in January
Thames Rockets age guidance: suitable for all
How young is too young for a kid to go on a Thames Rocket? The website FAQs say that there are âno age restrictions on most of our experiencesâ and that itâs the âperfect family-friendly experienceâ. Now I just need to convince the other grown-up stakeholder in my family that it'll be fiiine for the two-year-old to come along, and weâll be off for our half-price speedboat experience!
The Thames Rockets Ultimate London Adventure is a 50-minute ride along the river. You start at the London Eye Pier and travel east at a relaxing, leisurely pace while your tour guide provides interesting anecdotes and facts while pointing out the sites. Then, once youâve reached Tower Bridge, itâs time to come back â this time at 35 mph and with some thoroughly unnecessary twists and turns for extra adrenaline. I know 35 mph doesnât seem very fast, but according to my reliable source (Chat GPT, as always), 35 mph in a speedboat on water feels equivalent to about 90 mph on land.
Iâve been once before, and itâs FANTASTIC. The tour guides are all recruited from the acting and stand-up circuit, and it shows: theyâre quick-witted, super funny, and theyâve memorised every single interesting titbit about London. And the return journey west (the fast bit) doesnât feel at all like the anti-climax I anticipated.
Itâs normally pretty expensive, but tickets are half price every Sunday throughout January. Make the most of it!
Find out more: https://www.thamesrockets.com/?offer=sunday-funday
Vivaldiâs Four Seasons â A Family Concert Adventure
Saturday 18 January, 15:00
Kingâs Place, 90 York Way,, N1 9AG
ÂŁ15âÂŁ20, depending on seating
Kingâs Place age guidance: 4+
A while ago I mentioned that Kingâs Place should try harder when it came to childrenâs events. I stand by that: thereâs basically nothing except a performance by the Kingâs Place resident orchestra once in a blue moon.
But hell has frozen over and pigs are flying because WE HAVE A NEW CHILD-FRIENDLY EVENT AT KINGâS PLACE! And itâs exactly the sort of production I want Kingâs Place to do more of: an adult classical concert thatâs been reconstructed for a family audience.
The adult concert is Vivaldiâs Four Seasons, which is being performed by the âever-adventurous Manchester Camerataâ. Theyâll guide you through the seasons in a way thatâll ensure the whole family enjoys it, for a âwhirlwind adventure through the sun, storm, rain and snowâ.
If you have time, check out the Manchester Camerataâs âaboutâ page: they really do seem like an impressive and inspirational bunch.
Find out more: https://www.kingsplace.co.uk/whats-on/family/vivaldis-four-seasons-a-family-concert-adventure/
While youâre thereâŚ
đď¸ The Star of Kings pub was once called The Cross Kings, which we can all agree is a much cleverer name. It was a kooky, strange place back in pre-KX-gentrification days, with odd little club nights and a lentil-heavy menu long before âPlant Basedâ was the modal adjective at every London restaurant.
The Star of Kings isnât quite as weird or wonderful as the original, but it has one massive redeeming feature: Breddos Tacos on the menu. Itâs next to Kingâs Place, and you should definitely go there for lunch after the Mendelssohn thing.
Make-Lab Masterclass: 3D Stop-Motion Animation
Saturday 18 January, 10:30â12:30 and 14:00â16:00
Young V&A, Cambridge Heath Road, E2 9PA
ÂŁ25 per person
Young V&A age guidance: 7â14
TICKETS ARE SELLING OUT FAST!
Are you as conflicted as I am about childrenâs screen time? On the one hand, being on screens means theyâre not outside building forts, itâs passive rather than active entertainment, and it feels so lazy. On the other hand, they learn so many new words and skills, there are creative ways to use a tablet, and Iâm too tired to engage with anything other than my sofa right now anyway.
One type of screen time that I donât mind too much is when my seven-year-old creates stop-motion videos about his day. I could do without the scenes where I'm in the background looking tired, but Iâm bloominâ impressed by what he can do.
What he canât yet do, though, is stop-motion animation â which is far better because it doesnât involve me as a reluctant and unpaid extra. And thatâs why Iâm excited about the Young V&As workshop this weekend, in which, through a series of creative tasks, children will âplan a short sequence, devise sets and create shotsâ with a view to making their very own short film.
Prior experience isnât necessary, but a wad of cash is: itâs ÂŁ25 per person, and adults must book a ticket for themselves too. If that seems expensive, itâs because it is. But think about it this way: If one of your kids becomes the next Nick Park, itâll be worth it. (And if they donât, it wonât, but letâs not focus on that.)