Secret London: what to do with the kids this summer holiday
Crowds. Tears. Sweat. Shoving. Extortionate gift shop prices.
The Summer Holidays are fast returning, and so is the promise of depleted wallets and frayed relations. Here’s some of the less busy, less pricey and equally fantastic places in London to take your kids this summer, as tested by friends, family and myself. Take a peek at the full Guide here.
Tales on Moon Lane is an Islington bookshop that specialises in getting children into reading. The entire place (whether you are gazing at the window displays or taking in the colourful foyer) could have been taken straight out of the pages of a Roald Dahl book. They run several events and signings throughout the year, so make sure to keep up on their website and social media pages; otherwise it is simply a lovely, memorable place to take a literary little one.
Coram’s Fields is a unique seven acre playground and park for children and young people in Bloomsbury. It includes a Youth Centre, Children’s Centre, Community Nursery, Sports Programme, a city farm and a cafe which is open from March until October. Entry is entirely free, but if you go and enjoy it then do donate if you can. It is so important for kids to have a safe, inspirational outdoor space and this is certainly one of the best ones I’ve been to.
Clink Prison Museum. Kids can be strange morbid little creatures, can’t they. If your child has a taste for the macabre, then they will absolutely love a trip to this very reasonably priced museum dedicated to ancient torture devices and grisly tales about the former medieval prison on the site. It sounds horrific, but I assure you it is well done, thoughtfully curated and very accessible for children — in-fact, kids seem to really love it. Little weirdos. Check out the website for further details.
From Jailbirds to actual birds, take a trip to Battersea Park Children’s Zoo. Specially designed with children in mind, this lovely small scale petting zoo is home to several smaller animals including otters, capuchins and chinchillas, with an interactive play area for kids. It does cost to enter, but in comparison to the larger London Zoo it is infinitely more affordable and just as good for smaller kids.
The Crystal Palace Dinosaurs. These, the Maze and the Boating Lake form a trinity of Crystal Palace Park amusements, making it a great place to spend a day with young kids. However these uncanny-valley dreamscape dinosaurs will always be my favourite of the three. The two above form part of a collection of over 30 statues created by a Mr Benjamin Waterhouse Hawkins (1807–1894) in the years around 1854 for ‘public entertainment’, and essentially represent the Victorian version of Jurassic Park. The statues are described even officially as ‘wildly inaccurate compared with modern interpretations of dinosaurs’, but the children don’t know that and it just makes them all the more enjoyable for you.
The London Wetland Centre makes for a perfect family day out if your kids like the great outdoors. You’re guaranteed to see wildlife, it’s a peaceful setting with enough room for all their visitors and there’s a cafe serving hot drinks and amazing brownies. It does cost a little to enter, but all the money goes to a fantastic cause - and included in price is access to an interactive indoor information centre, an adventure playground with a zip wire and climbing wall and a ‘pond zone’ that teaches kids about the importance of the water cycle as well as the parkland as a whole.
Enjoyed these? There’s a whole load more on the full Guide, available here. Build and share your own personal Guides at www.pearlshare.com and download the app today.
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