Family Fun in London

Low Cost/No Cost Half Term Family Fun in London

Chinese New Year FREE (All Ages) Trafalgar Square, WC2N 5DN / www.chinatownlondon.org Nearest Tube: Charing Cross Sun 14th Feb, 10am-6pm London’s Chinese New Year celebrations are the largest outside Asia with parades, performances and fireworks to mark the start of the Chinese Year of the Monkey. Celebrations start with the Grand Parade at 10am which will snake its way down to Chinatown. Firecrackers back at Trafalgar Square will mark the start of the stage performances at midday and the Grand Finale starts at 5.20pm as monkey dancers and acrobats take to the stage and pyrotechnics illuminate Nelson’s Column.

Chinese New Year Celebration - National Maritime Museum FREE (All Ages) Romney Road, SE10 9NF / 020 8858 4422 / www.nationaltrust.org.uk Nearest Tube: Canary Wharf, followed by DLR to Cutty Sark Sat 13th Feb, 11am-4pm The Year of the Monkey is here; a perfect time to be clever, curious and playful! Visit the Museum and celebrate our long shared history with China during a free day of performances, lion dancing, arts and crafts, music, and fortune telling. Fabulous family fun for all! Rainbow Week; Flags and Gladrags– Mon 15th – Wed 17th –Fri 19th Feb, 11.30am-1pm & 1.30pm-4pm. Create your own wearable flag that symbolises your identity as part of the Museum’s LGBT History Month.

V&A Museum FREE (All Ages) Cromwell Road, SW7 2RL / 020 7942 2000/ www.vam.ac.uk Nearest tube: South Kensington The Imagination Station - Sat 13th- Sun 21st Feb, 10.30am–5pm – Be inspired by a painting of an incredible procession, The Ommegang from 1615. See the amazing colours, curious costumes and create your own design. Pop-up Performances - Sat 13th- Sun 21st Feb, 11am, 1pm & 3pm – Experience a riot of colour, noise and people in The Ommegang procession with this interactive performance. Who will you meet? Digital Kids - Sat 13th- Sun 21st Feb, 10.30am–5pm – Create a postcard souvenir and transport yourself into Botticelli paintings with green screen technology.

Half Term Activities - Museum of London Docklands FREE (Ages 3-14yrs) Hertsmere Road, West India, E14 4AL / 020 7001 9844 / www.museumoflondon.org.uk Nearest tube: Barbican/St Pauls/Moorgate Chinese New Year: Year of the Monkey - Sat 13th Feb, 11am-4pm. Watch and learn Chinese dancing, hear enchanting folktales and create your own masterpieces all inspired by Chinese New Year. Heroes at Half Term - Sun 14th – Sat 20th Feb, 11am-4pm From four legged firefighters to Suffragette struggles, find out what makes a London hero with a week of craft, drama, storytelling and art workshops. For more information on activities for each day, please visit the museum’s website.

Half Term Activities - Museum of London FREE (Ages 5+) 150 London Wall, EC2Y 5HN / 020 7001 9844 / www.museumoflondon.org.uk Nearest tube: St Pauls / Barbican Sat 13th – Sun 21st Feb, for workshop times please check website From firefighters to match girls, pop stardom to politics, find out what makes a London hero with a week of fun, hands-on activities.

If you know of any events taking place in London that you think other families would be interested in please get in touch, thank you. Penny Porter-Mill, Windmill Cluster Community Partnership Manager. Tel: 020 7274 7631 / Email: [email protected]

Brockwell Park Community Greenhouses – Family Workshops £5 per child (£2.50 low waged) (Ages 7-12) Brockwell Park Community Greenhouses, SE24 / 07427 685 714 / www.brockwellgreenhouses.org.uk Roses are Red and Beanstalks are Green - Mon 15th Feb, 10.30am-12.30pm (Booking Essential). Celebrate Valentine’s Day with a hunt for hearts around the garden, learn about love in the animal kingdom and make some Valentine’s gifts for the wildlife. The Magic of Trees – Tue 16th Feb, 10.30am-12.30pm (Booking Essential). Have you ever hugged a tree, seen its face or found the Tree of Signs? Join this workshop and hear tales of the magic of trees and get to know them better than ever before. Land Art – Wed 17th Feb, 10.30am-12.30pm (Booking Essential). Take part in a scavenger hunt and make super sculptures out of natural materials reflecting the shapes, colours & textures that you see around you.

National Gallery FREE (Ages 5-11) National Gallery, Trafalgar Square, WC2N 5DN / 020 7747 2885 / www.nationalgallery.org.uk Nearest tube: Charing Cross Capture a Creature – Sat 13st Feb, 11am-1pm or 2pm-4pm. Find your favourite creature in the gallery and turn it into a colourful print. Take one print home and leave another with the Gallery to form part of a huge banner. Inside Out Sculpture – Mon 15th – Thu 18th Feb, 11am-1pm & 2pm-4pm. Taking your lead from the work currently on the Fourth Plinth in Trafalgar Square, Hans Haacke’s ‘Gift Horse’, create your own small-scale sculpture, inspired by the Gallery’s marvellous horses. The Tone Zone – Sun 21st Feb, 11am-12.30pm & 2pm-3.30pm. Discover how tonal drawings help artists to paint their wonderful paintings.

Grant Museum of Zoology FREE (All Ages) Rockefeller Building, University College London, University St, WC1E 6DE / 020 3106 2052 / www.ucl.ac.uk Nearest Tube: Euston/Goodge Street Explore Zoology - Sat 13th Feb, 1pm-4pm. Ever wondered how heavy an elephant tusk is or how sharp a shark’s tooth is or how many scales a pangolin has? Well this is a great opportunity for budding animal biologists to try a spot of hands-on exploration and ask questions of the museum’s enthusiastic educators. Drop in and be amazed by the natural world! Half Term Family Fun - Mon 15th – Sat 20th Feb, 1pm-4.30pm. Take part in these family hands-on, specimen based activities with some of the Museum’s most amazing animals; get up close to a walrus or marvel at the size of a rhino or peek inside a shark’s mouth.

Imagine Children’s Festival - South Bank Centre FREE (All ages) Southbank Centre, Belvedere Rd, SE21 8XX / 020 7960 4200 / www.southbankcentre.co.uk Nearest Tube: Waterloo Sat 13th – Sun 21st Feb, Every day 10.30am-4pm Enjoy the best children’s theatre, literature and music with plenty of workshops and free activities for children. Enjoy Bedtime Stories with famous faces, build instruments using everyday objects and join an orchestra, build the city of your dreams using recycled materials or create a dream jar. There’s something for everyone, everyday this half term – for more information on activities for each day, please visit the centre’s website.

Mini Vault Festival FREE (All ages) The Vaults, Waterloo, SE1 7NN / www.vaultfestival.com Sat 13th – Sun 14th Feb Take part in a magical weekend packed with fantastic shows and free activities. As well as circus, magic, theatre and comedy, there will be storytelling, games, live music, interactive installations, face painting and lots more! For the full programme of events, please visit the Vault Festival website.

Family Fun at Half Term - Horniman Museum FREE (All ages) 100 London Road, SE23 3PQ / 020 8699 1872 / www.horniman.ac.uk Buses: 176, 185, 312, P4, 63, 122, P13 Mon 15th – Fri 19th, 11am-2.45pm Throughout half term, take part in free and fabulous Horniman craft activities to make dinosaur inspired finger puppets (Mon-Tue) or dino headdresses (Thu-Fri). Free banded entry every 45 minutes. Wednesday is a special ‘Big Wednesday’ with activities to make an explorer’s notebook, listen to stories about the Crystal Palace Dinosaurs, guess the dinosaur teeth, meet a paleontologist and settle down to watch some short films and animations about dinosaurs. Community Teachsport: Park Active – Mon 15th – Fri 19th Feb, 11am-3.30pm - Take part in some healthy drop in activities run by fully qualified sports tutors. There will be suitable activities for tiny tots, while older participants can have a go at sports of all kinds from around the world. Tutors can also give advice on a number of issues including; healthy living, child obesity prevention and physical play in the home. The Wonderful World of Mrs. Seacole in Many Lands – Fri 19th Feb, 11.30-12.15pm, 1.15pm-2pm or 3pm- 3.45pm. Let 1800’s war nurse Mary Seacole take you on a tour of the Horniman to tell her amazing story and show you around the Museum and gardens.

Battle for Toad Hall - Bank of England Museum FREE (All Ages) Entrance on Bartholomew Lane, EC2R 8AH / 020 7601 5545 / www.bankofengland.co.uk/museum Nearest Tube: Bank Mon 15th – Fri 19th Feb, 10.30am-4.30pm A costumed storyteller will bring to life the classic stories from ‘The Wind in the Willows’ in these interactive and fun sessions.

Snakes Galore - Wallace Collection FREE (Ages 5+) Hertford Hse, Manchester Sq, W1U 3BN/ 020 7653 9500 / www.wallacecollection.org Nearest Tube: Bond St Mon 15th Feb, 11am-1pm Scour the Collection for three slippery serpents that have come out of hiding. On your way, sketch patterns to use when you help create a giant 3D snake – make a mini one to take home too!

Four Centuries in On Week - Geffrye Museum FREE (All ages) Kingsland Road, E2 8EA / www.geffrye-museum.org.uk / 020 7739 9893 Nearest Tube: Liverpool Street / Old Street Tue 16th – Fri 19th Feb, 10.30am-12.30pm & 2pm-4pm Take part in a week of creative and fun craft activities inspired by homes from a different century every day. Make candlesticks from clay, crafty clocks and more! All workshops are allocated on a first-come, first-served basis 30 minutes before the workshop begins.

Teeth, Tales and Scales: Animal Gods - British Museum FREE (All ages) 44 Great Russell Street, WC1B 3DG / 020 7323 8000 / www.british museum.org Nearest tube: Holborn/Russell Square Mon 15th –Fri 19th Feb, 10am-4pm Take part in a week of family activities and find out about Sobek, mummy of the crocodile god, and other animal deities from around the world. Make something to take home, create an artwork inspired by animal gods and listen to tales woven by skilful storytellers.

National Portrait Gallery FREE (All Ages) St Martins Place, Westminster City, WC2H 0HE / 020 7306 0055 / www.npg.org.uk Nearest tube: Leicester Square On the Catwalk – Mon 15th & Tue 16th Feb, 1pm-4pm (Ages 3+). An opportunity to explore style and fashion in the Collection and then design and collage your own cut out figures for a miniature pop-up catwalk. In Style – Mon 15th Feb, 11.30am-1pm & 1.30pm-4pm (Age 5+). Pleat, fold and weave with paper to create a fantastic piece of costume inspired by Vogue 100: A century of style and portraits in the Collection. Designer Day – Tue 16th Feb, 11.30am-1pm & 2.30pm-4pm (Ages 5+, pm session BSL). Visit the pop-up fashion studio to design & construct wearable accessories from bangles to bow ties, then photograph your creations. In the News Drop-in – Wed 17th & Thu 18th Feb, 11.30am-1pm & 1.30pm-4pm (Age 3+). Drop-in to the fashion news desk to create your own magazine with interviews, features and hot off the press stories. Hats Off Drop-in – Fri 19th Feb, 1pm-4pm (Ages 3+). Design and create a fabulous hat inspired by Vogue 100: A Century of Style. Fashion Fabrics – Fri 19th Feb, 11.30am-1pm & 1.30pm-4pm (Ages 5+). A workshop exploring use of pattern and textures in fabrics to create a stunning printed fabric. Futuristic Fashion – Sun 21st Feb, 1pm-2.30pm (Ages 3+) & 3pm-4.30pm (Ages 7+). Explore how fashion has changed over the centuries and then imagine what we might be wearing in the future. Unless it is a drop-in session, tickets are available 1 hour prior to workshop start.

Treasure Boxes - Foundling Museum Adults £7.50, Concs. £5 - Children FREE (All ages) 40 Brunswick Sq, WC1N 1AZ / 020 7841 3600 / www.foundlingmuseum.org.uk Nearest tube: Kings Cross/Russell Square Tue 16th Feb, 10.30am-4pm Explore the tokens left by mothers when their babies were admitted to the Foundling Hospital. Create your own special token to share with a loved one, and make a keepsake treasure box in which to hide it.

Victorian Arts and Crafts - South London Botanical Institute £2 per child or £5 for 3 children (All Ages) 323 Norwood Road, SE24 9AQ / 020 8674 5787 / www.slbi.org.uk Bus: 2 Wed 17th Feb, 10am-noon & 2pm-4pm Plant based arts and crafts fun at the SLBI and garden making posies and garlands, with collages, cuttings and flower heads.

Discovery Day, Brilliant Birds – Hyde Park FREE (All ages) Isis Education Centre, Hyde Park, W2 2UH / www.supporttheroyalparks.org Nearest Tube: Marble Arch Wed 17th – Thu 18th Feb, 11am-3pm As food becomes scarce towards the end of winter, birds need all the help they can get as they prepare for spring and nest-building. Pop along and get creative to give the birds a helping hand!

Wishing you all a happy February half term holiday