Nobody ever said keeping the kids entertained through the holidays is easy, but you have a whole host of museums in London that are up to the challenge. For a great day out that captures your kid’s interest while also expanding their mind, check out the following cultural hotspots.
Science Museum
A perennial favourite among younger visitors, the Science Museum can fuel your little Einstein with plenty of interactive exhibits. They can immerse themselves in the new world at the IMAX cinema’s 3D shows, take to the air in the cockpit of a jet in the Fly 360 simulator, or visit interactive galleries like The Wonderlan for the Chemistry Bar, Friction Slides, and Colour Room.
Natural History Museum
If you ask your kids what they’d most like to see at a London museum, they’ll probably put dinosaurs pretty high on the list. Head to the Natural History Museum for a slice of the Jurassic world. You can see extinct creatures from dinosaurs to dodos, but that’s not all. There’s also the Earthquake Simulator for adventurous kids and Andy’s Clock from the CBeebies show Andy’s Dinosaur Adventures.
V&A
If you want to inspire some creativity, try the V&A. There’s everything from hat-making workshops to keep them active to Pop-Up Performances to keep them entertained. There’s even family workshops that are led by a real artist or designer.
British Museum
The British Museum is hard to ignore if you’re looking for kid-friendly attractions. Few children turn away from the macabre fascination of the museum’s famous Egyptian mummies, and older kids will appreciate exhibits taken from throughout the ancient world. Family events include manga comic workshops, shadow puppet workshops, and more.
Tate Modern
The Tate Modern’s Start display aims to introduce kids to the big questions that get the artistic mind ticking. Check out their Family Map for a look at interactive artworks. You can even get stuck in at the 8-14s Studio, a free monthly workshop where artists create group activities inspired by how they themselves work.
Museum of London
Transport your kids back hundreds of years in mock Victorian streets and Saxon homes, give them goose bumps by checking out explorations of London’s sewer system, or explore times ravished by war, plague and, fire. If you want to find out about the toys of times past, try the specially designed exhibition in the Museum of London’s World City gallery.