If Jesus managed to survive 40 days and nights in the desert with no food, then we can probably survive 40 days and nights of no school. If, however, you’re ever so slightly daunted by the prospect of single-handedly entertaining your hard-to-please, perpetually bored, incessently squabbling children for six weeks (or, God forbid, more), don’t panic. Simply pour yourself a large glass of wine/coffee/Bovril and feast your eyes on my lovingly curated guide to the absolute BEST of what London has to offer families this summer. No chaff. Just wheat. Mmm, wheat.

Check back for updates and additions throughout the summer. 20 Things will resume in September.

PLAY FOUNTAINS & URBAN BEACHES

Appearing Rooms will be delighting (and drenching) visitors to the Southbank Centre until the 8th of September. The brainchild of Danish artist Jeppe Hein, the beloved pop-up play fountain shoots jets of water into the air to create rooms that disappear as quickly as they emerge. Closed Mondays and Tuesdays. Free.

Walthamstow-on-Sea will be bringing seaside vibes to Big Penny Social until the 8th of September. Along with a giant sandpit, revellers can expect a dedicated beach bar serving draft beer and frozen cocktails, as well as soft-serve ice cream, pizza, fish and chips, and penny sweets. You can even rent your own beach hut. Paid.

Enjoy Summer in the Courtyard in the beautiful Somerset House Edmond J. Safra Fountain Court from 1st-30th of August. The fountain will be on every day except the 17th and 24th-26th, and there’ll be performances and events on the weekends, including a Queer Family Picnic on the 10th. Free.

Still too hot? Click here for a full list of (90+) London play fountains and paddling pools

INSTALLATIONS & EXHIBITIONS

The Maze, an immersive, joyful installation fusing pattern and colour, will be in Brent Cross Town’s Claremont Park until September (date TBC). Throughout the summer, three artists will create panels to be added to the already vibrant maze, complete with their own artworks. Free.

Yoko Ono: Music of the Mind will be at Tate Modern until the 1st of September. The largest ever UK exhibition of the artist’s work invites visitors to perform inside a bag, play a game of chess, add colour to Ono’s Refugee Boat installation, share memories and add their wishes to a wish tree. Paid.

John Booth and CAN’s Up in Smoke exhibition will be Now Gallery until the 22nd of September. This vibrant, colourful and interactive installation will tell the story of Greenwich Peninsula through its iconic chimneys, evoking the memories of the area’s lively past. Free.

Marc Quinn’s Light into Life will be at Kew until the 29th of September. Inspired by nature and science, the exhibition features 17 stainless steel and bronze sculptures installed around the Gardens and the Temperate House, alongside a presentation of Quinn’s work at the Shirley Sherwood Gallery. Free with paid entry.

The Serpentine Pavilion will be in situ until the 27th of October. Created by Korean architect Minsuk Cho, this year’s pavilion comprises five ‘wings’, including a cafe serving coffee and ice cream, and a bright orange play tower (NB, the play tower is reserved for ages 5-16). Free.

The brilliant Jason and the Adventure of 254 is at the Wellcome Collection until the 12th of January. Created by artist Jason Wilsher-Mills, this larger-than-life, immersive (and totally touchable) exhibition is a joyful exploration of the body that draws on the artist’s experience of becoming disabled as a child. Free.

Barbie: The Exhibition opens at the Design Museum from the 5th of July to the 23rd of February, and will explore the story of Barbie through a design lens, including fashion, architecture, furniture and vehicle design. Highlights will include a rare first edition of the very first doll and the first-ever Barbie Dreamhouse. Paid.

The Rig: A Musical Family Playground will be appearing at the Southbank Centre on the 6th of July. Honk the golden tree, bang the metal teapots and chime the rainbow bells in this marvellous, musical playground before getting crafty in the eco-friendly art zone, where you can make a tin can drum or a plastic bottle shaker. Free.

A giant Yayoi Kusama pumpkin will be popping up in Kensington Gardens from the 9th of July to the 3rd of November. Said to be the artist’s tallest bronze pumpkin sculpture to date, the six-meter-tall yellow-and-black squash will be installed next to the park’s Round Pond, close to the Serpentine Gallery. Free.

Grayson Perry’s The Vanity of Small Differences will be on display at Pitzhanger Manor from the 10th of July to the 8th of December. Inspired by William Hogarth’s A Rake’s Progress, which was purchased for and displayed at the manor, the work takes the form of six large-scale tapestries suffused with rich, allegorical imagery. Paid.

Ian Berry: The Secret Garden will be at the Garden Museum from the 13th of July to the 8th of September. Discover a magical urban secret garden crafted from denim. Exploring themes of sustainability in the textile industries and the importance of access to green spaces in the city for young minds. Free.

The Young Artists’ Summer Show is at the Royal Academy of Arts from the 16th of July until the 11th of August. Now in its sixth year, the ‘little sister’ to the gallery’s annual Summer Show presents work submitted students aged 4–19 studying in the UK, and is one of the highlights of the London art calendar. Free.

Head to Camden Art Centre on the 19th of July and 18th of August for Den, an exhibition exploring themes of shelter, waste and abundance. Part of a long-running programme of workshops working with SEN Schools and neurodivergent young people, the play-focused exhibition will feature den-like installations. Free.

Horrible Science will be taking residence at Kew from the 20th of July to the 1st of September. Based on the books by Nick Arnold, the summer-long event invites you to look out for Fiendish Flowers, discover secrets of the Foul Fungi, encounter some Greedy Greenery and dig deeper into Revolting Roots. Free with paid admission.

Moco Museum opens at Marble Arch in August (date TBC), with featured artists including Andy Warhol, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Banksy, Yayoi Kusama, KAWS and Tracey Emin, as well as immersive works by contemporary stars. If you’ve visited Moco’s Amsterdam or Barcelona branches, you’ll know we’re in for a treat here. Paid.

Museum of the Home’s new, improved and immersive Rooms Through Time will be open from the 23rd of July. They will include a 1913 Jewish tenement flat, a 1950s Irish couple’s house, a shared LGBTQ+ renters’ ex-council home from 2005, a British-Vietnamese home in 2024, and the Innovo Room of the Future. Free.

IMMERSIVE EXPERIENCES

The Paddington Bear Experience is at County Hall until the 13th of July. Journey through the sights and sounds of London to the Browns’ house at No. 32 Windsor Gardens, before being transported to the magical jungle of Peru – all to help Paddington prepare for the biggest party Windsor Gardens has ever seen. Paid.

Bubble Planet is in Wembley until the 31st of July. Step into a planet beyond your imagination with VR technology, themed rooms, fantastical landscapes and even a hot-air-balloon flight simulator. Jump from one immersive space to the next and explore them all with your five senses. Paid.

Pulse: Beyond Delight is at Borough Yards until August the 18th. An evolution of the Delight exhibition, this Seoul-themed experience will take you through 13 cutting-edge zones where myth, reality, tradition, and innovation intertwine, with chances to collect AR markers via a treasure-hunt app to win a prize. Paid.

The Paradox Museum opens from the 17th of July. Designed to challenge your perceptions, this mind-bending experience will see you defy gravity in the upside-down room, become the ultimate illusionist in the camouflage room, fly through the air in the infinity well, and lots more. Paid.

Monster Funfair opens at Discover Children’s Story Centre from the 20th of July. Journey through a fantastical circus tent and into the woods to find the extraordinary Monster Funfair. Created with author Nadia Shireen, this magical world also has a fairground mystery to solve – just who has stolen ALL the candyfloss? Paid.

Whippersnappers’ Fairy and Pixie Land immersive theatre experience runs until the 29th of July. Designed for ages 3-7, this incredible adventure is full of magical Folklore, immersive activities and enchanting surprises including fairy dust face paint, mythical biscuit and wand making, and unforgettable performances. Paid.

The Friends Experience opens from the 13th of August. Explore interactive set recreations for a nostalgia-packed immersive experience. Dance in front of the fountain, peep through the iconic purple door at Rachel and Monica’s apartment, play foosball at Joey and Chandler’s and take a selfie on the couch in Central Perk. Paid.

Colourscape returns to Watford’s Cassiobury Park from the 17th to the 26th of August. Don a colourful cloak and embark on an adventure through a maze of interconnected, colourful chambers. Follow your ears to the white dome room, where you’ll discover different musicians each day. Paid.

WORKSHOPS & FESTIVALS

The Royal Academy’s Summer Science Exhibition 2024 runs from the 2nd-7th of July, offering visitors the chance to get hands-on with personal brain scanners, hear real ice core samples from Antarctica, marvel at a chandelier made from a waste product, or learn how stem cells are revealing secrets of the embryo. Free.

The Francis Alÿs: Ricochets Family Day is at the Barbican on the 6th of July. Enjoy kite-making workshops, storytelling and gameplaying with artists Hunt & Darton, and get free entry to the play-themed and immersive Francis Alÿs: Ricochets gallery exhibition on the same day. Free.

Hetty Feather Day will be at the Foundling Museum on the 6th of July. Join Dame Jacqueline Wilson as she reads excerpts from her Hetty Feather series, and don’t forget to bring your favourite Hetty Feather book with you for signing. Tickets also include free entry to the museum and the Hetty Feather Day creative workshop. Paid.

At Home Farm’s Wild Oak Meadows Family Festival is on the 13th of July. Expect a glorious, fun-filled day of kids’ theatre, live music, storytelling, crafting, creative workshops, forest school activities, tree climbing, zip lining, face painting and more, all set in stunning meadows and woodland on London’s doorstep, in Hertfordshire. Paid.

Young V&A’s First Birthday Festival is on the 13th of July. Enjoy performances from local creatives and join in with a hands-on activities including participatory workshops with fashion accessory designer Clara Chu and political cartoonist and puppet animator Zoom Rockman. Free.

The brilliant Whitecross Street Party returns from the 13th-14th of July. Expect the usual heady mix of live street art, delicious street food, live music and spoken-word performances, and lots of family fun, including workshops from the Quentin Blake Centre for Illustration. Free.

The Southbank Centre’s Up on the Roof Community Day is on the 14th of July. While open to all, the centre’s Lambeth and Southwark neighbours are especially welcome to experience the wellbeing benefits of getting your hands into the earth, while surrounded by 250 species of British wildflowers, fruit trees, trees and herbs. Free.

The Francis Crick Institute’s next Discovery Day is on the 20th of July. Aimed at children aged 7-11, the programme will include exciting experiments, hands-on activities, science shows and family fun, including a chance to grab the mic and interview a scientist, and to try your hand at science screen printing. Free.

Oscar Murillo: The Flooded Garden will take over Tate Modern’s Turbine Hall from the 20th of July until the 26th of August. Oscar invites everyone to take part in creating a vibrant work of epic proportions, inspired by Monet’s paintings. Pick up a paintbrush and make your mark using wave-like strokes to flood a giant canvas. Free.

The Serpentine Gallery is hosting a Pavilion Family Day on the 21st of July (sold out but walk-ups may be accommodated). Collaborate to create Pavilion-inspired structures, enjoy storytelling under the trees and discover more free hands-on activities and creative workshops throughout the day. Free.

Messy goes to The Postal Museum runs from the 23rd of July to the 1st of September. Get hands on with fun family crafts activities in partnership with OKIDO. Find Messy Monster in 10 secret locations around the museum and collect a stamp and sticker at the end. Free with paid admission.

Head to Summer Family Fridays: Japan at the Young V&A on Fridays from the 26th of July to the 16th of August. Take on a Family Design Challenge, listen to storytelling in the Stage, or visit a paper installation created by artist Nathan Ward, all inspired by the Japan: Myths to Manga exhibition. Free.

Head to Leighton House on the 27th of July for Family Fun: Upcycled Buttons Workshop. Take inspiration from the gallery’s Out Shopping: The Dresses of Marion and Maud Sambourne exhibition and create your own upcycled fabric button brooches using recycled materials, colourful fabrics, needles and thread. Paid.

The William Morris Gallery’s Heart of Pride Family Day is on the 27th of July. Aimed at LGBTQIA+ families and their allies, this inspiring event will combine music, interactive storytelling (specifically the inspiring tale of Gilbert Baker and the Pride flag), sensory creations and movement. Free.

Museum of the Home will host Family Celebration Day: A Museum Takeover on the 28th of July. Explore the Rooms Through Time: 1878-2049 gallery on its opening weekend, make your own lottery ticket heirlooms, record your own story of home, and enjoy live music and performances throughout the museum. Free.

Dulwich Picture Gallery will play host to Art and Play workshops on dates throughout August, beginning on the 2nd. Explore the world of art and play in these outdoor sensory sessions around the Wiggle Wonderland pavilion, and trial some of the activities that will feature in the gallery’s upcoming children’s play space. Free.

Little Angel Theatre’s Children’s Puppet Festival 2024 runs from 2nd of August until the 1st of September. Taking place across both Little Angel venues, this vibrant programme of events will showcase a broad range of puppetry by the most exciting UK and international companies currently making theatre for young audiences. Paid.

Summer Family Festival: Build! will be at the V&A on the 3rd of August. Celebrate the vibrant spirit of the museum’s Tropical Modernism exhibition, and dive into a day filled with immersive workshops, hands-on activities and captivating performances. Free.

Playtopia 2024 is at Battersea Park on the 3rd-4th of August. Expect challenging inflatables, dazzling street dance, thrilling funfair rides, a nail and face-paint station, interactive learning stations, Nerf gun battles, movie screenings, dodgems, soft play, and enchanting Paw Patrol and Bluey shows. Paid.

Head to the Design Museum on the 7th of August for its National Playday event. Playful interventions and drop-in activities will transform the museum into an immersive, creative studio for experimentation, making and hands-on play for all ages and abilities. Free.

Head to Somerset House on the 10th of August for its Queer Family Picnic with Pxssy Palace. Bring your picnic blankets for a fun-filled day in the courtyard. This is the perfect chance to meet and mingle with other families while enjoying the summer sun. Free.

Dulwich Picture Gallery will host Family Festival: Generations of Play on the 10th of August. Explore the gallery’s sensory Wiggle Wonderland Pavilion, have your face painted, create your own badges and prints, learn how to draw Manga characters and embark on an exciting a self-led art trail. Paid.

Festival of Fairytales returns to the Garden Museum on the 11th of August. Guest curated by Originary Arts and designed to delight and inspire imagination in children aged 4-10 and their grown ups, this magical event will feature pop-up performers, creative arts workshops and loads more. Fancy dress optional. Paid.

National Portrait Gallery’s Summer Family Festival: Time for Tudors is on the 12th-16th of August. Drawing inspiration from the gallery’s new Six Lives: The Stories of Henry VIII’s Queens exhibition, explore Tudor stories through creative making, object handling and storytelling. Free.

Greenwich & Docklands International Festival returns from 23rd of August to 8th of September. The full programme is yet to be announced, but highlights will include participatory theatre that invites you to decorate your pram; and a nail-biting performance that will see a 2.5 tonne block of ice suspended from a crane. Free.

Kids Fest will be at Peckham Levels on the 24th of August. Check out this summer’s Bold Tendencies rooftop art exhibition, play in the kids’ area, fill up on delicious street food and take part in a variety of arts and crafts activities and amazing performances at this lively family day. Free.

TRAILS

The KCAW art trail runs until August (date TBC). Highlights include Yoni Alter’s Love Continuum in Duke of York Square, G23Lab’s The Everyperson at Khalsa Jatha Central Gurdwara, Gerhard Richter’s STRIP-TOWER next to Serpentine South gallery, and Alison Jackson & the Art of Change by Lucy Oates at Earl’s Court. Free.

The Big Fun Art Adventure will run from eight weeks from the 17th of August, with more than 30 giant owl sculptures, alongside a parliament of 30 smaller owlets designed by local schools and community groups, hiding in plain sight on the streets and in the parks of North London. Free.

SEND EVENTS

Sensory Friendly: Design and Draw with Light is at the V&A on the 13th of July and 10th of August. The workshop invites visitors with a neurodiversity or sensory processing disorder and their families to design, make and draw using lightboxes and overhead projectors, playing with light, dark, reflections, shadows, and colours. Free.

Autograph Gallery’s popular Free Family Workshops for Children with SEND continue on the 20th of July. Dive into a fun session of art-making and experimentation. Explores the senses, playing with textures, light, sculpture and a variety of art materials. Free.

Riverside Studios will host Flute Theatre’s Summer Shakespeare Festival for Autistic Individuals from the 29th of July to the 11th of August. Flute will perform all four of its specially adapted Shakespeare productions (The Tempest, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Pericles and Twelfth Night) during the two-week festival. Paid.

The Together Space Summer Session runs on the 7th of August. Expect a sensory space where you can embark on a sensory journey exploring nature in summer time, an obstacle course with a slide, giant Connect4, soft play with a ball pit and giant building blocks, an as-yet-TBC art workshop, dance theatre and kids’ cookery. Paid/free.

THEATRE & CINEMA

Canary Wharf Film Club will be resident in Canada Square Park until the 27th of August. Head down on weekends for family films including Monsters Inc, The little Mermaid, The Incredibles and the Super Mario Brothers Movie. Free.

The Everyman Screen on the Canal returns to Kings Cross from the 1st of July to the 18th of August. Child-friendly showings will include Isle of Dogs, Encanto, Wish, Elemental, Trolls Band Together, The Little Mermaid, Ice Age, Migration, Frozen, Matilda, ET, Coco, The Parent Trap, Jumanji and loads more. Free.

Everyman on the Water at the Brentford Project is running from the 1st of July to the 31st of August. Head down to catch contemporary classics and old-school favourites including Peter Rabbit, Honey, I Shrunk the Kids, Matilda the Musical, The Land Before Time, Mary Poppins, Wonka and loads more. Free.

Summer Screens outdoor movie screenings will return to Vauxhall Pleasure Gardens from the 9th to the 30th of July. Featured family-friendly films will include Encanto, Barbie and Kung Fu Panda. Street food, popcorn, drinks will be available, and you can hire chairs and blankets for £5. Free.

Home is on at the Southbank Centre on the 13th and 14th of July. Through animated paintings and complementary music, this magical performance will take children aged 2-7 on a journey through a fairytale-like world to find a house that feels like home again. Paid.

…AND THE REST

The Ice Cream Project by Anya Hindmarch is at the Anya Village in Chelsea until the 18th of August. Pop in for a scoop (or tub) of surprisingly delicious ice creams celebrating beloved food brands, from the sublime to the downright weird. We recommend the (vegan) Maldon Sea Salt and the (not vegan) Perello olive. Paid.

The Natural History Museum’s brand new gardens will be open from the 18th of July. Follow in the footsteps of evolution, feeling ancient fossils, spotting a grazing Hypsilophodon, gazing up at a full-size, bronze Diplodocus and treading among the footprints of your oldest ancestors. Free.

And if you’re looking to escape London for a day or two, why not book a glamping break with Home Farm Glamping? Nestled in beautiful countryside in Hertfordshire, Home Farm is the ideal location to unwind from the daily grind with friends and family (our kids loved it!). Open until end of September. Paid (ad – previous PR stay).

Still bored? Check out my MASSIVE (110+) list of London’s coolest playgrounds here. Or, if the weather is being British, try my almost-as-massive (70+) list of its coolest indoor play spaces here.

Photo: Martin Creed, Half the Air in a Given Space at Bold Tendencies, 2022

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