10 awesome things to do IRL
1. Jonathan Baldock’s Facecrime (suspect) is showing at Stephen Friedman Gallery from the 1st to the 31st. This playful installation will be accompanied by Yinka Shonibare’s Justice for All, a reinterpretation of F.W. Pomeroy’s Lady Justice.
2. Drive-in cinemas are popping up all over London this month, with family highlights including Cars and Toy Story in Blackheath, Moana and Paddington in Tottenham, Labyrinth and Jurassic Park in Hendon/Canada Water, and ET in Ally Pally.
3. The fountains might be switched off this summer but you can still make a splash (kind of) in Granary Square with artist Stephan Zirwes’ playful 2D installations, which include two ‘swimming pools’, a maze, a hopscotch and even a themed word search.
4. And if you have some time to kill in Kings Cross, try finding all 28 of Andy Leek’s This Much artworks, which are dotted around the site. Inspired by social distancing, the works comprise outstretched arms “holding messages of hope and love”
5. The Barbican Centre opens on the 13th, and with that exciting news comes the even more exciting news that its famous conservatory will now be open to the public every. single. day. It’s free and you can book from the 2nd, but expect lonnnggg queues.
6. Playgrounds will be opening up across the city (and whole country, obvs) from the 4th, with the notable exception of those within The Royal Parks, which will remain closed for the time being. Check out London’s coolest playgrounds by area for playscape inspo.
7. Holloway’s Whiskers & Cream cat cafe opens on the 4th (children are welcome, but make sure you call ahead). And if you’re more of a big cat person, there’s always ZSL London Zoo, which seems to be much easier to book now the initial rush is over.
8. GoBoat‘s Paddington and Kingston pontoons are now both open to household groups, with rules changing on the 4th (see website). Choose a canal journey to Little Venice and Camden Lock, or head down the Thames to Hampton Court Palace or Teddington.
9. Head to Hertfordshire’s Knebworth House for prehistoric fun in the form of its famous Dino Trail, featuring 72 life-sized dinosaurs. Alternatively, seek out the Gruffalo and his friends with Brentford’s Thorndon Country Park or Greenford’s Horsenden Hill trails.
10. Okay, so the Children’s Garden is closed, the greenhouses are locked and even the treetop trail is a no-go zone, but a day out in post-lockdown Kew is still lovely – especially when there’s a discount for Blue Light badge holders and those on Universal Credit.
10 awesome things to do at home
1. Mama G’s Family Pride Party is coming live to Facebook on the 12th. This day-long digital event will feature yoga and arts and crafts, as well as a chance to watch some of the country’s best singers, comedians, storytellers and drag performers.
2. There are tons of new’ crafty activities up on the Royal Museums Greenwich website, including a ship-in-a-bottle make, how to construct your own HMS Pride, a theatre-making activity and instructions for making your own fish carp kite.
3. Head to the House of Illustration site to access its free creative resources for 2-12s. These hands-on activities use illustration to help children explore curriculum topics in new and creative ways, and include story-tile making and illustrating emotions.
4. Adrenaline Dance’s Romp & Roll class for 2-4s and their adults is now available to book via Zoom. The session follows a soft learning approach to dance, initiating the learning of rhythm, coordination, and listening – plus the music is always amazing.
5. Camden Arts Centre has worked with Artist in Residence Renata Minoldo to create at-home activities themed around its The Botanical Mind exhibition. These activities encourage families to explore plant life and transforming their spaces at home.
6. NOW Gallery invites you to get crafty with London-based artist Make a Friendly Papier Mache Beast tutorial. Why not virtually revisit Carpentier’s 2016 NOW exhibition, In the Heart of a Whale, for some colourful inspiration?
7. There’s lots to discover on the new Museum of the Home website, including polar bear-themed activities, a make-your-own-diary task, a chance to devise your own game and a series of fascinating Stay Home Stories written about life under lockdown.
8. Head to the British Library‘s website to discover a variety of at-home activities created in partnership with Seven Stories, including zine design, character development, miniature book making, drawing tutorials with Axel Scheffler and loads more.
9. Missing Mail Rail? Okay so it’s not quite the same, but for a limited time The Postal Museum is allowing anyone to enjoy the sights and sounds of its subterranean postal service with a virtual tour that takes you deep beneath the streets of London… sort of.
10. Ever fancied exploring the NHM after everyone’s gone home? Well now you kind of can, with a virtual tour where you’re the guide and Dippy the Diplodocus still takes pride of place in Hintze Hall. Alright so it’s basically just Google Street View, but we’re into it.
Also opening in July…
- 4th Most playgrounds (we don’t know which but we’re going to have fun finding out).
- 6th The RAF Museum
- Bekonscot Model Village & Railway
- 7th National Army Museum
- 8th The Foundling Museum – Portraying Pregnancy: From Holbein to Social Media
- The National Gallery – Titian: Love, Desire, Death; Nicolaes Maes: Dutch Master of the Golden Age
- 13th Barbican – Masculinities: Liberation through Photography
- 14th Whitechapel Gallery – Radical Figures: Painting in the New Millennium;Carlos Bunga: Something Necessary and Useful; The Return of the Spirit in Painting; In the Eye of Bambi; Rachel Pimm: Plates
- Photographers Gallery – Jan Svoboda: Against the Light; Deutsche Borse Photography Foundation Prize 2020
- 15th The Wallace Collection
- 16th Royal Academy – Picasso and Paper
- 20th Cutty Sark
- 27th Tate Britain – Aubrey Beardsley; Steve McQueen: Year 3
- Tate Modern – Andy Warhol; Hyundai Commission: Kara Walker
Roro rediscovers London three months into lockdown.
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