20 awesome things to do with kids in London: October 2022

As part of Camden Art Centre’s Gather Round: Autumn Open Day, artist Lily Ash Sakula will host Family Takeover: Family Visions – a session exploring what makes a family – on the 1st. Expect play, drawing and animation skills, working towards creating an animation. Free.
Head to Discover Children’s Story Centre on the 2nd and enjoy free entry as part of Fun Palaces, as well as a special Pavilion Workshops lantern-making event. Or, pop down between the 22nd and 30th and take part in a spooky Halloween Trail. Free/free with entry.
Baby Show is back at Unicorn theatre from the 4th-30th. Aimed at ages 6-18 months, this popular production explores the joys and tribulations of getting ready and exploring outside. There will be a chance to play in the space at the end of the show. Paid.
Science Museum’s immersive Science Fiction: Voyage to the Edge of Imagination exhibition opens from the 6th. Board and explore a unique spaceship, scout an unknown planet and investigate how scientists and sci-fi creators have imagined and built new worlds. Paid.
Luke Jerram’s popular Gaia sculpture will be popping up at Southwark Cathedral from the 11th-30th. Measuring 7m in diameter, Gaia features 120dpi detailed NASA imagery of the Earth’s surface, offering visitors the chance to view our planet in 3D, as if from space. Free.
Chilean artist Cecilia Vicuña’s commission for Tate Modern’s Turbine Hall opens from the 11th. Known for her radical textile sculptures, Vicuña’s work explores themes of ecology, community and social justice, paying tribute to her country’s history and culture. Free.
A Sense of Wonder: The Curious Robot World of Matt Dixon opens at Pitzhanger from the 14th. Visitors are invited to explore utopian and dystopian landscapes within this audio-visual exhibition, encountering robots as they experience the best of human emotions. Paid.
Head to the V&A with your 0-3 year old on the 4th for Design Baby: Music and Mindfulness, a multi-sensory play session, or from the 26th-28th with kids of all ages for Drop-in Design: Build a Prop! for a chance to create your own giant cardboard prop. Paid/free.
Joe Hisaishi and the RSC’s production of Studio Ghibli’s My Neighbour Totoro opens at the Barbican from the 8th. Exploring the magical fantasy world of childhood, it follows one extraordinary summer in the lives of sisters Satsuki and Mei. Paid.
There’s plenty on at artsdepot this month, including The Bubble Show with Mr Bubbles on the 15th, a spooky Shivers and Shadows Halloween production on the 27th, and the annual Big Draw (including paint party and gigantic drawing pad) on the 28th. Paid/free.
Head to the RA on the 16th for Family Studio: Shadow Storytellers, or on the 23rd for Family Day: Make Your Mark, featuring Walk & Draw Tours around the galleries, Your Drawing, Your Rules! still-life sessions and giant paper installations in Drawing Expanded. Free.
Inspired by its Hieroglyphs: Unlocking Ancient Egypt exhibition, the British Museum invites under-5s and their adults to Little Feet: Visit the Scribe on the 17th. Expect lots of activities and mark-making opportunities, including the chance to create your own document Free.
Wellcome Collection’s In Plain Sight exhibition opens from the 20th. It will explore the different ways we see and are seen by others, questioning the central place that sight holds in society through the experiences of sighted, partially sighted and blind people. Free.
De Stilte’s production of Do Re Mi Ka Do is on at The Albany on the 20th and The Place on the 22nd. Join the party as sound, colour and movement combine to take families into a world of imagination, where kids are encouraged to play and creativity knows no boundaries. Paid.
Interactive exhibition ELMER and Friends: The Colourful World of David McKee arrives at the Horniman from the 21st. Head down from the 24th-27th and enjoy Storytelling: Elmer with Mama G, or on the 29th to combine your visit with the annual Halloween Fair. Paid.
Discovery Day: Hair-Raising Halloween takes place in Hyde Park from the 25th-27th. Come in costume and guess the gruesome contents of the feely boxes, explore the eerie nature trail, listen to a spooky interactive story and learn about the bats in the Royal Parks. Free.
Foundling Museum is hosting a series of brilliant workshops this half term, including cardboard sculpture making on the 25th, time machine animation on the 26th, fantasy-museum design on the 27th, and Halloween lantern making on the 28th. Paid.
Strange Clay: Ceramics in Contemporary Art opens at the Hayward Gallery from the 26th. The artworks will encompass fantastical creatures and uncanny representations of the everyday, ranging from small abstract works to large-scale installations. Paid.
The Horror Show! A Twisted Tale of Modern Britain opens at Somerset House from the 27th, It will feature works from some of the UK’s most provocative artists, offering an alternative perspective on recent British history in three acts: Monster, Ghost and Witch. Paid.
The Mosaic Rooms will host Play Space, a creative workshop for families, on the 29th. Join the gallery’s family artist, designer Sahra Hersi, for a variety of fun activities exploring space and forms of architecture through play. Free.