20 awesome things to do in London with kids: September 2024

Uniqlo Tate Play Make Studio: The Joy of Not Knowing will be on at Tate Modern every weekend and Wednesdays throughout September. Imagine and explore magical futures by creating props and costumes made from sensory, repurposed materials. Free.
London Museum’s Big Beach Doodle takes place on the 1st. Go big and create a giant sensory seaside landscape to using colour and collage, then wriggle your body like waves or shuffle from side to side like a crab as you become a part of this collaborative artwork. Free.
Batman Unmasked: The Exhibition opens in Covent Garden from the 6th. This immersive experience will unfold across nine themed rooms, from Wayne Manor Library to the Batcave, with chances to play interactive arcade games and see the Batmobile up close. Paid.
Luminarium by Architects of Air will be at Barking Riverside on the 7th-8th (tickets sold out but you can still join the queue. Walk ins served on a first come, first served basis). Enter a dazzling inflatable sculpture and be surrounded by a rainbow of colour and calming sound. Free.
As part of London Mural Festival, Angry Dan’s Map of London will be on display in Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park on the 8th. This interactive illustrated artwork took over 1,000 hours to make and is one of the largest and most detailed maps of London ever to be created. Free.
LDF is back from 14th-22nd, with highlights including the Vert eco pavilion at Chelsea College of Arts, the immersive Liquid Light at The Old Selfridges Hotel, the Barbie-inspired Pavilions of Wonder on the Strand, and multisensory installation Duo at the Painted Hall. Free.
The much-loved touring Colourscape festival returns to Clapham Common from 14th-22nd. Explore the 70-chamber immersive Festival Two Colourscape whilst enjoying music from a variety of musicians, who will be performing inside the structure each day. Paid.
Open House Festival runs from 14th-22nd, with child-friendly highlights including a collage workshop at St Marylebone Parish Church, a family organ-building workshop at Union Chapel, and an interactive family tour of the Royal College of Physicians. Free.
Head to Young V&A on the 14th and take part in Family Design Challenge: Paper Folding and Create! Studio for Families: Light and Shadow. Then on the 28th, V&A South Kensington will host Family Festival: Build!, inspired by its Tropical Modernism exhibition. Free/paid.
Battersea Power Station will be offering a host of kids’ workshops on 14th-15th, as part of its celebrASIA festival. Choose from paper lotus flower making, shadow puppet workshops, lantern making, kite decorating and lots more. Paid.
The British Museum will host two Little Feet sessions this month. On the 16th, take inspiration from the museum’s Korean collection in Creative Korea, then on the 30th tap out rhythms, feel sculptures’ surfaces and visit the aroma area in Explore Your Senses. Free.
Frieze Sculpture returns to Regent’s Park from the 18th. Frieze Sculpture has expanded for its 12th edition to include 22 leading international artists hailing from five continents, including Leonora Carrington, Theaster Gates, Zanele Muholi or Yoshitomo Nara. Free.
The RA’s Michael Craig-Martin retrospective opens from the 21st. The gallery will also be hosting a Family Studio: Take a Line for a Walk workshop on the 22nd, inspired by the exhibition, and an Early Years Studio: Construct session on the 18th. Paid/free.
William Morris Gallery is hosting Family Day: Woven Patterns on the 21st. Inspired by the gallery’s Art Without Heroes: Mingei exhibition, kids will learn the traditional art of textile weaving and create their own fabric using simple cardboard looms. Free.
The Design Museum will host Play Build Play on the 22nd, as part of LDF. See the museum turn into an immersive, creative space for experimentation, with den building, an early years play environment, a chance to model your own tiny toy treehouse and lots more. Free.
2024’s Turner Prize-nominated artworks will be at Tate Britain from the 25th. Expect immersive environments from Delaine Le Bas, evocative sculpture from Jasleen Kaur, large-scale portraiture from Claudette Johnson and meditations on cultural loss from Pio Abad. Paid.
Yayoi Kusama: Every Day I Pray for Love opens at Victoria Miro from the 25th. The artist’s 14th solo exhibition with the gallery premieres a new Infinity Mirror Room and introduces works from a new series of paintings. Free.
Nairy Baghramian’s Jumbled Alphabet is on at SLG from the 27th. The show will bring together sculptures from her Misfits series, disrupting the idea of children’s building toys, and will feature an evolving drawing made by children who visit during the exhibition. Free.
Polka’s Big Dreams Festival runs from 28th-29th. Highlights will include Kaleidoscope for ages 6-18 months, Wonder Gigs for 0-4s, a chance to meet author and illustrator Benji Davies, Boxville for 4-8s, plus free activities including face painting and glitter tattoos. Paid.
It Takes a Village Play Cafe will be opening on Walthamstow’s Billet Road on an as-yet-unconfirmed date this month. The owners haven’t given away many clues yet, but if their Instagram is anything to go by, this place is going to be AMAZING. Watch this space.