20 awesome things to do in London with kids: January 2025

Head to Tate Modern on Wednesdays and weekends throughout January for Uniqlo Tate Play Make Studio: The Joy of Feeling. Take inspiration from Tate’s collection and play with shapes, colours, textures and materials to create a sensory sculpture that shows how you feel. Free.
The Enchanted Cinema returns to the Horniman from 3rd-5th. Use instruments and your hands and voices to help create the soundtrack to animated films including Raymond Briggs’ The Snowman and My Neighbour Totoro, expertly guided by TEC’s musicians. Paid.
Head to Young V&A on the 4th for Pop-up Performance: Tales from the Shed for 0-5s, Create! Studio for Families: Squeeze for ages 4+ on the 11th, Mini Play for toddlers and babies on the 24th and 31st, and The Octopus Club pop-up until the 26th. Free/paid.
Pop along to Tate Britain on the 10th, 17th, 24th and 31st for Play Studio: Under-5s Pop-Up. Try on a cape, climb through a tunnel and play peekaboo using artist-designed play items, in this mid-week play session designed in collaboration with artist India Harvey. Free.
There’s lots on at V&A South Kensington this month, including Drop-in: Crafting with Colours & Screening, and Sensory Friendly: Design and Draw with Light for SEND visitors and their families on the 11th, and Make it: Fashion on the 25th. Free.
On the 11th, family rave favourites Raver Tots are taking over the Lost in Light art exhibition for what’s set to be the ultimate family dance party. Expect a special effects show, dancers, festival-sized confetti cannons, giant balloons, licensed bars, face painting and more. Paid.
There’s loads on at the Soutbank Centre this January, including Body Odyssey for 5-11s on the 11th, OAE TOTS: Puzzle Tots on the 12th, the return of REPLAY: A Limitless Recycled Playground for 0-11s from the 21st and Scottish Ensemble: in Sync on the 26th. Paid/free.
Big Penny Social will host The Together Space on the 12th. Designed for disabled and non-disabled children and their families, the event will feature a monoprinting workshop, an obstacle course inflatable with slide, a Duplo play session with Busy Bricks and more. Paid.
RIBA Baby: Bricks and Bubbles returns to RIBA on the 14th. Children aged 0-3 are invited to transform simple shapes into towering structures as bubbles float through the air, captivating young minds with their iridescent allure, encouraging sensory exploration. Free.
RA’s Early Years Studio: Animals and Wildlife runs on the 15th. Devised by artist Amy Leung, this drop-in session for under-5s will see the studio packed full of materials, objects and textures that can be used for child-led play and inquiry. Free.
Fancy exploring the British Museum’s Silk Roads exhibition with your under-5? Little Feet: Exhibition Explorer invites you to do exactly that, with plenty of hands-on baby- and toddler-friendly activities to boot. Head down on the 17th to take advantage. Free.
Head to William Morris Gallery on the 18th for Family Day: Tulips and Peacocks. Explore the gallery’s current exhibition and discover the ancient art of metal embossing. Use a stylus on a lightweight metal sheet and create a raised 3D design to take home. Free.
London Museum Docklands will host Collage Crafting: Exploring Identity on the 18th. Create your own positive and powerful collage inspired by what makes you individual as well as what unites us in this drop-in family session led by artist-educator Anne Ogazi. Free.
Winter Lights is back in Canary Wharf from 21st January to 1st Feburary. Explore 12 temporary installations, including a towering stack of bathtubs, panels of sari fabric and luminous threads and even a 20m-wide sink hole encircled by light. Free.
Battersea Power Station’s Light Festival returns from 23rd January to 23rd February. Eight spectacular interactive installations from British and international artists will be on display inside and outside the Power Station, with three making their UK debut. Free.
Kensuke’s Kingdom! is back at Barbican on the 25th, as part of the centre’s Family Film Club. A young boy finds himself washed ashore on an island in the Pacific in this animated adaptation of Michael Morpurgo’s stunning novel, which is best suited for ages 7+. Paid.
Head to Big Penny Social on the 25th for Family Burns Night Ceilidh. Be guided step by step through a range of fun and energetic Scottish dances, accompanied by a traditional live band, bagpipes and haggis (and whiskey for the grown ups). Paid.
London Mithraeum Bloomberg SPACE will play host to Jonathan Baldock’s 0.1% from the 25th. This immersive installation will draw on the site’s rich history, exploring myths, legends, gods and rituals and their influence on our lives. Free.
Head to Moon: Three Age Women’s Health on the 26th for Family Yoga, aimed at ages 2-8 and their families. Expect games, partner and acro yoga, stories, music, dancing, art, mindfulness and relaxation, all combined to bring yoga alive for children. Paid.
Mini Marvels: Early Years Sensory Play will be at the Estorick Collection on the 29th.This pop-up families’ area, located in the temporary exhibition galleries, will include a wealth of sensory and creative resources that will captivate and delight children under 5. Free.