This month, explore Do Ho Suh’s fabric architecture, come face to face with a giant Louise Bourgeois spider and lose yourself in Martin Parr’s sea of balloons.

* To be updated as more events are announced *

Exhibition openings

Do Ho Suh: Walk the House will be at Tate Modern from 1st May to 19th October. Wander through the passages and thresholds of Suh’s renowned fabric architectures in this immersive exhibition. Move across Seoul, New York and London through his life-sized replicas of past and present homes. Paid.

Robbie Williams Solo Exhibition: Radical Honesty will be at Moco Museum from 3rd May. Expect never-before-seen work and sculptures that expand the singer’s visual language of sarcasm, self-deprecation, and playful irreverence. Anxiety, self-love, introversion, morning affirmations – it’s all here. Included with paid entry.

Of the Oak will be at Kew from 3rd May to 28th September. Massive in scale at six metres, the artwork creates a ‘digital double’ of the Lucombe oak at Kew Gardens. As a visitor, you can impact the motions of the oak on screen by moving in front of it, and synchronise your breathing with its rhythms. Included with paid entry.

Camden Arts Projects launches in the former Zabludowicz Collection space in Kentish Town from the 9th. The gallery will launch with a major exhibition by Martin Creed that will include immersive installation Half the Air in a Given Space – an interactive sea of balloons – and iconic neon text work Everything is Going to be Alright. Free.

Popcorn!, a participatory exhibition by artist Jenny Pengilly, will be at the Whitechapel Gallery from 15th May to 21st September. Featuring a playful DIY punk aesthetic, this multi-sensory exhibition will invite audiences of all ages to explore the sonic world through our voices, bodies, and props. Free.

Bold Tendencies opens for its summer season from 16th May to 20th September. Titled Déjà Vu, this year’s open-air, rooftop art exhibition will feature work by Emii Alrai, Mac Collins, Richard Dean Hughes, Idris Khan, Raheel Khan and Gillian Wearing, along with a dynamic programme of live music and events. Free.

Story Explorers: A Journey Through Through Imaginary Worlds will be at the British Library from 16th May to 18th January. Designed for 2-9s, this free exhibition invites families to explore three fantastic worlds, read alien zines, explore an alphabet of animals, and learn about one of the first ever photographs of the moon. Free.

Space: Could Life Exist Beyond Earth? is on at NHM from 16th May to 22nd February. Touch a piece of Mars, wrap your hands around a fragment of the Moon and snap a selfie with the Allende meteorite (which – at 4.567 billion years old – is even older than Earth) in this out-of-this-world exhibition. Paid.

Chelsea in Bloom and Belgravia in Bloom return from 19th-25th and 19th-26th, respectively. Follow a trail of eye-popping floral displays and unique experiences across the two adjoining neighbourhoods, with the former adhering to a Flowers in Fashion theme while the latter follows a Seasons theme. Free.

Feel the Sound: An Exhibition Experience on a Different Frequency will be the Barbican from 22nd May to 31st August. This immersive exhibition will rearrange what you think sound is with multi-sensory installations that take you on a journey across the Barbican, from the car parks to the Lakeside Terrace. Paid.

Jurassic World: The Experience opens at Neon at Battersea Power Station from 23rd May. Get up close and personal with life-sized dinosaurs including a brachiosaurus, velociraptors and the mighty Tyrannosaurus rex, then visit the Creation Lab and meet baby dinosaurs, including a peek inside some unhatched eggs. Paid.

Squid Game: The Experience arrives at Excel from 26th May to 29th September. Step into the Squid Game story, exploring recreated sets, outsmarting the Young-hee doll in Red Light Green Light, testing your nerves on the treacherous Memory Steps and going head-to-head with your opponent in the Marbles game. Paid.

V&A East Storehouse opens in Stratford’s Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park from 31st May. Go behind the scenes to make new discoveries, explore untold stories and share ideas at this unique new museum experience that will open up the V&A collection to everyone. Free entry with some paid special exhibitions.

Festivals, workshops and events

Saturday Sessions with Body Odyssey is at the Southbank Centre on the 3rd. Be transported into a wonderland of glowing inflatable organs, floating cells, larger-than-life puppets and mesmerising soundscapes. Through hands-on activities, learn how our bodies fight to stay strong, and explore what lies beneath the surface. Free.

Dulwich Festival runs from 9th-18th with a packed schedule of family-friendly events. Highlights will include a silent disco, a talk with international bestseller Jessie Burton, raving with Big Fish Little Fish, a giant teddy bears’ picnic, theatrical and musical performances, sculpting workshops storytelling, fairs and loads more. Free/paid.

Head to the National Gallery’s Roden Centre on the 10th for Art Road Trip: Coming Home, celebrating the return of the gallery’s mobile art studio from its year-long tour. The centre will also host Gold Reflections, Family Mindful Mark Making and Step into Siena half-term workshops from 27th-29th. Free.

Greenwich Peninsula’s Urban Village Fete takes place on the 18th. As well as live music, food stalls and makers’ markets, expect family-friendly activities including live 3D printing, origami hat making, the popular Allympics, giant slinkies on the loose, a hay playground, skateboarding, wheelchair basketball and more. Free.

Head to William Morris Gallery on the 24th for its Family Day: Purrfect Prints workshop. Join artist Lucy Rainbow for a hands-on drop-in session where children aged 5+ can design and screen print their own Morris Mania-inspired Lucky Cat poster to take home. Free.

There’s plenty going on at V&A South Kensington this month, including a Make it: Illustration workshop with artist Simran Kaur Panesar on the 24th, plus half-term events from 27th-31st including drop-in Designs & Performances, Create Stories with Clay and a Spring Family Festival exploring storytelling and joy. Free/paid.

Holiday Make Studio: Joy of Togetherness runs at Tate Modern from 24th May to 1st June. Unleash your imagination as you mix and match shapes, colours, and textures to craft your own visual language. Get stuck in with paints, stamps, calligraphy and collages, and make your own zine or folded book. Free.

Head to the RA on the 25th for a drop-in Family Studio: Experiments in Ink workshop for all ages. Join artist Desiree Greenish and take inspiration from the gallery’s Astonishing Things: The Drawings of Victor Hugo exhibition to create experimental ink drawings. Free.

Bounce House is back at Big Penny Social from 26th-30th, featuring massive bouncy castles and a huge inflatable assault course. BPS will also be hosting Walthamstow-on-Sea, an outdoor ‘beach’ with sand, beach huts, cocktails, ice cream and pizza from 24th of May to 7th of September. Both paid.

Foundling Museum is hosting a series of family clay workshops from 27th to 30th. Make Clay Pots with Harriet Mena Hill, create Fantastical Figures with Christina Rose Brown, craft Clay Hands with Laura X Carlé or design a collaborative clay landscape in Clay Worlds with Elena Lo Presti. Paid.

To mark the Moomins’ 80th birthday, Woodland Tribe is building a replica of the iconic Moomin House on the Southbank Centre’s Riverside Terrace. Families are welcome to lend a hand by sawing wood and hammering nails from 27th May to 1st June, or you can simply turn up and explore the build from 2-5pm each day. Free.

There’s lots on at London Museum Docklands this half term, including monster puppet making, keep our city clean role play, litter picking on the Thames foreshore, storytelling and crafting with JoJo & Gran Gran author Laura Henry-Allain, a Victorian mudlark performance and more, from 27th-30th. Free.

Coinciding with its Moomin installation on the Riverside Terrace, the Southbank Centre will host a Moomin 80: From Afghan Valleys to Moominvalley workshop from 28th-30th. Join artist Nabil Amini of the Bristol Refugee Artists Collective, grab a piece of foam and get printing to create a piece of art to take home with you. Free.

Brockwell Bounce returns on the 28th. Highlights will include slime making with Gootopia, olympic trampolines, skateboarding with skates and ladders, Parkour with Madness Events, freeplay with Assemble Play, magical storytelling and drago walkabouts with Mythic Adventures, fairground rides and lots more. Free entry.

Welcome Day with London Play will be in Greenwich Park on the 29th. Take part in a day of fun and creative activities inspired by Greenwich Park’s wildlife. Discover the new Nature Play Space in the Flower Garden through nature-inspired play, then make your way to the Greenwich Park Learning Centre for more. Free.

RIBA is hosting its Family Fun Day: Architecture on the Move event on the 31st. Inspired by RIBA’s imminent departure from 66 Portland Place for upcoming refurbishments, explore all areas of transient, temporary and moving architecture by building models, making dens, painting, collaging and singing. Free.

Film & Theatre

This month, Barbican’s popular Family Film Club will feature screenings of Flow on the 3rd, Listen with your eyes 3: Experimental Films for Families on the 10th, Mary and the Witch’s Flower on the 17th, Fashion in Film Festival: Shorts – Nature’s Resources on the 24th and Dog Man on the 31st. Paid.

There’s lots on at Little Angel Theatre this month, including The Paper Dolls for 3-8s from 10th May to 20th July, Krafty the Urban Fox: Tales from the Tower Block for 2-5s from 17th May to 27th July, and Overheard in a Tower Block for ages 7+ from 22nd May to 27th July. Paid.

Polka Theatre will host Let’s Build! for 2-5s from 10th May to 29th June. Embark on an interactive building adventure with two very curious builders, embracing the magic of discovering things for the first time and learning that mistakes are a door to something new. Paid.

Ready Steady Go! is showing at Unicorn Theatre from 21st May to 22nd June. This craft-based theatre experience for 3-8s will get everyone colouring and creating together to build their own cardboard car. Stop at the bubbly car wash, zoom through tricky road works, pass your driving test and proudly drive your own car home. Paid.

Head to Half Moon on the 23rd for A Woodland Wonder, a gentle introduction to theatre for 1-5s. Join Ratty and her friends as they learn about the environment, and take part in play-along storytelling, theatre games, movement and lots of imaginative play. Paid.

Under-5s

Head to V&A South Kensington on the 7th for Design Baby: Sculpt and Play for 0-3s. Explore sculpture with your little ones through shape, weight, balance, space and texture. Play with trollies, push soft pom-poms through holes, build shapes, bend twisty tubes and more. Free.

Little Feet is back at the British Museum on the 8th with a Visit the Islamic World Galleries session. Follow the teddies to the Albukhary Foundation Gallery of the Islamic world and join in with multi-sensory activities including a camel parade, mark-making and tessellated pattern making. Free.

RA is hosting Early Years Studio: Paper on the 21st. Explore all things paper at this session for under fives. Scrunch, pulp, shred or make paper from scratch. Explore the possibilities of this versatile material on small and large scales. Free.

SEND-friendly

Relaxed Sessions with Body Odyssey is at the Southbank Centre on the 3rd. Be transported into a wonderland of glowing inflatable organs, floating cells, larger-than-life puppets and mesmerising soundscapes. Through hands-on activities, learn how our bodies fight to stay strong, and explore what truly lies beneath the surface. Free.

Head to V&A South Kensington on the 17th for Sensory Friendly: Design and Draw with Light. Design, build and draw using projections, fabrics and UV lights. Play with light and dark, reflections, shadows and colours. Create and experiment using a mixture of different art materials to make colourful projections in the space. Free.

The Together Space will host its May event at Walthamstow’s Barn Croft Primary School on the 18th. Take part in art workshops and inclusive outdoor games, make veggie burgers with Cook me a Story, explore a specially created sensory space, tackle an inflatable activity run and lots more. Paid.

Big Penny Social will host a relaxed Bounce House session on the 28th. The session will feature the same massive inflatables and huge inflatable assault course, but with no music, lower room lighting and capacity capped to 30 children to help reduce anxiety and over-stimulation. Paid.

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