28 awesome things to do in London with kids in February/half term 2026

Fans of V&A’s Design Baby sessions are in for a double treat this month as the museum hosts its usual monthly session on the 4th, plus a half-term Design Baby Drop-in from 16th-20th. These sessions invite 0-3s and their adults to explore sculpture through shape, weight, balance, space and texture. Free.
Let’s Play, Korea! is at the British Museum on the 7th. The session invites children aged 7+ and their adults to explore traditional Korean games – featured in the popular Netflix series Squid Game – with the London Korean School, as well as trying handmade Korean treats. Free.
To coincide with its current blockbuster exhibition, The Long Now, Saatchi is hosting family days on the 7th and 14th. Explore the exhibition, featuring an amazing climbable tyre stack, then let your creative juices flow and create a paper mâché sculpture or a Valentine’s Day card. Free/suggested donation.
UCL Illuminated, a spectacular immersive sound and light show celebrating 200 years of UCL, runs from 11th-13th. Watch as 200 years of history is projected onto the Wilkins building. See UCL’s story unfold, tracing it from a small community of intellectuals to the global powerhouse it is today. Paid.
Southbank Centre’s iconic Imagine festival returns from 11th-21st, with highlights including evim [my home], a sensory dance show for 3-7s; Early Weaves, an immersive show for 2-5s that includes a play session at the end; Pop-Up Parkour with Ascension; and loads more. Free/paid.
TUTU, a family-friendly, gender-norm-defying dance extravaganza, comes to the Peacock Theatre from 11th-21st. Join an all-male cast of six dancers decked out in flamboyant costumes, from ducks to divas, for a playful new performance that shatters stereotypes and makes dance accessible for all. Paid.
Inside Aardman: Wallace & Gromit and Friends will be at Young V&A from the 12th. Explore 150 items, including never-before-seen models, sets and storyboards from Aardman’s archives. Try your hand at different parts of stop-motion animation and see the whole process of how a film is made. Paid.
The Mundo Pixar Experience arrives in Wembley Park from the 13th. Step into life-size sets from your favourite Disney·Pixar films. Become a toy in Andy’s room, speed into Radiator Springs with Lightning McQueen and venture through the Monsters, Inc. factory alongside Mike and Sulley. Paid.
Voyage to the Deep: Underwater Adventures arrives at the Horniman from 13th February to 1st November. Inspired by Jules Verne’s 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, this exhibition invites families to board the legendary Nautilus submarine and embark on an extraordinary underwater adventure. Paid.
The Octonauts: Adventure at the Horniman trail will be available from 13th February to 1st November. Search for shells and design your own underwater vehicle before collecting a ‘mission complete’ sticker from HQ. There will also be an Octonauts Storytelling and Craft session from 17th-19th. Free/paid.
Head to William Morris Gallery for Family Day: Peace, Love & Unity on the 14th. Join artist Lucy Rainbow and design your own colourful bandana inspired by the Peace, Love & Liberty scarf, which is on display as part of the museum’s current Women in Print exhibition. Free.
Whitechapel Gallery is running Touretteshero: Return of the Rebels, a day of rebellious and inclusive fun for all ages, on the 14th. Expect multi-sensory play, creativity and connection, inviting you to explore what rebellious, inclusive play can be. Free.
Two Temple Place is hosting three family workshops this half term. Create mixed-media collages in Reclaim, Repurpose, Revise the Rules on the 14th; make a wearable robot mask in Robots Revealed! on the 17th; or handcraft your own medal in Medals for Peace on the 18th. Pay what you can.
The Jolly Postman exhibition will be at the Postal Museum from 14th February to January 2027. Follow the Jolly Postman’s delivery round, wandering through the woods to the Three Bears’ cottage, delivering ‘royal mail’ to Cinderella and peeking inside the Wicked Witch’s gingerbread bungalow. Free with paid entry.
RIBA is hosting LEGO Build at Barts North Wing on the 16th, offering families a chance to create an evolving, collaborative city of LEGO. Then on the 17th, it invites families to take part in a Family Fun Day at the Zaha Hadid Foundation, where they’ll design and build a sustainable city using recycled materials. Free.
Bounce House returns to Big Penny Social from 16th-20th. Back by popular demand, this epic bounce fest sees the venue’s entire Event Space filled with massive inflatables, including an inflatable assault course. Head down on the 18th for an Autism-friendly relaxed session featuring fewer kids and no music. Paid.
Head to Museum of the Home for Lunar New Year Family Day 2026 on the 17th. Take part in Lunar New Year collage, make your own temporary homes in the Mini Playhouse, and pinch, coil and play with Nam Tran, a ceramic tutor and founder of the local ceramic studio Cernamic. Free.
Head to National Portrait Gallery for Family Day: Impasto Studio on the 17th. Immerse yourselves in family workshops inspired by the gallery’s World of Lucian Freud: Drawing into Painting exhibition, including dress up, still-life drawing, animal accessory collaging, collaborative mural making and more. Free.
Foundling Museum is running four family workshops this half term. Make Musical Dioramas with recycled sheet music on the 17th, create Recycled Instruments from junk on the 18th, fashion Music Maps using graphic scores on the 19th and join in with Collaborative Music Making on the 20th. Paid.
Space by Luxmuralis will be popping up at St Martin in the Fields from 17th-21st. Following this cosmic sound and light experience’s sell-out success in 2023, mmbark on an incredible journey through space to see galaxies emerge and discover humanity’s ambition to venture into the unknown. Paid.
Chiharu Shiota: Threads of Life comes to Hayward Gallery from 17th February to 3rd of May. Marvel at the artist’s immense and intricate web-like installations, exploring the body, memory, consciousness and the fragility of existence, with signature works woven from floor-to-ceiling across the gallery’s top floor. Paid.
On the 18th, Young V&A is hosting a Book Reading and Draw-Along with illustrator and author of picture book The Missing Piece, Beth Suzanna. Then from 19th-21st, the museum is running Family Workshop (5-11): Clay Character with guidance from clay artist Nanami Takeuchi. Paid.
Highlights from the Barbican’s popular Family Film Club this month include Robot Dreams, an animated comedy about a dog and a robot in 1980s New York on the 21st; and Little Amelie, a touching exploration of a toddler eye’s view of a changing world in post Second World War Japan on the 28th. Paid.
Jock McFadyen with Jem Finer: Underground (and Surface) will be at Guildhall Art Gallery from 27th February to 20th September. This immersive exhibition will combine huge paintings of London cityscapes and tube stations with layered recordings of the lines’ creaks, groans and grinding of rails. Pay what you can.
Tracey Emin arrives at Tate Modern from 27th February to 31st August. This landmark exhibition traces 40 years of Emin’s groundbreaking practice, showcasing painting, video, textiles, neons, writing, sculpture and installation that use the female body as a powerful tool to explore passion, pain and healing. Paid.
Rose Wylie: The Picture Comes First opens at RA from 28th February to 19th April. Wylie’s work is alive with references to cinema, celebrities, literature and ancient civilisations. Her cast of characters – primarily women – includes Elizabeth I, Marilyn Monroe, Serena Williams and Snow White. Paid.
Ramses and the Pharaoh’s Gold: The Exhibition will be arriving at Neon, Battersea Power Station from 28th February to 31st May. Marvel at more than 180 authentic Egyptian masterpieces including colossal statues, intricately carved royal coffins, glittering gold, and rare artefacts seldom seen outside Egypt. Paid.
Talacre Sports Centre in Kentish Town will be unveiling its upgraded soft play at the end of the month. The upgraded three-tier play structure is designed for 0-10s and will include an under-3s area, a mini sports pitch, crawl tunnels, slides and interactive play panels. Paid.