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For Tiny Londoners & Their Adults

Bablands is a resource for Londoners who find themselves with a small creature to dress up and entertain. Part-magazine, part-guide, Bablands follows the adventures of Bab as she seeks out London's coolest kids' shops, best child-friendly hangouts and under-fives activities that won't make mummy want to gauge her eyes out with a weaning spoon.

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A much-needed public-transport-free day bumming around Regent’s Park. Aside from the one in the zoo, the park has four playgrounds (if you include Primrose Hill Playground). We’ve been to all four, and today we managed two, but Marylebone Gardens is still my favourite. We had a picnic, visited Queen Mary’s Rose Gardens and walked home along the canal. What’s your favourite London Park? . . . . . . . . . . #bablands #coolthingsfortinylondoners #thingstodowithkids #toddlersofinstagram #toddlerlife #mummyblogger #parentblogger #londonblogger #londonmum #blogger #londonparents #londonmums #parentingtheshitoutoflife #london #londonmum #letthembelittle #londonunderground #visitlondon #babylondon #regentspark #londonplayground #northlondon #londonparks #regentsparklondon
Our top three picks for the week. Tempted to do all three... although on second thoughts we might leave Kew for after half term 😬 1. @allpointseastuk In the Neighbourhood runs Monday-Thursday, offering a whole host of free activities for families. Head to Hackney’s Victoria Park for theatre from @halfmoon_theatre , puppet shows from @buskingtheatre , family yoga from @moreyoga_ and loads more - check the All Points East website for more details. 2. The Children’s Garden is now open at @kewgardens . Designed for ages 2-12, the space is the size of 40 tennis courts and comprises Earth, Air, Sun and Water gardens. Entry is free with a ticket to Kew. 3. The Tales of Peter Rabbit and Jemima Puddle-Duck is showing at @wiltonsmusichall from Tuesday-Saturday, combining storytelling and song with music from a live orchestra for a magical introduction to classical music. Have a great week ❤️ . . . . . . . . . . #bablands #coolthingsfortinylondoners #thingstodowithkids #toddlersofinstagram #toddlerlife #mummyblogger #parentblogger #londonblogger #londonmum #blogger #londonparents #londonmums #parentingtheshitoutoflife #london #londonmum #letthembelittle #londonunderground #visitlondon #babylondon #whatsoninlondon #allpointseast #victoriapark #eastlondon #wiltonsmusichall #childrenstheatre #kewchildrensgarden #kew #kewgardens #whatsoninlondon
I don’t feel like it’s been that widely publicised but the Food: Bigger Than the Plate exhibition at @vamuseum is great. Incredibly eye-opening and at times horrifying but also really fun and positive. Should be compulsory viewing; unfortunately it’s £17 per ticket and to be honest we wouldn’t have bothered if my Mum didn’t have membership and we weren’t already there to see Mary Quant again. We had to drag Babu away from the meat-production documentary before it scarred her for life but it was otherwise pretty kid-friendly and she enjoyed the building blocks and drink tasting - plus it sparks some interesting discussions about food sustainability that we should probably be having with our children, given the state of things. . . . . . . . . . . #bablands #coolthingsfortinylondoners #thingstodowithkids #toddlersofinstagram #toddlerlife #mummyblogger #parentblogger #londonblogger #londonmum #blogger #londonparents #londonmums #parentingtheshitoutoflife #london #londonmum #letthembelittle #londonunderground #visitlondon #babylondon #vanda #vamuseum #vandamuseum #southkensington #westlondon #foodbiggerthantheplate
New thing: shop of the week. I’m changing the way I cover kids’ shops, with photo-based blog posts (rather than reviews) and a weekly Instagram post. I know not everyone wants to know about shopping but I love kids’ design and for me that’s a big part of the blog and why I started doing this, so it’s happening. I’m kicking things off this week with my favourite kids’ department, @theconranshopofficial for children. It’s jam-packed with beautiful, beautiful things and the staff are always more than happy for kids to ride around on the little trikes, lie down on the beautifully made bed and faff with all the toys. Totally dreamy. . . . . . . . . . . #bablands #coolthingsfortinylondoners #thingstodowithkids #toddlersofinstagram #toddlerlife #mummyblogger #parentblogger #londonblogger #londonmum #blogger #londonparents #londonmums #parentingtheshitoutoflife #london #londonmum #letthembelittle #londonunderground #visitlondon #babylondon #conranshop #theconranshop #chelsea #sw3 #kidsdesign #kidsshop
This babe ❤️ She’s becoming the best exhibition buddy, forever asking questions (“mummaaaay... why have they not got any clothes on?”) and making observations (“he’s got no top on!”) - ok, so they’re mostly nudity-related, but she’s definitely showing an interest. She really responded to Van Gogh in Britain and even recognised some of the paintings as London scenes “that’s where we live!”. Of course if one of her mates had been there it would have been a completely different story and she would have spent the afternoon running from gallery to gallery screaming and nutting people in the knees... but let’s pretend that’s not true. . . . . . . . . . . #bablands #coolthingsfortinylondoners #thingstodowithkids #toddlersofinstagram #toddlerlife #mummyblogger #parentblogger #londonblogger #londonmum #blogger #londonparents #londonmums #parentingtheshitoutoflife #london #londonmum #letthembelittle #londonunderground #visitlondon #babylondon #vangogh #vangoghandbritain #tatebritain #artwithkids #artinlondon #artwithkids
Soz it’s all in East London but that’s where it’s at this weekend 🤷‍♀️ 1. There’s SO MUCH free stuff going on at the Dalston Children’s Festival on Saturday, from puppet and tote making to live caricatures, hula hooping, free play, films and LEGO... the fun is basically endless, AND you can pop back the Saturday after (2nd June) for the second instalment. 2. @whitechapelgallery is running a free Family Day inspired by its Queer Spaces 1980s-Today exhibition on Saturday. Join writer in residence @rachelpimm and artist @jessiemclaugh and create your own temporary tattoos and protective charms, dance, play and discuss the importance of queer spaces. 3. @discover_story ‘s London Children’s Book Swap is taking place at over 40 venues all over London on Saturday, with children invited to recycle their unwanted books in return for a new read. Each venue will be offering free family activities to accompany the swap, and Discover itself is offering free entry all day. Enjoy ☺️ . . . . . . . . . . #bablands #coolthingsfortinylondoners #thingstodowithkids #toddlersofinstagram #toddlerlife #mummyblogger #parentblogger #londonblogger #londonmum #blogger #londonparents #londonmums #parentingtheshitoutoflife #london #londonmum #letthembelittle #londonunderground #visitlondon #babylondon #whatsoninlondon #dalstonchildrensfestival #discover #whitechapelgallery #eastlondon
As Messy Monster says, when you need to know, go to OKIDO. We needed to know, so we went to the @okidomagazine pop-up shop at Kings Mall in Hammersmith for a Science of Colour art workshop, where Babu was lucky enough to get a one-on-one lesson in how to print, marble and mix colours to make others. The staff are all so lovely and the space is amazing and open all day every day (except Mondays) for you to drop in and play. They’re running a really exciting schedule of workshops for 3-8s (check out the OKIDO website for details and to book) and there’s lots of lovely stuff available to buy in the little shop, including toys, activity sets, prints and current and back issues of the magazine. If you’re West London-based (or not) you absolutely MUST check this one out 👍 . . . . . . . . . . #bablands #coolthingsfortinylondoners #thingstodowithkids #toddlersofinstagram #toddlerlife #mummyblogger #parentblogger #londonblogger #londonmum #blogger #londonparents #londonmums #parentingtheshitoutoflife #london #londonmum #letthembelittle #londonunderground #visitlondon #babylondon #okido #messygoestookido #hammersmith #westlondon #okidomagazine #kingsmallldn #okidopopup #startupmall
We’ve been doing this for so long I’ve forgotten half of it, which seems a shame when there’s so much great stuff out there, so I’m going to be resurrecting a past outing every Tuesday until I run out 😅 Today it’s the turn of The Idol, a two-storey robot-shaped monochrome sculpture and soft-play structure designed by Turner Prize nominated artist Marvin Gaye Chetwynd (now Monster Chetwynd of Tate Britain slug fame). Inspired by the Dagenham Idol statue, which was discovered in 1920, the Idol is a soft-play centre like no other with its black drop slide and giant robot head with huge eyes to peep out of. It’s been more than two years since we visited and I reckon Babu would get loads more out of it now than she did when she was 14 months old and too little to go up to the upper levels, but then again Barking is SUCH a mission. Anyone been? What did you think? . . . . . . . . . . #bablands #coolthingsfortinylondoners #thingstodowithkids #toddlersofinstagram #toddlerlife #mummyblogger #parentblogger #londonblogger #londonmum #blogger #londonparents #londonmums #parentingtheshitoutoflife #london #londonmum #letthembelittle #londonunderground #visitlondon #babylondon #barking #theidol #marvingayechetwynd #softplay
Had a cheeky mince around the Edvard Munch: Love and Angst exhibition for free today, courtesy of a special Exhibition Explorer edition of Little Feet at @britishmuseum . In general I do find Little Feet sessions a little bit hit or miss and Babu has pretty much outgrown them, but the exhibition-based specials are ingenious in that they let parents and carers look round a show that would otherwise cost £12 or so per ticket (and who really wants to pay that when they know their kid isn’t going to let them see most of it anyway?!) for absolutely nothing, AND with the added bonus of themed baby/toddler activities and some singing! I did feel a bit sorry for the paying customers who had to deal with 30 or so under-5s running around like headless chicken while they were trying to look at The Scream though 😬 . . . . . . . . . . #bablands #coolthingsfortinylondoners #thingstodowithkids #toddlersofinstagram #toddlerlife #mummyblogger #parentblogger #londonblogger #londonmum #blogger #londonparents #londonmums #parentingtheshitoutoflife #london #londonmum #letthembelittle #londonunderground #visitlondon #babylondon #britishmuseum #edvardmunch #munchloveandangst #munch #artinlondon #littlefeet #artwithkids #bloomsbury #holborn
Your motley crew might be bored shitless by the museum itself but these cleverly devised immersive indoor playgrounds are almost guaranteed to hold their attention, with any luck buying you a few minutes of peace/extra browsing time and maybe even teaching them something useful in the process. Here are five of our faves: 1. The Mudlarks Gallery at @museumoflondon Docklands offers free 40-minute sessions. The space includes water-play, soft-play and role-play areas. 2. @ltmuseum ’s two-storey All Aboard! play zone is free to use all day with admission to the museum. Tinies can chill in the tube-themed soft play while the bigger ones explore a sized-down double-decker bus and ‘Thames Nipper’. 3. The @nam_london Play Base offers hour-long sessions priced at £4.75 for over-1s (under-1s go free). The space features assault-course soft play, a well-stocked cook house and a quartermaster’s store stuffed with toys. 4. @thepostalmuseum offers 45-minute sessions in its Sorted! play space for £4 per child. The space is laid out like a mini town and includes a climb-on mail van, a sorting depot with slides and pulleys, and even a tiny post office. 5. Often filled with school trippers but usually fairly quiet in the afternoons, @sciencemuseum ’s The Garden is free all day and features baby sensory, water play, giant foam bricks and tiny wheelbarrows. . . . . . . . . . . #bablands #coolthingsfortinylondoners #thingstodowithkids #toddlersofinstagram #toddlerlife #mummyblogger #parentblogger #londonblogger #londonmum #blogger #londonparents #londonmums #parentingtheshitoutoflife #london #londonmum #letthembelittle #londonunderground #visitlondon #babylondon #southlondon #northlondon #centrallondon #museumswithkids #londonmuseum
Barbican’s new AI: More Than Human exhibition is fascinating, beautiful and, predictably, a little bit terrifying. Definitely less Black Mirror than I was expecting and more of a celebration than a warning, but there were sinister undertones for sure. We dragged the kids along and they got a lot out of it, but equally we’d probably have got more out of it ourselves if we’d left them at home. The Curve Gallery is pretty narrow and a bit of a pain in the arse with a buggy on a busy day, and some of the interactive stuff is a bit too complicated for very little ones. That said there are a lot of games you can play together and the last bit of the exhibition, an immersive digital artwork called What a Loving and Beautiful World, is perfect for under-5s and essentially just a giant baby sensory room. So yeah, if you fancy it just go. You will all be fiiiine. . . . . . . . . . . #bablands #coolthingsfortinylondoners #thingstodowithkids #toddlersofinstagram #toddlerlife #mummyblogger #parentblogger #londonblogger #londonmum #blogger #londonparents #londonmums #parentingtheshitoutoflife #london #londonmum #letthembelittle #londonunderground #visitlondon #babylondon #barbican #barbicancentre #ai #artificialintelligence #aimorethanhuman
Kicking off our weekly area roundup with NW5: 1. Work up a sweat at Parent & Toddler Gymnastics (baby gym) at @better_uk Talacre Community Sports Centre, twice every weekday morning and once on Sundays (0-5). 2. Grab a healthy brunch while your little one enjoys the well-stocked playroom at @bearandwolfcafe 3. Take part in a Families Create artist-led workshop, every Saturday from 2pm at @zabludowicz_collection (3+). 4. Try out some offbeat flavours at Filipino ice cream parlour @mamasonsdirtyicecream 5. Head to @kentishtowncityfarm for a pony ride (Saturdays 1.30pm, 4+) or donkey ride (Sunday’s 1.30pm, 2+). . . . . . . . . . . #bablands #coolthingsfortinylondoners #thingstodowithkids #toddlersofinstagram #toddlerlife #mummyblogger #parentblogger #londonblogger #londonmum #blogger #londonparents #londonmums #parentingtheshitoutoflife #london #londonmum #letthembelittle #londonunderground #visitlondon #babylondon #kentishtown #nw5 #camden #tufnellpark
Pitzhanger Manor & Gallery in Ealing is such a perfect day out. Recently renovated, the house is an absolute beauty, having been owned and drastically rebuilt by renowned architect Sir John Soane at the beginning of the 19th century. The adjoining library has been converted into a light-filled contemporary art space, with a fantastic @anish.kapoor sculpture exhibition showing until August. Almost every room in the manor has a kids' activity corner and it's all poised on the edge of the beautiful Walpole Park with its cute wooden playground. Full review now up on the site ☺️ . . . . . . . . . . #bablands #coolthingsfortinylondoners #thingstodowithkids #toddlersofinstagram #toddlerlife #mummyblogger #parentblogger #londonblogger #londonmum #blogger #londonparents #londonmums #parentingtheshitoutoflife #london #londonmum #letthembelittle #londonunderground #visitlondon #babylondon #ealing #pitzhangermanor #westlondon
Museum of the Moon is here! Luke Jerram’s 6m-diameter travelling artwork combines detailed NASA imagery with moonlight and a soundtrack by BAFTA/Ivor Novello award-winning composer Dan Jones. It will be in situ in NHM’s Jerwood Hall until 8th September, with a variety of events taking place beneath it throughout the summer. It’s very cool and I’m really glad we saw it and everything but I always manage to forget that going to the Natural History Museum makes me want to hire a steam roller and flatten everyone in my path. Just to add insult to injury we put CBeebies on when we got home and there was Andy bloody Day waltzing around Hintze Hall after closing time; just him, his nostrils and some 60-million-year-old dinosaurs, the jammy bastard. So... who’s going to join me in petitioning for an NHM under-5s-only hour one morning a month? . . . . . . . . . . #bablands #coolthingsfortinylondoners #thingstodowithkids #toddlersofinstagram #toddlerlife #mummyblogger #parentblogger #londonblogger #londonmum #blogger #londonparents #londonmums #parentingtheshitoutoflife #london #londonmum #letthembelittle #londonunderground #visitlondon #babylondon #lukejerram #museumofthemoon #naturalhistorymuseum #artwithkids #artinlondon
If you haven't seen the @oliverjeffers exhibition at @lazinc yet you have until 2nd June. It's only fairly small but well worth checking out if you're in central before then and you're a fan of his work. I just love him so much and would fill the flat with his paintings and globes given half the chance (but then what do I know, I like Franz West har har har 😑). If you're in an arty kind of a mood this weekend then there's some brilliant hands-on stuff happening, from T-shirt and tote colouring with @young.double at @thepeninsulist #urbanvillagefete to a gentle drawing workshop with @donalsturt at @tomato.education and Constable-inspired LEGO building at @tate . It's going to be a good one 🎨 . . . . . . . . . . #bablands #coolthingsfortinylondoners #thingstodowithkids #toddlersofinstagram #toddlerlife #mummyblogger #parentblogger #londonblogger #londonmum #blogger #londonparents #londonmums #parentingtheshitoutoflife #london #londonmum #letthembelittle #londonunderground #visitlondon #babylondon #oliverjeffers #artwithkids #artinlondon
We seem to be having a West London moment. It’s the part of London I know least well, the only one I haven’t lived in and seemingly the least buzzing when it comes to family activities (or maybe I’m just not looking in the right places 😬) but we’ve been riding the Piccadilly Line a lot lately and discovering some absolute gems. I still haven’t finished the review but Pitzhanger Manor in Ealing was incredible, and then there was Paddington Rec Playground which is obviously amazing and... well maybe not the Acton Transport Museum Depot because that was a bit shit but today we had another West London win in the form of Gunnersbury Park and Museum, the former home of the Rothschild family. The grounds are absolutely beautiful, with follies and ponds and a small but very cool themed playground (there’s a bigger playground in the park but it wasn’t nearly as cool). Inside the house there’s a Toys and Games Gallery with Victorian toys, picture books and the opportunity to dress up as a member of the household staff, then upstairs there’s a fashion gallery with a whole wardrobe full of coats, corsets and crinolines to try on. The cafe looked lush but it’s such a pretty spot I reckon a picnic by the pond is the way to play it. The museum is totally free and fully accessible, and the staff are all extremely helpful and lovely. Have you been to the museum? What did you think? . . . . . . . . . . #bablands #coolthingsfortinylondoners #thingstodowithkids #toddlersofinstagram #toddlerlife #mummyblogger #parentblogger #londonblogger #londonmum #blogger #londonparents #londonmums #parentingtheshitoutoflife #london #londonmum #letthembelittle #londonunderground #visitlondon #babylondon #gunnersburypark #gunnersbury #acton #chiswick #westlondon #hounslow
It’s been on my list for more than two years but today was randomly the day we decided we absolutely must visit Mudchute Farm. So nice to breathe some fresh air and frolic in a field, even with the Canary Wharf towers in the background reminding us that we were still very much in the city. Animal-wise Mudchute has it all, from pot-bellied bigs and llamas to Pygmy goats and some proper comical white-crested Polish chickens. There’s a cafe, a tea van thing with hay-bale sofas and a playground that despite literally consisting of three swings was enough to keep both toddlers occupied for about an hour, so I’m not knocking it. Top day out, despite the thousands of stairs and the incident involving a lift door and a random bloke with a knife 😃 . . . . . . . . . . #bablands #coolthingsfortinylondoners #thingstodowithkids #toddlersofinstagram #toddlerlife #mummyblogger #parentblogger #londonblogger #londonmum #blogger #londonparents #londonmums #parentingtheshitoutoflife #london #londonmum #letthembelittle #londonunderground #visitlondon #babylondon #mudchute #mudchutefarm #docklands #londondocklands #isleofdogs #cityfarm
DID SOMEONE SAY ICE CREAM?!! Yes, Babu... like 75685 times every single day 😑😑😑 Obviously I don’t buy it for her every single day but it’s still basically one of her main food groups. Anyone been to Mamasons? It’s like the Palm Vaults of ice cream. I also really like Soft Serve Society and Milk Train but tbh Babu is most content with a Mr Whippy from a van - none of your purple ube shit (she did very begrudgingly eat this though 🙄). . . . . . . . . . . #bablands #coolthingsfortinylondoners #thingstodowithkids #toddlersofinstagram #toddlerlife #mummyblogger #parentblogger #londonblogger #londonmum #blogger #londonparents #londonmums #parentingtheshitoutoflife #london #londonmum #letthembelittle #londonunderground #visitlondon #babylondon #mamasonsdirtyicecream #icecream #kentishtown #nw5 #camden #camdentown

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