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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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Yesterday we revisited oldie-but-goodie The Bee’s Knees at @batterseaartscentre , the only permanent space I know that’s totally dedicated to under-5s. It’s also the closest you’ll likely ever get to a real-life Teletubbyland with its undulating hills, voice trumpets and colourful murals. We mostly went because I thought it would be a nice treat for the poor, neglected, dragged-around baby - who bloody LOVED hanging out with a gang of other under-1s - and I wasn’t expecting Babu to get that much out of it but if anything I think she had even more fun than Roma did, which was great since it’s mostly pitched at crawlers. BAC is such a fantastic facility with a brilliant cafe/bar serving loads of healthy kids’ meals, plus really friendly staff and a decent toilet/baby change scenario. Entry to The Bee’s Knees is £3 per child and it’s open for free play every morning and all day Wednesday. You can also enjoy all-day free play on the last Saturday of the month for BAC’s family day, when entry is free. The space hosts various under-5s classes during the week and is also available for party hire. You can find more info in a really old review on the site under Hangouts 🙃 . . . . . . . . . . #coolthingsfortinylondoners #thingstodowithkids #parentblogger #londonblogger #londonmum #londonparents #londonmums #parentingtheshitoutoflife #london #londonmum #thingstodoinlondon #thingstodowithkids #londonwithkids #londonmummy #timeoutlondon #mylondon #londonevents #battersea #sw11 #batterseaartscentre #thebeesknees
There’s a doughnut shop in Holborn with a giant ball pool and we’re there for it. I don’t really rate Doughnut Time doughnuts tbh. They’re like the doughnut equivalent of those milkshake bars that were popular circa 2006 where the idea of drinking an entire Snickers blended with ice cream sounded really appealing until you took the first sip and immediately wanted to vomit. I mean they’re no Crosstown, are they? But then again they’re still doughnuts and when they come with added toddler amusements to burn off all the sugar in I can let their horrible custard-oozing, Percy Pig-topped sickliness slide. Doughnut Time World also features sun loungers, a doughnut-shaped swing that doesn’t really swing, a claw machine you can’t lose on and copious Instawankers - me included, probably 🍩 . . . . . . . . . . #coolthingsfortinylondoners #thingstodowithkids #parentblogger #londonblogger #londonmum #londonparents #londonmums #parentingtheshitoutoflife #london #londonmum #thingstodoinlondon #thingstodowithkids #londonwithkids #londonmummy #timeoutlondon #mylondon #londonevents #doughnuttimeworld #doughnuttime
New dog, new house (I bloody wish). Babu’s the first kid who gets to take home the class soft toy “because I’m so sensible, Mummy” 🙃 He’s a husky called Kentish (honestly thought she said something else when she first told me his name) and we have to take him on all our adventures for the next three days and take lots of photos and add them to the class scrapbook, which obviously I’m overjoyed about because I get to be super extra. Yesterday he joined us on our third visit to the Other Spaces/Transformer exhibition at 180 The Strand and he was all over it. Such a good boy 🐶 . . . . . . . . . . #coolthingsfortinylondoners #thingstodowithkids #parentblogger #londonblogger #londonmum #londonparents #londonmums #parentingtheshitoutoflife #london #londonmum #thingstodoinlondon #thingstodowithkids #londonwithkids #londonmummy #timeoutlondon #mylondon #londonevents #180thestrand
Today felt VERY MONDAY but this girl is such a ray of bloody sunshine she made it ok. I’m so proud of the person she’s becoming - always so joyful and hilarious, not to mention incredibly kind and generous, and so curious about the world I find it hard to keep up (SO many questions 🤦‍♀️). Today she said she wanted to “go to a playground and maybe see some art” (lol), so we did. The patterned panels behind Babu make up a very small section of Wrapper, a gigantic permanent artwork by Jacqueline Poncelet that clads the outside of Edgware Road station. The pattern is supposed to represent various stories about the local area “like an enormous patchwork”, but it just reminds me of the TFL moquettes, which I kind of love. At the very least it brings a little bit of joy to an otherwise deeply grey and depressing pocket of London, in the same way Babu brightens up a shit, rainy Monday 🌈 . . . . . . . . . . #coolthingsfortinylondoners #thingstodowithkids #parentblogger #londonblogger #londonmum #londonparents #londonmums #parentingtheshitoutoflife #london #londonmum #thingstodoinlondon #thingstodowithkids #londonwithkids #londonmummy #timeoutlondon #mylondon #londonevents #wrapper #artontheunderground
Went back to @unitedvisualartists Other Spaces at @180thestore on Friday because we were at the Transport Museum and it was lyk right there. Also totally didn’t understand the whole there-are-two-exhibitions thing the first time round and spent the whole of this one feeling like a literal rabbit caught in the headlights... well not quite literal - I mean I’m not actually a rabbit - but I was definitely a bit bewildered. This time I managed to relax a bit, accept that we probably wouldn’t lose our children despite the almost-pitch-blackness and just enjoy the pretty lights. We didn’t bother doing Transformer again (the other exhibition) because it was late in the day, the kids were all hyped up on ridiculous ice cream from a stupid novelty ice cream parlour and we knew it was only a matter of time before they crashed and burned, but I’ll be honest we’ll probably be back down there dancing around the blue disco room by the end of the week. As an aside the baby really likes this exhibition. Beats baby sensory init. . . . . . . . . . . #coolthingsfortinylondoners #thingstodowithkids #parentblogger #londonblogger #londonmum #londonparents #londonmums #parentingtheshitoutoflife #london #londonmum #thingstodoinlondon #thingstodowithkids #londonwithkids #londonmummy #timeoutlondon #mylondon #londonevents #otherspaces #180thestrand #180thestore
One of our favourite children’s bookshops is now a boat and it’s so beautiful. Anyone who visited @tellingtalesshop ‘s Broadway Market Saturday store will know Daisy has the best taste when it comes to illustrated indie titles, and being able to browse the collection in this amazing floating shop makes the whole experience totally magical. This custom-built space includes these amazing reading nooks for kids to clamber through or curl up in, a little seating area and even a coffee machine 🙌 It’ll be moored by Victoria Park’s Canal Gate and open most weekends and some weekdays, plus they’ll be running an exciting programme of children’s workshops once they’re properly up and running. Daisy has done all this whilst looking after three kids - one of whom is a tiny baby - and is the nicest lady, so let’s all support her and buy lots of books from her please ♥️🚤 . . . . . . . . . . #coolthingsfortinylondoners #thingstodowithkids #parentblogger #londonblogger #londonmum #londonparents #londonmums #parentingtheshitoutoflife #london #londonmum #thingstodoinlondon #thingstodowithkids #londonwithkids #londonmummy #timeoutlondon #mylondon #londonevents #tellingtales #tellingtalesshop #kidsbookshop #kidsbooks #victoriapark #hackney
It’s basically impossible to get a three year old excited about @ltmuseum ‘s new Hidden London exhibition given its proximity to the dreaded All Aboard play zone but that’s not to say the museum hasn’t done its best, transforming this two-storey space into what amounts to a subterranean portal into the past, when the Tube network became a giant air raid shelter and Aldwych station was a thing. It’s all very Goodnight Sweetheart, and super interesting if you’re into local history or London Underground geekery (🤓🙋‍♀️) but sadly as far as our toddlers were concerned this dimly lit underworld had nothing on its brightly coloured next door neighbour and in the end there just didn’t wasn’t enough to keep them distracted for longer than about 10 minutes before we succumbed to the bloody Thames Nipper. Personally I loved this exhibition and was proper bitter we had to basically run through it since the kids were so eager to get it over with. If you love anything to do with the war or creepy abandoned stuff you’ll be all over this - just try and bring an extra adult if you suspect your kids might try and do a runner, then you’re free to hang back and explore/read everything in peace. Hidden London: The Exhibition is now open and included in the usual LTM ticket price. . . . . . . . . . . #coolthingsfortinylondoners #thingstodowithkids #parentblogger #londonblogger #londonmum #londonparents #londonmums #parentingtheshitoutoflife #london #londonmum #thingstodoinlondon #thingstodowithkids #londonwithkids #londonmummy #timeoutlondon #mylondon #londonevents #londontransportmuseum #coventgarden #hiddenlondon #hiddenlondonexhibition
Look everyone 👀 it’s a SHOP REVIEW. Yaaaay. Everyone loves a shop review! Except they really don’t. In fact no post, be it on my blog or my Instagram, is EVER as wildly unsuccessful, unliked and unread as a shop review, but 🤷‍♀️ who cares (um... no one). This shop is nice, but not as nice as it’s next door neighbour Mini Rodini. That’s the short version of my review - the long version is up on the new-look site right now! Don’t all rush to read it 😬🔗👆 . . . . . . . . . . #coolthingsfortinylondoners #thingstodowithkids #parentblogger #londonblogger #londonmum #londonparents #londonmums #parentingtheshitoutoflife #london #londonmum #thingstodoinlondon #thingstodowithkids #londonwithkids #londonmummy #timeoutlondon #mylondon #londonevents #nottinghill #westbournegrove #westlondon #bonton
Welcome to Three Things Thursday, your weekly “edit” (and definitely not something I just copied and pasted from this month’s 20 Things roundup) of the most promising under-5s-friendly things happening on the coming weekend. This week I’m getting excited about @ltmuseum ’s immersive Hidden London exhibition, which opens this Friday. Immerse yourself in an ‘abandoned’ Tube station underworld, exploring recreations of Churchill’s secret dining room and Aldwych’s abandoned ticket hall. Then on Saturday head to @halfmoon_theatre for @dqst_uk Drag Queen Story Time with @the.nightbus . Listen to readings from I’m a Girl by Yasmeen Ismail and They She He Me by Maya Christina Gonzalez and Matthew SG, before joining in with a play session. And if you’re not completely knackered by Sunday then @tate Modern is running a Discarded Objects Make Session for ages 3+ , inspired by Emily Rand’s book The House Full of Stuff. Join Emily to create a collage using images of junk objects, or dream up a new invention like a mouse trampoline. Enjoy ♥️ . . . . . . . . . . #timeoutlondon #londonparents #london #thingstodoinlondon #thatsdarling #londonwithkids #londonkids #londonweekend #lovelondon #londonlife #londonist #londonenthusiast #londoner #londondiaries #londonblogger #londonpop
In the last few weeks we’ve eaten art (Song Dong at @pacegallery ), smelt art (Colony Sound at @marlborough_gallery ), listened to art (Takis at @tate ), crawled around on art (Dangdai Yishu at @lisson_gallery ) and climbed inside art (Antony Gormley at @royalacademyarts ). Now at @lazinc you can actually watch art being created with the gallery’s new(ish) Watch This Space exhibition, which has transformed the gallery into an open studio where more than 25 artists are creating site-specific works over the course of three months, sharing their processes as they go. It’s an exciting project that’s set to run until the 21st of December, so you can pop in as many times as you like before then and see how it’s coming along. So brilliant! Thanks to @withmymindonmymonet for posting the picture that made me want to visit the first time and @alison___ching for posting the one that made me want to visit again 😀 . . . . . . . . . #coolthingsfortinylondoners #thingstodowithkids #parentblogger #londonblogger #londonmum #londonparents #londonmums #parentingtheshitoutoflife #london #londonmum #thingstodoinlondon #thingstodowithkids #londonwithkids #londonmummy #timeoutlondon #mylondon #londonevents
I wasn’t kidding when I said I’d been stockpiling reviews like some kind of hamster with a compulsive hoarding problem. @florencemuseum was one of our two* favourite museum trips of the summer thanks to its high concentration of activities and brilliant temporary exhibition. A lot of it probably went completely over our toddlers’ heads and Babu did come home and tell her dad we’d been to a “museum about doctors” 🤦‍♀️ but they loved it regardless and I really can’t recommend it enough. Full review now up on the site 👆 * But what was the other one? 🤔 . . . . . . . . . . #coolthingsfortinylondoners #thingstodowithkids #parentblogger #londonblogger #londonmum #londonparents #londonmums #parentingtheshitoutoflife #london #londonmum #thingstodoinlondon #thingstodowithkids #londonwithkids #londonmummy #timeoutlondon #mylondon #londonevents #londonplayground #florencenightingalemuseum #florencenightingale
Mint Street playground is admittedly kind of pants but it does give good Shard. To the left of the photo (out of shot) is a brilliant-looking but sadly fenced-off treehouse climbing structure that’s due to be demolished - hopefully to be replaced by something as good/better, but really who knows. This little park sits next door to a bigger, better (it was revamped a year ago at a cost of £2.4m) adventure playground that’s aimed at ages 8+ and was swarming with big kids when we arrived at school chuck-out time, but they do apparently run regular 0-5s sessions (haven’t figured out when though - anyone know?). The smaller playground currently offers a slide, trampolines, a tyre swing and one solitary older kids’ swing - nothing groundbreaking but it’s a 10-minute walk from Tate Modern, which increases it draw tenfold. Thanks to @neversitstilluk for this one ♥️ . . . . . . . . . . #coolthingsfortinylondoners #thingstodowithkids #parentblogger #londonblogger #londonmum #londonparents #londonmums #parentingtheshitoutoflife #london #londonmum #thingstodoinlondon #thingstodowithkids #londonwithkids #londonmummy #timeoutlondon #mylondon #londonevents #londonplayground #tatemodern #bankside #mintstreetpark
Thwarted by Monday closures again 👎 Except this time we were just trying to have a low-key lunch with a friend in Hackney and the cafe we wanted to go to is closed on Mondays ☹️ “Monday is cancelled”, as Babu said. Incidentally she’s decided Hackney Central is “MY FAVOURITE PLACE IN THE WORLD”, for some reason. She has a point I guess - it’s home to @palmvaults , @_cafemiami , @conservatory_archives , Vicky Park, London Fields, the brilliant Hey Baby! playgroup and the even better Romp and Roll dance class. Do you live in Hackney? What are your favourite local gems? . . . . . . . . . . #coolthingsfortinylondoners #thingstodowithkids #parentblogger #londonblogger #londonmum #londonparents #londonmums #parentingtheshitoutoflife #london #londonmum #thingstodoinlondon #thingstodowithkids #londonwithkids #londonmummy #timeoutlondon #mylondon #londonevents #hackney #eastlondon #e8 #e9 #wellstreet
Life imitates art, or something. You don’t actually need a ticket for this, despite it being sold out last week on eventbrite, and the gallery staff were some of the nicest I’ve come across and actually rushed to help me up the steps with the buggy. I don’t know much about KAWS, except that he did a really good collab with Uniqlo, but I’m into him. Blackout is on at @skarstedtgallery until 9th of November. . . . . . . . . . #coolthingsfortinylondoners #thingstodowithkids #parentblogger #londonblogger #londonmum #londonparents #londonmums #parentingtheshitoutoflife #london #londonmum #thingstodoinlondon #thingstodowithkids #londonwithkids #londonmummy #timeoutlondon #mylondon #londonevents #kaws #mayfair
The heartbreakingly beautiful In Memoriam installation - part of @fordjourstudio ’s solo exhibition at @_joshlilley gallery in Fitzrovia. We were heading that way yesterday anyway because I fancied a fairly local day bumming around central and then one of my favourites @bigfatsatsuma posted about this exhibition and it felt like it was meant to be. We were so warmly welcomed by the gallery staff and the artist, who was in town despite being based in NYC, and this installation was just everything. Fordjour made the work in memory of a childhood friend whose funeral he was unable to attend due to his being thousands of miles away at the time, but then he heard the African Methodist hymn “Laksha”, which is on loop inside the installation, and was overcome with emotion. It’s such an affecting piece it warmed even my cold, dead heart, and I spent last night in bed listening to the hymn on repeat. Visiting this also meant we got to redo Jonathan Baldock’s (now sadly departed) bed, which Babu is obsessed with, plus the condom playground, but maybe the less said about that the better 😬 Derek Fordjour’s The House Always Wins is on until the 16th of November. . . . . . . . . . #coolthingsfortinylondoners #thingstodowithkids #parentblogger #londonblogger #londonmum #londonparents #londonmums #parentingtheshitoutoflife #london #londonmum #thingstodoinlondon #thingstodowithkids #londonwithkids #londonmummy #timeoutlondon #mylondon #londonevents #derekfordjour
I was so excited to see the new @tate Turbine Hall commission today I actually dreamt about it last night. Not only has Kara Walker created something visually stunning in Fons Americanus, a 13m-tall fountain that’s been crafted from coated, recyclable cork, wood and metal to give the appearance of marble; she’s created a restful, contemplative spot that actually makes you stop and think, by on first glance resembling any other baroque monument (it’s modelled on the Queen Victoria Memorial in front of Buckingham Palace) but on closer inspection revealing ugly truths about the history of the British Empire. It really is something and it’s got me obsessing about the other 19 Turbine Hall commissions and wishing I could go back in time and experience them all. Who remembers Eliasson’s Sun? Salcedo’s crack? Holler’s slides? Which was your favourite? . . . . . . . . . . #coolthingsfortinylondoners #thingstodowithkids #parentblogger #londonblogger #londonmum #londonparents #londonmums #parentingtheshitoutoflife #london #londonmum #thingstodoinlondon #thingstodowithkids #londonwithkids #londonmummy #timeoutlondon #mylondon #londonevents #tatemodern #turbinehall #karawalker
Ideally I’d get into the habit of posting my top three picks for the weekend every Friday(/Thursday?), because it’s not like I don’t have the time now... although Roma’s not napping this week since there’s a guy loudly drilling the shit out of our roof terrace at the moment so that’s great 👍 Anywaaaay, have some things: 1. Apple Weekend is on at @fentonhousent in Hampstead on Saturday and Sunday. Expect cocktails and hot food, plus kids' activities including badge making, apple juicing and giant lawn games. 2. @zabludowicz_collection is offering two brilliant kids’ activities this weekend. On Saturday head to Frieze Sculpture in Regent’s Park for crafts with artist @rosemaryjane7 , and on Sunday pop along to the gallery with your baby for a special tour of the new Shana Moulton exhibition with artist Lucy Stein and her daughter. 3. @barbicancentre is screening the brilliant Mary and the Witch’s Flower as part of its Family Film Club on Saturday. Get there early for a special show and tell with feminist film activist So Mayer. Have a good one guys ♥️ . . . . . . . . . . #coolthingsfortinylondoners #thingstodowithkids #parentblogger #londonblogger #londonmum #londonparents #londonmums #parentingtheshitoutoflife #london #londonmum #thingstodoinlondon #thingstodowithkids #londonwithkids #londonmummy #timeoutlondon #mylondon #londonevents
I’ve developed a weird habit of writing reviews and then not publishing them, as if I’m a dormouse saving up nuts for winter. I have zero recollection of when we did the Grow Wild under-5s adventure playground session in Lloyd Park in Walthamstow (July??) but I do remember how brilliant it was and thankfully it’s open all year round, unlike a couple of other things I’ve reviewed and not published that only happen in the summer 🤦‍♀️ Grow Wild is joyful, outdoorsy fun in a really cool playground setting - perfect for adventurous kids - and the review is up on the site now 👍 . . . . . . . . . . #coolthingsfortinylondoners #thingstodowithkids #parentblogger #londonblogger #londonmum #londonparents #londonmums #parentingtheshitoutoflife #london #londonmum #thingstodoinlondon #thingstodowithkids #londonwithkids #londonmummy #timeoutlondon #mylondon #londonevents #e17 #walthamstow #lloydpark #growwild
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