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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 Babu and Roro as they seek out London’s coolest kids’ shops, best child-friendly hangouts and activities that won’t make mummy want to gauge her eyes out with a weaning spoon.

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Bablands on Instagram

I’m mad stressed at the moment so I couldn’t believe my luck when @sharkyandgeorgeevents invited the girls to their kids’ club at @oldspitalfieldsmarket last weekend. I wasn’t keen on leaving either of them with people they didn’t know well when they were very little, but I’m a lot happier about it these days, especially since I find this particular age combination pretty tough going at the best of times 🙃 Babu was a bit nervous when we got there but they both settled in pretty quickly when they realised how much more fun they were going to have with these guys than with stresshead Mummy. I felt a million times better at collection than at drop off having taken three heavenly hours for myself (tbf I just sat in a cafe doing some work, but still), and they’d had the best time making snow globes, writing Christmas lists and turning each other into snowmen with bog roll ⛄️ Thanks for - at least temporarily - saving my sanity @sharkyandgeorgeevents 🙌
20 awesome things to do with your little Londoners in December is now live, packed with the very best things - free and paid, Christmassy and not so Christmassy - happening in the capital next month. Looking for the grottoes, light shows, ice rinks etc.? They have their own ever-growing festive post (currently with 40 activities), and links to both are in my bio. Enjoy!
Have you been to Lucy Sparrow AKA @sewyoursoul ‘s Felt ‘R’ Us Christmas pop up at @brunswicklondon yet? If not, why not?! It’s Lucy’s biggest store yet, featuring some of her greatest felty hits, including items from the Bourdon Street Chemist at @lyndsey_ingram and installations such as The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee Lunch from Buckingham Palace, felt operating theatre Triple Art Bypass from Context Art Fair in Miami and the police car from The Billion Dollar Robbery at Saatchi, as well as some very well decorated Christmas trees. Speaking of which, tree decorations are £10 each and they’re so cute it’s faintly ridiculous. You can visit Felt ‘R’ Us and get your decs and gifts right up until the 24th of December, and go and see Lucy’s felt Christmas tree for @meatgram round the corner while you’re there. Free to visit, no need to book (but take your wallet because I guarantee you’ll want to buy something).
Seven Romas and seven Lilys 🥲 I’d seen a few photos from @twist_museum before we went and was fully expecting a Selfie Factory-type setup. While it is obviously designed to be Instagrammed and TikToked to death, it does have a bit more of an exhibition feel, with explanations for each piece or room and more of a structured layout. That said, it’s very much an experience rather than a ‘museum’. Tickets start at £19.50 for adults and £18.50 for ages 3+ which is frankly insane for what it is, and massively prohibitive for families (for comparison, Camera Obscura in Edinburgh is five times bigger and the same price, only it’s free for under-5s). While I’d definitely revisit exhibitions like Frameless (which can also presumably be updated since it’s essentially a bunch of screens), once you’ve done this one you’ve kind of done it, and I did wonder about its longevity and how they’d refresh this when it gets tired since the optical illusion theme is fairly limited. Don’t get me wrong, there are some really great bits. We loved the Ames room and the bit that makes you look like you’re swimming with dolphins, and I think overall the girls really enjoyed it when they weren’t trying to kill each other, but still, £40 for an hour’s entertainment is nuts.
We’re on a train on the way back from @lightopiafestival and Babu just told me that it has been “jokes”, so I’ll take that. We’ve been to a few light shows now and this one definitely feels like the big one. It’s dominated by big lantern sculptures like this one, but I was particularly impressed by the projected display over the water (I’m going to post a reel when I get round to it 🙃), and the floodlighting around the dinosaurs is always beautiful. Tickets start from £19.50 for adults and 0-2s go free.
Big Torvill and Dean energy at SKATE @somersethouse yesterday. Always feel really lucky to be invited to London’s prettiest rink, even if ice skating scares the shit out of me (I did skate! I promise 🙃). SKATE officially opens this Wednesday the 16th. Ticket prices are date-dependent. Kids are welcome and skating aids are available at no extra cost for kids ages 8 and under. Skates are available from a kid’s size 6 upwards. A 10% discount will be applied at the checkout for family groups.
Heading out to Brentford after a long week did not feel like the one at 5pm last night, but @enchantedsyon was well worth the trek (even if we didn’t get back until after 10 🥲). Arranged around Syon Park lake, this, the OG of Christmas light trails, is is long enough that it feels like a meaty family activity but not so long that the kids get bored and knackered. There were lots of effects we hadn’t seen on other trails, from quirky illuminated dioramas to coloured smoke machines - and even an indoor light show set to the Riverdance theme, which made us all weirdly joyful 😂 Enchanted Woodland is only on for the next three weekends - Friday to Sunday - ending on the 27th, so get your skates on if you fancy it. Tickets cost from £10 for adults and £7.50 for kids. Reel incoming.
If you only do one thing this week, get yourself over to Archway and check out the latest group show from the geniuses at @badartpresents - Touch Me Baby. This hotly awaited exhibition has got it all: a swing, boob beanbags, a bum fountain, endless squishy things and - the best bit - it’s all totally touchable, sticking two fingers up to the last two and a half years of mask-wearing, hand-sanitising, social-distancing misery. There’s no need to book but be quick - it’s only on until Sunday.
Serving Mitchell Brother realness at the opening of Club Curling at @coaldropsyard yesterday. Now I’ll admit I’m crap at literally all sports, but curling is HARD 🥌 The vibe is similar to bowling, only curling stones are heavier than bowling balls and you’re going for a sliding rather than throwing action. Needless to say it’s not the one for three year olds (apparently I learnt nothing from last year’s attempt), but under-12s do go free so provided you don’t take it too seriously you can still have a game of sorts. Personally I’d stick it on the date-night list, especially since there’s a rink-side bar serving sugar-rimmed hot toddies and mulled wines, as well as boozy hot chocolates. Also check out the stewards’ outfits this year - they’re pink and marshmallowy and amazing. Adult tickets are £7 each and you can book via the Kings Cross website (they do accept walk-ups too). On until the 26th of February.
An eerily quiet The Garden @sciencemuseum - especially dead for a Saturday. This was one of the first places I took Babu when we embarked on our Bablands journey six years ago, and at nearly seven she’s still fairly into it. It’s actually quite a good play space, if a bit poky given the size of the museum, with a water-play area, giant LEGO building bricks, a sensory zone with interactives and dress up, a den, climbing apparatus with pulleys, and a few loose bits including wheelbarrows. I’ve always been so confused by the “for ages 3-6” at the entrance when so much of it is very obviously ideal for older babies and toddlers. I remember being worried when Babu was about 12 months that she wouldn’t be allowed in, which seems hilarious now but as a new mum this is the sort of stuff you get anxious about. We also checked out the new Technicians: David Sainsbury gallery (designed for older kids and teens) while we were here, and all agreed it was really cool. More on that soon 👀
I have a habit of relegating my reels to their own tab away from my carefully curated main feed 🥴 buttt I’ve had SO many messages asking what that pub with the slide was called and if they imagined it. Well, you didn’t. It’s Brewdog Waterloo. It’s got a curly wurly slide, indoor ice cream truck, mini bowling alley, kids’ ‘hoppy meals’ and aaaaall the booze. Unfortunately the owner sounds absolutely grotesque (look it up). Time to plan our own megapub/indoor playground? If so I want whoever designed Neobio in Shenzhen to do it (look that up too 🙃).
They had so much fun playing in the lake that had formed at the Lordship Rec skatepark - that is until one of them fell in face first 😬 We’ve been to this park a few times and I really like it. The playground isn’t brilliant but Ro’s enjoyed playing in it before and the park is also home to an amazing miniature traffic area where kids can practice cycling and scooting with a realistic road infrastructure, minus the cars. @wheelytots run cycling sessions for little ones there on Saturdays, and there’s also a BMX track in another park of the park. I seem to remember you can also buy food for the ducks in the cafe next to the playground. Any other local intel very welcome! Also how pretty is this @camillewalala decorated stage? 😍
It was fun to see the Elmer & Friends: the Colourful World of David McKee exhibition at @hornimanmuseumgardens - three years after we saw it at @7stories in Newcastle, but it definitely suited the girls better when they were 9 months and 3 than now, with Babu at 6 having pretty much outgrown it (and Roma being too contrary to let me dress her up in silly hats like I did when she was a baby). I do love exhibitions like this with lots of different activity stations. This one has a well-stocked dressing up area with distortion mirrors, a reading area with an armchair, a drawing table, interactives including things to smell, and this magnetic Elmer wall puzzle. We spent about an hour in here but they were getting a bit bored by the end. I wouldn’t travel specially unless you child particularly loves Elmer or other David McKee characters, but that said I always love a day out at the Horniman and there are plenty of free-to-access galleries plus the aquarium, butterfly house, beautiful gardens, animal walkthrough and nice cafe. This exhibition is on until the 16th of April. Tickets cost £5 per adult and £2.50 per child.
New book: An Opinionated Guide to Vegan London (second edition) - an updated version of the original by the brilliant @shisodelicious . Had a horrible time eating my way around some of London’s best vegan and vegan-friendly restaurants but somebody has to do it I guess. Thanks to @christinarosebrown @maddypickard and my Mum for being excellent dinner dates, and to @hoxtonminipress and my editor Octavia for being the best people in the world to work with. Also this is definitely my favourite cover yet 💖❤️ I’ve always found the first edition super handy when I’m looking for somewhere new to try, and I hope this one is useful too. Please consider picking one up if you’re vegan or enjoy vegan food. Link to pre-orders in my bio 🙏
Roma living her best life at the excellent @cabababarave Halloween Special last week 👻 (Cabababarave = cabaret + babies + a rave, geddit?). I’ve been dying to take at least one of my kids to a Cabababarave since they started a few months ago, but they’re usually targeted at parents and carers with 0-2s. So when owners Lizzie and Gemma got in touch to ask if we’d like to go to their whole-family event at @bigpennysocial in Walthamstow I was like OH, GO ON THEN. The performers were jaw-droppingly amazing and had the girls absolutely mesmerised, from Bride-of-Frankenstein burlesque dancer @bambiblueofficial to flying vampire @lucius_circus , all followed by a no-holds-barred family rave featuring bubbles, glow sticks and big tunes. WHAT MORE DO YOU WANT, A BAR? Ok, well there’s one of those too. Cabababa’s next two gigs are both Christmas specials - one at Big Penny Social and one at Lewisham’s Fox & Firkin - and tickets are available now via cabababarave.com! Get ‘em before they go 🤶
Got time to pop to Peckham between now and Saturday? Do it. Ghost Show: The Haunted House is silly, fun and only a little bit scary (Roma’s mood today was much more terrifying). Explore a specially made haunted house filled with spooky art, then head round the corner to Peckham Levels for tarmac play area fun on floor 5/6 (we spent two hours running around in there today and Roma was asleep within a minute of me putting her to bed tonight 😴). No need to book Ghost Show, just get yourself down there before Sunday.
We visited the @sciencemuseum Science Fiction: Voyage to the Edge of Imagination exhibition on opening night at the beginning of October but I was so underwhelmed it’s taken me until now to post about it 🥴 My initial concern was that because it’s aimed at older kids (I think the website originally said 8+ but I can’t find any mention now), it might be a bit over Babu’s head but that wasn’t really the problem. I think the issue is that the show is more ambitious than it really has the resources for. Is it an immersive adventure, a straight exhibition of movie props or a comment on the state of the planet? Well, it’s kind of all three but doesn’t ever really fully explore any of them deeply enough to be particularly stimulating or informative. A real shame as it starts off so promisingly with a simulated flight (you don’t actually move but it’s quite exciting anyway) and yet never really gets going. There are some cool props and costumes on display (I’m a big sci-fi geek and Babu’s seen quite a lot of the films they appeared in, so that was exciting), but the Holly-from-Red-Dwarf-style ship’s computer was kind of annoying, it was much less immersive than promised and the climate-change stuff felt like a bit of an afterthought. In fact we both went “was that it?” when we got to the end, and both got much more excited about the shop with the Back to the Future Playmobil than any part of the exhibition. On the plus side there’s a new interactive gallery opening at the Museum on Thursday (discovered by @thehardlifeoflilyandviolet ), although it’s recommended for ages 11+. We’ll investigate anyway. Tickets for the Sci-Fi exhibition are £20 for adults, free for ages 7 and under, and £18 for 8-16s.
20 things to do in London with kids in November is now live! I’ve hand-picked the weirdest, most wonderful things to do before they crack open their advent calendars (and, in case you *are* already thinking about Christmas, I’ve also put together a separate festive roundup and am updating it as new events are announced). Links to both via the link in my bio. Have fun 🙃

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