Skip to content

For Tiny Londoners & Their Adults

  • Home
  • London Guide
    • North London
    • Central London
    • East London
    • South London
    • West London
    • Shops
    • Hangouts
    • Activities
    • Current Events
    • Past Events
  • Europe Guide
    • Europe
  • Out-of-Town Guide
    • Out of town
  • Magazine
    • Monthly Round-Up
    • Q&As
    • Local Parents
    • Seven Things
    • Blog
  • About
  • Contact

Magazine

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook

Like this:

Like Loading...

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.

Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Most Popular

  • 100 cool things to do with babies and toddlers in London
    100 cool things to do with babies and toddlers in London
  • Safely and quickly heat your tiniest Londoner's milk with Milkymeter
    Safely and quickly heat your tiniest Londoner's milk with Milkymeter
  • A list of London play fountains and splash pads by area
    A list of London play fountains and splash pads by area
  • The Bablands guide to the summer holidays
    The Bablands guide to the summer holidays
  • Twenty awesome things to see and do with your little Londoner in July 2019
    Twenty awesome things to see and do with your little Londoner in July 2019
  • Kick back in the Cubroom at Bear & Wolf, North London's coolest play cafe
    Kick back in the Cubroom at Bear & Wolf, North London's coolest play cafe
  • Seven of the coolest independent children's shops in London
    Seven of the coolest independent children's shops in London
  • Seven London cafes with decent-sized play areas
    Seven London cafes with decent-sized play areas
  • Take a break from shopping at Westfield's questionably named Playworld
    Take a break from shopping at Westfield's questionably named Playworld

Bablands on Instagram

I’m getting so excited about @museumchildhood ’s redevelopment, which promises to transform MoC into a “world-leading museum of design and creativity for children, families and young people”, featuring an interactive outdoor landscape, an optical installation around a spiral staircase, a new library and FOUR new galleries. Sounds great, hey? I love this museum but I have to say it is starting to feel a little bit tired, and the layout has never made much sense to me. The new-look MoC won’t actually be ready until 2022, but in the meantime you and your little people can head to the museum’s new Open Studio (pictured) to get involved with the redevelopment, chat to staff about what you’d like to see in the new museum, try out new ideas, and play and experiment as a family. There are also some pretty brilliant books on play-space design in there that me and @kerri_and_sprog were drooling over, because we live for that shit 🤤 . . . . . . . . . . #toohottoocoldjustright #milkymeter #bablands #coolthingsfortinylondoners #thingstodowithkids #toddlersofinstagram #toddlerlife #mummyblogger #parentblogger #londonblogger #londonmum #blogger #londonparents #londonmums #parentingtheshitoutoflife #london #londonmum #letthembelittle #museumofchildhood #bethnalgreen
Somehow we managed to spend five hours at the @museumchildhood Festival of Play today, although I think about an hour of that was spent waiting for the lift 😕 We built dens, made our own musical instruments, created upcycled robots and went to the toilet oh I dunno, A BILLION times. The whole thing is on again tomorrow and there’s loads of stuff for under-5s (and older ones) to get involved with, from sensory play for babies to virtual and augmented reality play, Montessori-inspired outdoor games and even a time telephone that lets you talk to children from the past. Drop in any time from 11-4.30 to get involved! . . . . . . . . . . #toohottoocoldjustright #milkymeter #bablands #coolthingsfortinylondoners #thingstodowithkids #toddlersofinstagram #toddlerlife #mummyblogger #parentblogger #londonblogger #londonmum #blogger #londonparents #londonmums #parentingtheshitoutoflife #london #londonmum #letthembelittle #museumofchildhood #thingstodoinlondon #whatsoninlondon
#AD Compared with my breastfeeding* disaster, bottle-feeding feels like a walk in the park but it’s still an absolute bloody faff - particularly getting the milk the right temperature, which always feels like some kind of Goldilocks-and-the-Three-Bears porridgy situation. If you’ve been following my stories lately you’ll know all about the chronically unhappy baby and her many digestive woes, which have been hard enough to deal with without the added stress of standing over the sink willing the tap to cool her milk faster while she screams bloody murder. So when @milkymeteruk contacted me a couple of months ago asking if I wanted to try out their magical microwaveable milk-hotness-measuring stick (not its actual name), which promised to get Roma’s milk to the perfect temperature within seconds, I was like okay, what’s the catch? Well - I’ve got to be honest - the catch is that I don’t carry a pocket microwave around with me and full-size microwaves aren’t always that easy to come by when we’re out and about 😬 BUT, Milky Meter has enabled us to prep and refrigerate all of Roma’s bottles for home consumption and then heat them up in about 10 seconds (versus 10 minutes of bawling while I desperately sing Boogie Woogie Washer Woman in a fruitless attempt to placate her while I cool the bottle down enough so that it won’t melt her face off), which has lowered my stress levels like you WOULD NOT BELIEVE. You can read all about how the Milky Meter works and our experience with it on the blog - link in bio 👆 *Milky Meter can also be used to heat expressed breast milk AND puréed baby food 👍 . . . . . . . . . . #toohottoocoldjustright #milkymeter #bablands #coolthingsfortinylondoners #thingstodowithkids #toddlersofinstagram #toddlerlife #mummyblogger #parentblogger #londonblogger #londonmum #blogger #londonparents #londonmums #parentingtheshitoutoflife #london #londonmum #letthembelittle
When I said I’d be spamming you with @studioolafureliasson @Tate pics for the foreseeable I was fully committed. The rain room (real name Beauty) was probably the girls’ favourite and they spent a good 15 mins in here laughing, shrieking and frolicking around in the mist. Beware though, it’s basically that really fine rain you think you won’t need a brolly in then you get completely soaked and your hair does a Monica in Barbados. Maybe take a towel 👍 . . . . . . . . . . #bablands #coolthingsfortinylondoners #thingstodowithkids #toddlersofinstagram #toddlerlife #mummyblogger #parentblogger #londonblogger #londonmum #blogger #londonparents #londonmums #parentingtheshitoutoflife #london #londonmum #letthembelittle #thingstodoinlondon #olafureliasson #tatemodern #inreallife
On a right comedown from this this morning and I’m pretty sure I dreamt about it. We’ll definitely have to make a return visit, and I have to say it’s one of the first exhibitions I actually want to return to WITH the kids. It’s so immersive it just sort of lends itself to toting a couple of toddlers around with you, and I don’t think I would have enjoyed it half as much without these two weirdos prancing around winding each other up as we worked our way around it 👩‍❤️‍👩 . . . . . . . . #bablands #coolthingsfortinylondoners #thingstodowithkids #toddlersofinstagram #toddlerlife #mummyblogger #parentblogger #londonblogger #londonmum #blogger #londonparents #londonmums #parentingtheshitoutoflife #london #londonmum #letthembelittle #thingstodoinlondon #olafureliasson #tatemodern #inreallife
@studioolafureliasson is my new boyfriend. Seriously, all the people saying this exhibition is amazing aren’t bigging it up enough. It’s everything I dreamed of and more, especially the fog tunnel (pictured), which felt like we were in actual heaven - genuinely, I was expecting everyone to totally lose their shit in there but in reality it was so chilled I could just hang out there for a whole day and call it a spa experience. It’s a big (we were there for three hours), properly interactive (the girls were obsessed with the rain room and the construction table at the end was amazing), fun-for-all-ages complete and utter bloody JOY and I’m there for it. There will be In Real Life spam for days starting NOW. . . . . . . . . . #bablands #coolthingsfortinylondoners #thingstodowithkids #toddlersofinstagram #toddlerlife #mummyblogger #parentblogger #londonblogger #londonmum #blogger #londonparents #londonmums #parentingtheshitoutoflife #london #londonmum #letthembelittle #thingstodoinlondon #olafureliasson #tatemodern #inreallife
Hiii 👋 Here we all are having a lovely day at @hamptoncourtpalace , the scene of some of my favourite childhood memories. We had a fascinating wander around Henry VIII’s state rooms and kitchens, enjoyed a yummy lunch in the cafe and got ridiculously lost in the 300-year-old maze (no thanks to Babu who was in charge for some reason). But - and it’s a big but - the main reason we got up at 6am, trekked 13 miles, and spent nearly £50 on tickets and £30 on travel was to see the much-hyped Magic Garden.... and it was bloody closed for maintenance, with no warning whatsoever when I booked our tickets online and just a “thanks for your understanding” on the door 😭😭😭😭 So yeah that basically shat all over our day. Thankfully there was another playground nearby (obviously nowhere near as good, but Babu will take whatever she can get when it comes to playgrounds) but it was still SO DISAPPOINTING 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭 ..... Ok I’m over it (I’m not 😭). . . . . . . . . . #bablands #coolthingsfortinylondoners #thingstodowithkids #toddlersofinstagram #toddlerlife #mummyblogger #parentblogger #londonblogger #londonmum #blogger #londonparents #londonmums #parentingtheshitoutoflife #london #londonmum #letthembelittle #thingstodoinlondon #hamptoncourt #hamptoncourtpalace #eastmolesey
Lush play house, fully stocked mud kitchen, plenty of good hiding places for a game of hide and seek and a whole bunch of vintage Fisher Price toys. What more could you want from a bakery?* *they also sell cake . . . . . . . . . #bablands #coolthingsfortinylondoners #thingstodowithkids #toddlersofinstagram #toddlerlife #mummyblogger #parentblogger #londonblogger #londonmum #blogger #londonparents #londonmums #parentingtheshitoutoflife #london #londonmum #letthembelittle #thingstodoinlondon #forestgate #e7
Never gets so much as a speck of dirt on her when I send her to messy play in cacky old Nutmeg by Morrisons with holes in but liberally smears herself with handfuls of paint when she’s wearing her nice clothes and knows I haven’t brought any spares 👍 Loved the @wxstreetparty today - loads of arty fun including teepee making, sculpture doodling, live installations and a free-flow painting situation that resulted in this disaster. Probably loads of other stuff too but we were only there a couple of hours. Definitely not your average street party, and it’s back tomorrow from 12 🥳 . . . . . . . . . #bablands #coolthingsfortinylondoners #thingstodowithkids #toddlersofinstagram #toddlerlife #mummyblogger #parentblogger #londonblogger #londonmum #blogger #londonparents #londonmums #parentingtheshitoutoflife #london #londonmum #letthembelittle #thingstodoinlondon #whitecrossstreet #whitecrossstreetparty #clerkenwell #centrallondon #shoreditch #hoxton #oldstreet
I was so gutted when the beautiful @the_corner_house play cafe in Brook Green closed at the end of last year. It was one of the nicer ones and we always popped in when we were in the area, which admittedly wasn’t very often but hey. Anyway, a few months ago we heard that a brand new family cafe was opening in West London - this time on Chiswick High Road. It’s always lovely when a fancy new play cafe opens and @theparenthood_uk really is fancy, with an amazing menu and top-of-the-range play equipment, plus a genuinely exciting programme of classes and activities for everyone. Head to the blog for the full review. Link up here ☝️ . . . . . . . . . . #bablands #coolthingsfortinylondoners #thingstodowithkids #toddlersofinstagram #toddlerlife #mummyblogger #parentblogger #londonblogger #londonmum #blogger #londonparents #londonmums #parentingtheshitoutoflife #london #londonmum #letthembelittle #thingstodoinlondon #chiswick #chiswickmums #westlondonmums #westlondon #chiswickhighroad
Having a bumming around the flat kind of a morning because Bab Dad’s off and then we’ve got someone from Babu’s new nursery coming over to meet her 😬 She’ll be going every day from September - only three hours a day but it still feels like the end of an era. She’s definitely ready though; she’s such a sociable little bean and I’ve been hearing great things about the school she’s going to so I’m really excited for her and looking forward to having some one-on-one time with the bebe and maybe doing some freelancing if she lets me. In the meantime I’m excited about having the whole of the summer together and there’s so much great stuff happening in the next eight weeks. I’ve put together a little guide for the brilliant @wearetoydrop , who’s just relaunched as an online magazine. The guide is for all ages up to teens so there’s something for everyone in there, be it yoga under the moon or a sleepover on an Elizabethan galleon ship. Link in bio ☝️ Enjoy! . . . . . . . . . . #bablands #coolthingsfortinylondoners #thingstodowithkids #toddlersofinstagram #toddlerlife #mummyblogger #parentblogger #londonblogger #londonmum #blogger #londonparents #londonmums #parentingtheshitoutoflife #london #londonmum #letthembelittle #thingstodoinlondon
I don’t know quite what I was expecting from the London Museum of Water & Steam and I really wanted to be able to say it’s amazing because it’s small and 90% volunteer-run but in all honesty I was a little bit disappointed. Maybe I thought it would be more interactive than it was (beyond being able to pull some levers and turn a few wheels there isn’t a huge amount to do) and you’re kind of done within a couple of hours and then you’re stuck in Brentford with not a hell of a lot else to amuse yourself with, other than Kew Gardens which is 💸💸💸 unless you’re a member. Hoping to write up the full review tonight but that’s kind of up to the baby 😬 . . . . . . . . . . #bablands #coolthingsfortinylondoners #thingstodowithkids #toddlersofinstagram #toddlerlife #mummyblogger #parentblogger #londonblogger #londonmum #blogger #londonparents #londonmums #parentingtheshitoutoflife #london #londonmum #letthembelittle #londonmuseumofwaterandsteam #westlondon #kew #kewbridge #brentford
Kiss My Genders with these two was interesting. I thought they were pretty well behaved but some of the @hayward.gallery staff seemed to think otherwise 🤷‍♀️ Loved the show in principle although I found it a bit hard to follow - maybe because we got told off like 50 billion times and I was focusing so much on telling my kid not to touch stuff for the benefit of the staff (she never touches anything anyway) I didn’t really have time to read anything. Bit of a shame really. Shout to @candygreene for watching her so I could watch the willy video 👍 . . . . . . . . . . #bablands #coolthingsfortinylondoners #thingstodowithkids #toddlersofinstagram #toddlerlife #mummyblogger #parentblogger #londonblogger #londonmum #blogger #londonparents #londonmums #parentingtheshitoutoflife #london #londonmum #letthembelittle #southbankcentre #haywardgallery #kissmygenders
@jeppeheinartist Appearing Rooms back at @southbankcentre for the summer. A renegade security guard told us we needed to put their clothes back on because people were taking graduation photos in the fountain and they might end up in people’s photos with no clothes on (they were wearing underwear, and are three) 😐😐😐 . . . . . . . . . . #bablands #coolthingsfortinylondoners #thingstodowithkids #toddlersofinstagram #toddlerlife #mummyblogger #parentblogger #londonblogger #londonmum #blogger #londonparents #londonmums #parentingtheshitoutoflife #london #londonmum #letthembelittle #appearingrooms #southbankcentre #southbank #jeppehein
More @kinska because it sparks joy. Massively FOMOing over the @studioolafureliasson press preview at @tate this morning and almost don’t want to see other people’s pictures from it because we’re not going until next week 🙈 . . . . . . . . . . #bablands #coolthingsfortinylondoners #thingstodowithkids #toddlersofinstagram #toddlerlife #mummyblogger #parentblogger #londonblogger #londonmum #blogger #londonparents #londonmums #parentingtheshitoutoflife #london #londonmum #letthembelittle #kinska #myoperahouse #kinskamyoperahouse #se10 #greenwichpeninsula #northgreenwich
There are some things on the “cultural calendar” 🤓 that I try and make the effort to see every year, and the @serpentineuk pavilion is one of them. I wasn’t massively feeling this year’s offering, which takes the form of a giant slate roof and draws inspiration from um... roofs 😐 but it always makes me feel summery to visit anyway. Similarly, I’ve been to see the BP award at @nationalportraitgallery every year since I’ve lived in London (this year will be my 11th!) so that’s another one for the diary. What are your summer cultural traditions? . . . . . . . . . . #bablands #coolthingsfortinylondoners #thingstodowithkids #toddlersofinstagram #toddlerlife #mummyblogger #parentblogger #londonblogger #londonmum #blogger #londonparents #londonmums #parentingtheshitoutoflife #london #londonmum #letthembelittle #serpentinegallery #serpentinepavilion #serpentinepavilion2019 #hydepark #kensingtongardens
@kinska 🙌🙌🙌 Been waiting for My Opera House at @nowgalleryse10 for lyk EVER and it didn’t remotely disappoint. It’s only a little exhibition - those of you who’ve been to NOW will know it’s pretty dinky - but there are more than 1000 ceramic pieces in there, all arranged in and around a cute lil’ wooden house and ‘garden’. This is obviously hilariously un-child-friendly and apparently there have already been breakages at the hands of infants since the exhibition opened on Thursday, but c’mon, it’s way too beautiful to miss. Plus there’s a little interactive area on one of the outside walls of the house where you can draw and write in a series of themed notebooks 💖 Just bloody dreamy. It’s free and on until September 22nd. . . . . . . . . . . #bablands #coolthingsfortinylondoners #thingstodowithkids #toddlersofinstagram #toddlerlife #mummyblogger #parentblogger #londonblogger #londonmum #blogger #londonparents #londonmums #parentingtheshitoutoflife #london #londonmum #letthembelittle #kinska #myoperahouse #kinskamyoperahouse #nowgalleryse10 #se10 #greenwichpeninsula #northgreenwich
Could totally live in 33 by @studioweave if it had walls and furniture and wasn’t in the middle of a building site in North Greenwich 👍 The upper levels of this three-storey folly are open to explore every Friday-Sunday except in the winter months. The rest of the time you can just wander around the bottom of it pretending to use the drawn-on furniture. 33 will be in situ until 2022 - by which point hopefully the “park” it stands in will be a bit more park-like 😬 . . . . . . . . . #bablands #coolthingsfortinylondoners #thingstodowithkids #toddlersofinstagram #toddlerlife #mummyblogger #parentblogger #londonblogger #londonmum #blogger #londonparents #londonmums #parentingtheshitoutoflife #london #londonmum #letthembelittle #greenwichpeninsula #northgreenwich #greenwich #se10

For Tiny Londoners & Their Adults

Create a website or blog at WordPress.com
%d bloggers like this: