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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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Roma genuinely loved the new @corneliaparkerartist show at @tate - something I was not expecting, nor ever particularly expect from a Tate show. This was my favourite work: War Room - a huge tent made from the sheets the Royal British Legion uses to make Remembrance Day poppies, with all the poppies punched out. Roma’s favourite room had videos of Donald Trump supporters in Halloween costumes slowed down so it was like watching a horror film across multiple screens - except it wasn’t scary, according to Roma. So un-scary, in fact, she dragged me back into it four times (a woman in there asked me if I was trying to scare her, which like… no, no I wasn’t 🥴). We also really loved Cold Dark Matter: An Exploded View, the garden shed the artist had exploded by the British Army, and spent ages sitting on the floor identifying the many singed objects hanging from the ceiling. This was probably the first time I’d taken Roma to an exhibition where she seemed visibly interested in how and why the art had been made (I mean tbf we’re in a whole world of WHY? with her right now but still, it was nice). Cornelia Parker is on at Tate Britain until the 31st of August. Admission is £16 for adults and free for under-12s and members.
There’s a new play fountain in town and it’s amazing! We’ve been to a couple of pop ups in this spot over the years - Villa Walala by Camille Walala in 2017 for one - but I think this fountain is my favourite thing we’ve been to here, and obviously it’s permanent! Exchange Square is such a sun trap and a great place for people-watching, plus there are loads of places to grab food and drinks on the doorstep, which is handy. I’ll be adding this to the fountain list on my website. I’ll also stick the list to the top of my homepage and my Linktree but I probably won’t be updating it with which ones are currently switched on because the admin is such a ball ache and I’m snowed under with work at the moment.
It was the hottest day of the year yesterday so I thought it would be a great idea to spend it sweating our tits off in a giant bouncy assault course (on the plus side it was SO quiet). Babu and I had so much fun at Airthrill in Catford the other month I thought it was only fair I treat Roma to a trip to the new @inflatanationcolindale centre (seen on @thehardlifeoflilyandviolet ). Also I can’t afford to take both of them to any of these places since they’re all so bloody expensive. I really liked this one - not least because it was just us and one other mum and toddler, but because it’s not a one-way deal like Airthrill. Instead you’re free to explore all the different areas in whatever order you please, whether you fancy a go on the Gladiators-style jousting podium, the almost-vertical inflatable slides, the stepping stones that deflate as you stand on them, the pneumatic ball shooters or just a general bounce around (I spent ages just lying down while Roma did running jumps onto me 🥴). There’s also a separate under-4s area with a smaller slide and ball pit, but it’s very small and Roma was more than confident enough to tackle the main course, with the possible exception of the giant ball pit, which she kept completely disappearing into.
Another exhibition for the “one to revisit without my children” list - not necessarily because it isn’t child-friendly, but because it had the potential to be SO relaxing without them screeching and doing f*cking cartwheels all over the place 🙄 Weird Sensation Feels Good: The World of ASMR is a relatively small exhibition laid out over the basement floor of the @designmuseum . It all centres around this giant squishy pod, where you’re invited to remove your shoes, lay back and plug into one of several deeply gratifying films on subjects as diverse as dog grooming, spin painting and non-digital copy editing (I used to work as a magazine sub-editor and found this one SO satisfying). There’s a clapping pod, things to touch and scrunch, a table where you can listen to the sounds of different brushes rubbing against a microphone, and lots of very trippy videos. There’s even an entire room dedicated to Bob Ross, which I found hilarious. I REALLY want to go back and sit there all day without having to tell Roma to stop picking polystyrene beads out of the upholstery. Personally I think this might actually be preferable to a spa day, and it’s definitely cheaper. On until the 16th of October, £9.50 for adults, free for under-6s, £5 for 6-15s.
We love Hey Baby @saint.church so felt compelled to go along to their inaugural session at Leyton Church this morning. Expect all the things that make their St John at Hackney and All Saints West Ham groups so great - amazing coffee (with Oatly available), the best toys, healthy snacks for the kids and cake for the grownups, the friendliest volunteers and a singalong at the end. It’s also on at the exact same time as the other two - term-time Mondays from 10-11.45am. It’s free and there’s no need to book.
It’s testament to the absolute brilliance of @cj_hendry how many people have posted about her Epilogue show agreeing that it was worth the one-hour wait with young children. Presumably it isn’t quite so bad during the week, but I really wanted to take Babu and I’m so glad I did. They had an absolute ball in there, burying themselves (and me), making confetti angels and chucking handfuls of the stuff at each other - and stuffing it in their pockets 🥴 (I had to sweep quite a lot off the kitchen floor this morning). All of the staff were brilliant, especially the security guy manning the queue, who was proper hilarious with Roma, and there was just this amazing sense of joy inside the church, like everyone had forgotten their worries for 20 minutes in the name of childlike pleasure. Babu wants to go back next weekend 😬 I said we’d probably have to queue for an hour again and she said she didn’t care. High praise indeed from a very impatient six year old.
Weird American-designed playground in Upper Tooting Park Playground (there was a label with the designer’s name and they’re based in the US, but I can’t remember who or where now). Actually this photo is from almost a year ago and I have no recollection of what we were doing here, other than killing time waiting for something to start (Bertie & Boo maybe?). It’s not a destination playground by any means but Roma liked it and there was also a bus structure with a little slide, plus the usual swings and roundabouts, etc. Perfectly nice if you happen to be in the Tooting/Balham area, and a really good one for toddlers.
I’m really glad @christinarosebrown has a National Art Pass because I’d be so annoyed if I’d paid full price for this exhibition. Not because it’s a bad exhibition - on the contrary, it seemed very interesting, although *seemed* is the operative word as I didn’t actually get to experience much of it at all. Admittedly that’s mostly my own fault for having children, but I do slightly blame the Barbican for making us leave our buggies at the entrance and billing it as “immersive” when really it’s not particularly - bar this last room where they said we “probably shouldn’t” let the kids run around on the floor projection but we kinda let them anyway and they just sort of turned a blind eye. So yes, I wouldn’t recommend taking young kids - especially since the so-called interactives didn’t really seem to do anything - but it would make a good alone-time activity, if you’re ever lucky enough to get any of that. I’d love to go back on my own and read everything properly because I’m fascinated by the idea of imagined futures, but sadly I don’t have any time or money lol.
I had really high hopes for the Design Baby: Imagine and Make session at @vamuseum yesterday and was so excited when I saw all the colourful boxes stacked up in the gallery, but it didn’t quite do it for me. To be honest I think it pretty much boiled down to the practitioner’s style, which I found kind of jarring (she began the session by saying “put your phone away please - that’s the children talking, not me”, which really irritated me and kind of set the tone for the whole session) but I also thought the format was unnecessarily complicated and found the story quite hard to follow (and I’m 35, not three 🥲). We didn’t actually do any designing or making but we did have to pretend the boxes were trains, which required a fair amount of imagination I suppose. I did think the musical-adventure concept was nice, but the reality just didn’t quite hit the spot for me. Roma enjoyed it though, so that’s the main thing! I’d be interested in trying another one - apparently the same session will be running next month and then the theme and practitioner will change (tickets for the session on the 1st of June go on sale next Thursday the 19th). I’d be really interested to hear what other people who’ve been to these thought!
Did you know Monster Chetwynd’s monochrome soft play is no more? Named The Idol after the Dagenham Idol, a Neolithic figure discovered in the area a century ago, the artist’s two-storey, robot-shaped soft-play ‘sculpture’ took up residence in Barking’s Abbey Leisure Centre from 2015 but sadly didn’t make it out of the pandemic (I don’t know why). We only went a couple of times since Barking is a bit of a mission for us for a smallish soft play, but I’m sad it’s gone. It’s not every day a Turner Prize-nominated artist designs a soft play, and it’s always a sad day when another kids’ play space closes. This is the artist’s A Monument to the Unstuffy and Anti-Bureaucratic (2019), which was on display as part of Testament at @goldsmithscca until last month, and which you were also invited to play inside. Also, remember when she did the giant snails for the Tate Britain winter commission? I really love her. What’s the kids’ play space you’ve been saddest about losing? I’ve lost count of all the things that have closed since I’ve had kids but I was super sad about The Corner House play cafe in Brook Green, and The Bee’s Knees at Battersea Arts which I’m not even entirely sure has gone forever. Guh.
The dreamy nocturnal skyscape at @benbrownfinearts - half of the Les Lalanne: Makers of Dreams exhibition, which is spread across this gallery and @claridgesartspace . The latter posted some pictures on their launch day and I’ll be honest it didn’t really appeal, but in the flesh it’s amazing (also these must be the only two Mayfair galleries that open on Mondays!). The two spaces feel totally different - one’s dark, one’s light, one told us to be careful with the kids around the art, the other was refreshingly laid back - but you do really need to see both. This is the more photogenic of the two (and had the friendlier staff) but I think the Claridge’s part was my favourite, owing mostly to the animal-shaped drinks cabinets and the beautiful film you can watch in the little cinema. Such a good show and it’s on until the 29th of July.
Throwback to the brilliant Jolly Jumpers session we did at YMCA London City & North: The Harringay Club in Hornsey a few months ago. This is a totally free-flow session where kids aged 0-5 are free to do whatever they like on the gymnastics equipment for two hours - like Baby Gym at Talacre but on a smaller scale. It runs on Sunday mornings from 10-12 and costs £4.60 per child for members and £6.60 for non-members (I think it might be cheaper for under-3s but don’t hold me to that - this was ages ago). Btw you don’t have to have a T-shirt - they randomly gave us these while we were there because they had some going and the girls insisted on immediately changing into them 🙃
It’s messy play in the park season again! A bit bittersweet this year as Roma’s starting nursery in September so it’s our last spring doing cute stuff like this 😭 But I guess there’s always the summer. Feeling so nostalgic about the dozens of messy-play sessions we’ve been to over the years. We spend such a tiny portion of our (and their) lives taking them to this stuff, but I’ve been lucky enough to get a relatively hefty chunk of time hanging out with mine and I’m so grateful for that 💔 ANYWAY 😭😭😭 @messituplondon is back in Priory Park in Crouch End most Fridays from 10am-12pm. Sessions cost £12, which includes one adult. Additional children cost £8 and additional adults are £6. Obviously it’s VERY messy, so stick them in old clothes and bring all the wipes/towels/spare clothes. Expect painting, water play, foam, flour, tea, play soap, etc.
IMAGINE 👯‍♀️ (let’s not). There’s a new playgroup in town and it’s adorable. Squishy things in the shape of cakes, coffee cups and liquorice allsorts; ride-on llamas, frog princes, and giant strawberries; and a big, deep ball pit with pastel-hued balls 😍 The playgroup is called @jump_andplay , it’s for 0-3s and it takes place at Islington Dance Studios in Hoxton on Wednesdays from 9.30-12.30. You can either pay £5 for an hour or £8 for the whole thing!
We LOVE the Story Den at @soanemuseum . Mostly I’m just really obsessed with the den structure (which was apparently made by set designers and not available for you or me to buy 😭). I love that kids can build a different den every time and it will always work. It’s essentially a bunch of wooden tiles with holes in and a series of felt ‘walls’ on wooden poles that even toddlers can manage to wedge into the holes. I want one for days when I’m sick and need the kids to entertain themselves 😂 Anyway, this session is totally free and takes place twice a month at the Soane Museum (the second May date and both June dates are sold out but both July dates are still available). It’s pretty free flow, with some storytelling and drawing at the beginning followed by the den building (with lots of sensory props to add as you go along) and then they’re free to just play for the rest of the session. Really simple but it worked well. We hadn’t been since Babu was EXACTLY the age Ro is now (and Ro was a tiny baby 😭). Designed for 2-5s.
Haven’t done anything worth posting about since Friday (unless you count the crushingly disappointing Moomin show and a very lovely visit with our best friends to a playground we LOVE but have been to 7,000 times), so here is the beautiful @macaroni_penguin_club in all its colourful wooden @tigerplayuk glory. Sessions last an hour and cost £7.50 per child or £12 for two. They serve bubble tea, which I used to despise but am growing quite fond of, and waffles, which I enjoyed before I decided to go vegan 🥲 The owner, Daisy, is the best. Such a kind lady.
@lilyvanderstokker ‘s aesthetic is so up my street I knew we had to go and see her new exhibition at @camdenartcentre as soon as it opened. In fact I was so keen we nearly went to the private view, but I’m glad we waited until the next day (🥴) so that the kids could see it (and the gorgeous guide dog owned by one of the staff 🐶). The exhibition spans three galleries and the upstairs hall and it’s brilliant - I mean would you just look at this kitchen?! I’m always drawn to domestic and everyday themes in art. Mundanity speaks to me for some reason. This show is anything but mundane though. The only bad thing about it is that you can’t touch anything, which was gutting because it all looks so inviting, with sofas and pouffes crying out to be sat on (and I really wanted to touch the giant teapot 🫖). Thank You Darling by Lily van der Stokker is on until the 18th of September and is free to enter (they recommend you book a free ticket but we didn’t and it was fine).
I know I posted about this show in my stories but I just realised it finishes TOMORROW and is awesome - an inedible feast of alphabetti spaghetti, dachshund jelly, mouldy bread and the occasional penis for good measure. Loads of artists involved in this one, including the brilliant @heidipearce_art who did the blue dogs at Bermondsey Project Space a few months ago. Totally obsessed with the things in microwaves you’re greeted by when you enter too. On tomorrow 11am-6pm and then it’s gone forever. It’s free and there’s no need to book.

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