Days out in London with small child

[champagnesupernouveaux]

Hi,

We live on the outskirts of London and so my 5 year old DS has seen some of the sights and places of interest. He;s got a couple of days next week before he goes back to school, so I'm trying to plan days out with him. Ideally I'd like to not spend too much on entry fees to places, so I was wondering if anybody had any cheap ideas for us.

What he's done and where he's been so far: Science Museum, Transport Museum, old style routemaster ride, cable car, he's seen Buckingham Palace, Trafalgar Square. Ideas I've had so far include Museum of Childhood, Natural History Museum (although we did some dinosaur stuff elsewhere this summer). I also wondered about the Diana Memorial Playground, but is it really that special? He already goes to playgrounds quite a bit. We've done some of the farms in the city as well. I don't really fancy the zoo on this occasion as we've been to another zoo this summer. And I think he's a bit young for the Tower.

All ideas welcome! Thank you in advance!

Should probably add, central London preferred, zone 1, 2 at a push.

My two loved the Diana Memorial Playground when they were smaller. They also enjoyed the Docklands Museum And loved travelling to it on the DLR, especially if we could get one of the front seats and pretend to drive the train! HMS Belfast was a hit with them too.

Depending on which side of London you’re on, Ahoy at the Maritime Museum (Greenwich) is a good morning out.

Plus large adjoining playground. And free.

The Docklands Musuem has a fantastic area for children called Mudlarks. It's really hands on. Lots of water play!
I think Coram's Fields is just as good as the Princess Diana's memorial playground. www.coramsfields.org/park-playground/
The pelicans in St. James's Park are fed fish at 2:30 p.m. each day. You need to head for the opposite end to Buckingham Palace and they are fed from behind Duck Island Cottage, near Horse Guards Parade. The pelicans know when it's time as they wait there and keep watch for the man with the fish. Throwing the fish out takes just 10 minutes or so, but it's fun to watch.

He loves the pelicans. We've never seen them feeding though, so that could be interesting.

Greenwich is an idea, not been there for a while. And the Docklands Museum might be good too. He's been (briefly) to the other Museum of London, but not the Docklands one.

Hadn't thought of HMS Belfast, I'll have a look at that.