Reasonably priced fun things for kids in London.

[Reine8]

My son will be spending Saturdays with his five year old daughter in London. He is anxious to get things right, and for her to have as much fun as possible. . Can anyone suggest places that would appeal to the little one? Reasonably priced if possible. Thank you.

So many museums are free - science, natural history, museum of London. The Diana memorial garden is a great playground. To be honest though, mine are happiest with a trip to the Lego store and M&M world. Which may be officially free ...

Beasts of London experience at the Museum of London? The animals talk and tell the story of London's history, they have face-painting at the weekend too.

Museums, Diana memorial park, all will be horrendously busy at weekends. What does he think he should do?

Sky garden near Fenchurch st is good for a wander.

Free museums - national gallery often does free kids at activities at weekends.

Walk the Thames path - there's a guide book with loads of interesting stuff. You can do a bit then get the river boat back.

Museum of the Docklands is good.

City farms at Docklands and rotherhythe.

Get a colour dice and roll it for times, note the colours then go for a tube adventure following the different lines for 1 then 2 then 3 then 4 stops. There's always something interesting to see when you arrive!

Go for an open air swim - either wild or I think it's oasis near Holborn tube.

Singing lift in the south bank centre.

Hyde park to watch the horses/hire rollerblades etc.

London is one of the easiest places to spend time on the cheap as long as you make sure you pack a picnic and drinks, otherwise everything seems to get really expensive really fast!

All the museums and galleries are free. There are often activities for kids to do. So he could do mostly free stuff (take a packed lunch) and the odd day that costs a bit more.

Greenwich is nice too. The observatory is a nice walk up the hill and they have reasonably priced shows for kids. I think the one for under 7s is called Teds space adventure.

The Gruffolo shows at the lyric theatre are about £20 a ticket.

Kensington gardens is lovely. Lots of things to spot and there are parakeets that will come and take apples from your hands.

There are bits of the museums that are really quiet. I went in the middle of August to the natural history and science museum with my nieces last year and I asked the guards which bits were the quietest.

I go the V and A most weeks and often I'm
the only person in that bit - I had the whole jewellery section to myself for an hour.

So go and do an hour in a quiet bit then walk back to Venchi and buy an ice cream and go for a walk in the park.

We went to Hyde Park last weekend and there were thousands of people but there's still plenty of space for picnics on a blanket, places to feed (proper seed) to the swans plus the Diana memorial fountain - yes it was busy but you're not queuing to splash your toddlers feet or anything.

A walk down the south bank yields the huge sandpit/ beach bits in summer plus the actual beach bit you can (scarily) climb down to. You can get food at the food market behind the royal festival hall or the children's plate in the cafe in the national is £4.95 - I spent all summer eating that (home made fish goujons and chips). Pizza van outside the national does whole pizzas.

There's also a very cheap van if you're on a budget that does 10 mini doughnuts for £2 or doughnuts, chips and a drink for a fiver.

Southwark cathedral is free. St. Paul's do a service every day at 5, it's free to go.

2 gardens in the sky to recommend - both free - the sky garden in Fenchurch street and another at 120 Fenchurch street. Both lovely - I actually prefer the second one to the sky garden as it's more open.

Don't underestimate the fun of going to places like Waterloo station for a coffee and a juice to look at the trains and shops if she's little. My niece thought that was her favourite bit of the trip when she stayed with me.

And the farms are free - mudchute city farm and the one at Surrey quays I've not been to. Loads of animals to feed, plenty of places to picnic.

River trip on the Thames clippers down to Greenwich where I live - masses to do for free here. You don't need to pay to go on the cutty sark - you can just walk round it and take photos. Plus there's bits of the observatory that are free - the displays bit on the left around the cafe in the planetarium - only the museum and plantarium shows are chargeable. The national maritime museum has a whole kids bit that I unfortunately spent way too much time in last summer with all my visitors.

Bored writing now

Walk past Horseguards and see the horses, go through to St Janes’s Park for a run around and feed the ducks. See Buckingham Palace.

Ds enjoyed the science museum followed by the Diana Memorial playground. We’d take a picnic.

Look up playgrounds. Corams Fields is a good one near King's Cross, but 5yos usually want parks, walks along nature trails, playgrounds etc.

If not already mentioned Tumbling Bay playground at the Olympic park, Stratford. Free, if weather is nice take clothes that are ok to get wet or swimgear to play on the water/sand activities.

The Docklands musuem is free and great for children. Its also next door to a Wetherspoons so you can eat at a reasonable cost. Then in the docklands you have the cable car which isn't expensive at all. I love the canary wharf area because its less hectic than central London.

Changing the Guard at Buck House is 11.30

Then head for the lake in St James Park. If you're lucky, you could see a pelican. But watch out, they eat the pigeons, and sound like they're laughing as they gulp them down whole.

What about an iSpy hunt op? There are LOADS of these books available, you can spend HOURS searching for things to tick off - plus you get to see a lot of the attractions in the London book.

Thank you so much for your replies. My son now has a veritable tourist guide for kids, thanks to knowledgeable mumsnetters.

The London Transport Museum in covent garden is £16.50 for an annual adult ticket kids go free. Great for cold and wet days, pop in for an hour, loads of buses / trains etc to sit in, things to do

Laurie amazing list there!!

When mine were little we got an annual ticket for the Tower of London. Cost less than two trips in a also gave entry to lots of other palaces (including Kensington and Hampton Court Palace). Every school holiday there were special events on, my children talked about knight school for years.

Battersea Park Zoo (so much cheaper than Regents Park)
Go to Crystal Palace Park (easy on the Overground Line ) and see the stone dinosaurs, go in the maze, playground and the little petting zoo.

Check out Children’s Theatre on the Time Out website for shoes that are much cheaper than in west end . Check Polka, Unicorn and Little Angel theatres. Also Half Moon.