Londoners - what's on your activity agenda for half term?

[Earlybird]

For those who will be in London for October half term and are looking to keep kids occupied/entertained:

what activities have you heard about/planned for?
Do any of the museums have especially interesting things going on?
Anything unusual or fun that you can share with those of us who are looking for ideas?

dunno - that's a good point, hadn't thought about half term yet

will probably do Kew at some point (love Kew Gardens in the autumn)

Yes, hard to believe half term is only a few weeks away. We had planned to visit friends in France for part of it, but that's been postponed, so am looking for ways to occupy a curious/energetic dd!

London Zoo have got some "creepy animal" events going on.
Kew are doing Harvest Festival stuff
The Great British Museum usually lay things on during half terms & holidays as do Somerset House.
We might do one or two of the above & then all the usual stuff: trip to farm, cinema, local museum, swimming pool etc.

Hmmm - that's a thought. We haven't been to the zoo yet this year....

If you're in SE London, try Hornimans museum, they always run lots of free activities, we were there every week during the summer hols.

Gambado in Beckenham is a good option if its raining but get there early, it'll be packed. I guess everywhere will be in half term though.

hopeful bump for any other suggestions....

I've just heard about the new exhibition at Tate Modern - giant slides in the Turbine Hall. There was a lengthy discussion on Front Row about whether or not it was really Art

• but who cares?

Saw these on the news today - looked a bit scarey (but I am a wimp!) 5 storey drop in about 8 seconds I don't think any of mine would have the bottle.

Yes, the critics sounded a bit scared on the radio. I suspect my children would be fine about it, but I have doubts about myself [why no scared emoticon]?

Pretty sure it's not for children, those Tate flumes - you're supposed to reach up to 45kph by the end. Ds & dd & I are all set to go & just watch grown-ups fluming.

Did you read about past installations he's done? A private slide at Prada HQ, leading solely from Miuccia's office to her personal parking space. Do you think it was ever used?

on front row radio 4 this pm said you had to be over 1m (only 3 ft). sounded fantastic.... they are on my list. also holbein exhibition (is it still on??) and swimming and running around playing football and eating dim sum and... cant think of anything else at moment...

I saw those flumes last night on the BBC News. They looked lots of fun, but too much for younger children. The only way dd would go down would be in my lap. Wonder if they'd allow that? If so, we'd probably spend all half term there!

But will your child be climbing UP the slides at tate modern?

The Butterfly House at Syon Park in Isleworth is closing down on 31st October, my dd's love it there so I'm taking them before it shuts.

Blu, I was going to ask you the same question . But it sounds like they might be a bit steep, not to mention dangerous if someone's hurtling down at high speed! Bink, I think 45kph is slower than some of the rides at Thorpe Park and Chessington.

controlfreaky, where's the Holbein exhibition, if it's still on?

its at tate britain (the one without the slides!) and its on til early january.... looks great

do they have an age limit for the slide? I thought they must do otherwise surely it will be swamped with children! On the news, they only showed adults hurtling down.

The Horniman Museum has a newly refurished aquarium just opened apparently.

The really tall slide is for people over 140cm only, that should knock out anyone under 10 at least. DS1 is very tall for his age, but isn't quite there yet (he's nearly 9 btw) The other two slides are shorter and looked a lot slower and are the 100cm ones.

We went to the new aquarium at the Horniman during the summer holidays and it is rather nice. Quite small aisles though and easily blocked by pushchairs despite the big 'no pushchairs please ' signs Actually it would be more helpful if places could provide alternatives (slings etc) if they want people to not use their pushchairs. I'd imagine it will be quite busy during the half term so pick your visiting time well!

Any tips (for an out-of-towner) on doing the Natural History museum with a 5 year old? He's currently mad on:
1 - trains
2 - dinosaurs
so I've sort of promised him a day out by train to see how big a dinosaur really was.

LunarSea, get there early and do the dinosaurs first or you will hit huge queues at half term.

If anyone fancies coming on a baby-friendly walk at the end of half-term, I'm leading a walk with my DW and 6-month old DS for the Ramblers on Sunday 5th, in Trent Park, Cockfosters.

About 3.5 miles long along paths that are okay for buggies, but likely to be a little muddy in places so don't come in your best shoes!

More details on the London Ramblers website .