Free or low cost days out in London

[notnowbernadette]

I'm looking for ideas to entertain children in London this summer aged 7 to 12. It will need to be free or low cost. Any ideas?

The Southbank centre often have activities for kids for free. Eg, Clay modelling. Art galleries have free entries and often free events too. And museums. What are they interested in?

We've done the South bank Centre a few times so I'm trying to find something new. I agree it is a good place to entertain children and my kids enjoy the street artists outside.

The discovery centre at the Natural History Museum? Free.

Do a monopoly trail?

Get a travel card and get on random buses? We'll do that one of these days.

Markets? Though that tends not to be cheap...

There is a beach at Royal Docks with deckchairs, sand etc. That's free. You could combine that with a trip on the cable car over the Thames. Not free but not vastly expensive.

Or wander down the river for excellent views of planes coming in to land at city airport.

Museum of London is great and free!

olympic park at stratford - free climbing wall, lots of walks, playgrounds, fountains to play in. I think the swimming may be cheap too.

Playing in the fountains at Somerset House is always fun

Museum of Docklands even better!

You can check when Tower Bridge is going to open and go down to the embankment by the Tower to watch. Quite good views of the outside of the Tower too.

Greenwich is quite good too.

Agree bus rides are good. Also get them used to using the Tube so they're confident with it when they're old enough to travel on their own. The twelve year old at least might enjoy using street maps, bus and tube maps to plan journeys.

Most museums and galleries in London are free. Diana playground (Hyde park) and paddling pool (Kensington gardens). Somerset house fountains.

If you have travel cards Greenwich might be an idea, especially if you could stretch to a ride on the Emirates cable car while you are out there. You could have a wonder round the museums and parks (good for picnics), walk along the Thames, see the Cutty Sark, walk through the pedestrian tunnel under the river.

Swimming in the serpentine. Not free but you can happily spend the whole day if the weather's good. The swimming bit is separate and life guarded- you pay to access a picnic and play area with a gated bridge. Rarely busy and IMO the most underrated attraction in London.

www.londonist.com has a lot of great free / cheap stuff in its listings.

Coram fields near Russell square, has free playground & park
Jubilee gardens on the Southbank has adventure playground, then you can walk around to the Fountains near Haywood Gallery & play in them
V&A museum of childhood in Bethnal Green, loads of interactive toy displays is free
Open water swimming on Hampstead Heath

I've created a calendar of over 1,000 FREE museum events and activities in London this August, might give you some ideas.

museummum.wordpress.com/

Sky garden. You need to book tickets but it's an amazing view, my 13 and 7 year old loved it