👔 5 things to do in London this weekend with the kids (11–12 January)

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Good morning! 

I was randomly looking at the Wikipedia entry for today, 8 January, and here’s what I discovered: a LOT of famous people were born on this date. Elvis Presley, Shirley Bassey, Stephen Hawking, David Bowie and even Noah Bloomin’ Cyrus (to name a few) celebrate(d) birthdays today. 

Even more excitingly, International Typing Day (recognised only in Malaysia) is held today. Its aim is to “promote speed, accuracy and efficiency in written communication among the public”. If you want to participate in your own way, see how well you do in this typing race. 

Now that I’ve exhausted you with information that’s thoroughly unrelated to Dads in London, let’s move on to what you’re here for: the weekend!

Enjoy, 

Jeff xx

1: Watch a grown-up film while your baby ignores it

Parent & Baby Screening: We Live in Time (15)
Saturday 11 January, 11:15
Barbican Cinema 3, Beech Street, EC2Y 8DS
£6 per adult (plus £1.50 booking fee)
Barbican age guidance: only suitable for parents with babies aged 12 months and younger

According to a reader poll I ran recently, a larger-than-expected number of you have baby-age offspring. 

And what’s the best thing about having a baby rather than a human child? Let’s all say it together: “The baby won’t know when we say inappropriate things.” Exxxxxactly! Glad we’re all on the same page. 

This 18-months-long shortcoming can be exploited in multiple ways – one of which is to watch a completely unsuitable film while they and their slow-to-develop brain are in the room. 

Brilliantly, many cinemas realised there’s a money-making opportunity here. “Parent & baby screenings” allow you to take your small-scale sidekick to a 15-rated film, and you won’t need to worry about screaming or feeding time because all the other attendees are parents with babies too. 

Most parent & baby screenings take place on weekdays, which is great or not great, depending on your working and childcare patterns. This one at the Barbican is a rare find: a parent & baby screening on the weekend, so I thought I’d flag it – especially because it’s a movie that EVERYONE is talking about. And it’s only £6 per ticket – or £7.50 once you’ve included the stonking 25% booking fee (so it’s still cheap, but jeez).  

Find out more: https://www.barbican.org.uk/whats-on/2025/event/parent-baby-screening-we-live-in-time 

2: Celebrate a famous catwalk strut – and then dive into your own creative chaos

NAOMI: In Fashion
Saturday and Sunday, 10:00–17:45 (and daily until 6 April)
V&A South Kensington, Cromwell Road, SW7 2RL
Adults £16, children 12–17 £10, children under 12 FREE
DiL age guidance: 7+

Drop-in: Crafting with Colours & Screening
Saturday 11 January, 11:00, 13:00 and 15:00
Hochhauser Auditorium, Learning Centre, V&A Museum
FREE
V&A Museum age guidance: 5+

Naomi Campbell has never been perfect – unlike Aung San Suu Kyi Jimmy Saville Bill Cosby Mother Teresa – and that’s fine. After all, no one in the world other than Mother Teresa (really? damn!) Tom Hanks is perfect, so we’d be very short on retrospective exhibitions if we could only present them about the greatest “good” people. 

Even so, it would be nice if this exhibition could be a bit less of a “grotesque hagiography” – or, at the very least, balance out some of the ways in which it’s “unashamedly a celebration” of the supermodel. The clothing on display is lovely indeed; it’s just a shame that we know we’re not getting the full story as we wander around. 

Regardless of what you think of Campbell, and whether you even fork out for the exhibition, you can always attend the V&A's kiddie events inspired by it. Take the one that’s happening this weekend: a one-hour drop-in workshop, which begins with a “mindful session” in which you “tap into colour therapy guided meditation” and “play with light and colour”. Meditation/mindfulness isn’t something anyone would associate with Naomi Campbell, but I can understand why a workshop in which we all chuck our phones at the facilitator isn’t exactly advisable. 

Anyway. Once you’ve done some mindful exploration, you’ll use “colourful fabric and magazines in a collage to think about how to introduce colour into your wardrobe”. My kids’ wardrobes already look like an explosion in a Skittles factory, but that’s fine: the more colour the better, if you ask me. 

After everyone’s worked out how to turn themselves into a human kaleidoscope, it’s time to watch “five short dance films”. It’s not quite as random as it sounds: the films are all about being as creative as we can with the clothes we wear. I tracked down a video trailer, and you can watch it here. 

While you’re there… 

👍️ The V&A must have a surfeit of rooms (or staff) going spare at the moment, because there’s another workshop on the same day. This one is part of the museum’s long-running Create! Studio, which has a different theme each month. The theme for January is “Squeeze”, and you’ll get to “make and play with salt dough and create a squishy sculpture with a variety of our materials”. 

3: Trade your clutter for someone else’s treasure

Give & Take Day
Saturday 11 January, 10:00–15:00
St Giles' Cripplegate, Fore Street, EC2Y 8DA
FREE
DiL age guidance: suitable for all

I’ve never come across this kind of event before. It’s an “opportunity for City residents having a clear-out… to make sure unwanted items are reused, recycled or disposed of responsibly whilst supporting the local community”. 

It’s been structured to ensure everyone gets what they want out of it: 

• 10:00–12:00: “Give”

• 13:00–14:00: “Take”, but for City residents only (proof of residency will be required)

• 14:00–15:00: “Take” for everyone, including non-City residents

The items you can give and take are: clothes and shoes; toys; kitchenware; bric-a-brac; books, DVDs; and electrical appliances. “Bric-a-brac” has always confused me as a concept (even after reading multiple definitions), but I guess it means: if you think there’ll be a taker for your framed cross-stitch of “Live, Laugh, Love” or the dusty lava lamp from your teenage years, feel free to drop it off in the morning. 

“But what about all the tech products I no longer use?” you might be wondering. “Surely someone will want the Amstrad PC2086 with 640 KB RAM and 3.5-inch floppy drive from my childhood? It’s still working perfectly.” 

No: no one will want it. BUT for the duration of Give & Take Day, a nonprofit called Tech-Takeback will be around to ensure your laptops and desktops are either recycled or given away to charities. Your Amstrad will be recycled. 

(Note: the Give & Take Day website states that all sorts of electrical items will be accepted, but I’ve just checked the Tech-Takeback website and it seems like they’re restricting things to just laptops and desktops. So you may want to send them a message to check in advance.)

Find out more: https://www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/events/give-and-take-day-11-january

While you’re there… 

👍️ There’s a gallery nearby called BEERS London, and it’s called that because the owner is called Kurt Beers – which is basically the coolest name I’ve ever heard. A gallery called BEERS is obviously going to be all about contemporary art, and the current exhibition (called “The Horizon Pulled Me Close”) looks really interesting. 

I won’t bore you with the explanation on the website (because I don’t understand it, and even Chat GPT struggled), so I’ll just say that I like how the artist combines traditional painting subjects with an unusual way of presenting them. It’ll hopefully make more sense when you see them. 

4: Watch ballet, big band, and a touch of 1930s sass

Ballet Shoes
Saturday 11 January, 13:30 and 19:00
National Theatre, National Theatre, South Bank, SE1 9PX
£79–£99 per person BUT much cheaper prices are available on other dates
National Theatre age guidance: 7+

Did I tell you that my family and I saw The Nutcracker over Christmas? Yes? A few times, you say? Yeah… it’s just that it was my first ever ballet, and it was the most magical thing ever, and I can’t stop talking about it, and now I’m hooked on ballet and I want to see more of it. 

Ballet Shoes isn’t a traditional ballet. There’s dialogue, there’s big band music, and you’ll actually be able to understand the storyline. Yes there’s ballet dancing (as you’d hope), but it’s not all ballet. That’s fine: I’ll take what I can get. 

It’s an adaptation of Noel Streatfeild’s 1936 novel, and my main thought right now is how much of his life he must have wasted spelling out his surname. Change it by deed poll, dude! 

The story follows the Fossil sisters – three adopted orphans who dream of making their mark on the world. Pauline wants to be an actress, Petrova an aviator, and Posy a ballerina – so when financial troubles threaten the family, they find they’re  able to make money by performing on stage (which two sisters love doing much more than the other one). 

It’s been a stonking success among critics, and it’s only on for a few more weeks. Tickets are pricey as hell for this weekend, but they get cheaper towards the end of January/beginning of February. Some weekday evening performances are more affordable too. 

Find out more: https://www.nationaltheatre.org.uk/productions/ballet-shoes/ 

While you’re there… 

👍️ Winter Light is a free outdoor display of installations at the Southbank Centre, which uses light and colour to create a magical atmosphere (especially after dark). The venue’s website really underplays how good it looks, so here are some photos from last year. 

👍️ Body Odyssey is an “immersive workshop and live performance” about a character called Marnie, who suffers from a hidden illness and is “about to face the greatest challenge of her life”. Everyone must work together to battle infections and keep Marnie’s body functioning: “Get crafty and make your own white blood cell costume, experience an extract of the Body Odyssey musical show, surrounded by a spectacular immersive inflatable installation, and boogie along to a playful and sensory inside-body disco.”

If this event explanation has you as confused as I am, don’t worry: the words “crafty”, “inflatable” and “disco” are there, and that’s all you need to know. Plus it’s free. 

5: Brave the London Underground’s quirkiest event – or just watch

Official No Trousers Tube Ride 2025
Sunday 12 January, 14:45 (for departure at 15:00)
Old Pagoda, Chinatown
FREE
DiL age guidance: goodness knows 

The highlight of many people’s calendars has returned for 2025 – and it’s bigger and better than ever! Except that’s not true: it’s exactly the same as every other year, which is a perfect mixture of banal and bonkers. 

Here’s the gist: a bunch of people gather in a big group, head down to the Tube, get on a train, remove their lower garments (down to their underpants) and travel around for a bit. Then everyone goes off for a drink or two somewhere, still in their underwear. It all needs to stay as low-key as possible in order for it to look like everyone’s simply forgotten their trousers. 

You could join in if you like, or you could just go out for the afternoon with your kids and see if you can spot anyone participating. Ideally, ordinary Londoners will be completely baffled. 

The meeting spot is  where the pagoda used to be in Chinatown: https://maps.app.goo.gl/RWqyxxRwtp798jDS9 

Find out more: https://www.facebook.com/events/1255990382421158