🎤 9 things to do in London this weekend with the kids (14–15 December)

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Hello! 

Thank you for all your survey responses from last week’s email! If you’re interested, here’s how things broke down: 

How old are your children – the ones you take out on the weekend?

0–2: 31.5%
3–5: 32.5%
6–8: 18.4%
9–11: 10.5%
12–15: 7%
16+: 0%

But only 2% of you filled in the survey – so it could be completely unrepresentative! I want to make sure I’m definitely writing about events and activities that suit my readers, so please fill it in if you haven’t done so already. (The survey will literally take less than a minute.) Thank you! 

Now on for this week’s events!

Jeff xx

1: Make Christmas cards that’ll put Moonpig to shame

Family Fun: Phantasmagorical Christmas Cards
Saturday 14 December, 11:00–12:30 and 14:30–16:00
Leighton House, 12 Holland Park Road, W14 8LZ
£5 per child; free for one accompanying adult (includes FREE entry to Leighton House itself)
Leighton House age guidance: 5–10 

The description for this event starts with a question: “Did you know that the first Christmas card in England was sent in 1843?” Well, no. I didn’t. But I’ve since had a bit of a meander around the internet and discovered that this refers to the first commercially available card (the first non-commercial one was sent in sixteen bloody eleven!!). 

This 1843 card was commissioned by an English civil servant and inventor called Sir Henry Cole, and painted by John Callcott Horsley. Cole printed a bunch of copies and sold them for a shilling each. 

Why? Was it even possible to recoup costs after paying the artist and the printer? Not sure, tbh. Maybe? But Cole’s plans were grander, you see: he’d helped to introduce the Penny Post a few years earlier, so his real intent was for the postal service to make money from all these extra deliveries. Clever man, that Cole. 

This very first card depicted a family party scene in which kids were drinking alcohol (right when the temperance movement was taking off – meaning lots of Brits were not fans). Once other designers got in on the act, their cards usually featured children, animals and elaborate shapes/decorations. Many of them were apparently quite weird, which sounds intriguing. 

You’ll be able to see and take inspiration from lots of those early cards at the workshop, but you can do what you like when it comes to creating your own. 

Note: the website states “Please do not book tickets for children/siblings under 5 as they will not be able to participate. Additional family members accompanying younger siblings are welcome to enjoy our cafe and garden during the workshop.”

Find out more: https://www.rbkc.gov.uk/museums/family-fun-phantasmagorical-christmas-cards

While you’re there… 

👍️ Look around Leighton House. Three reasons why: 

1: You’re already there, so you may as well.
2: It looks AMAZING. 
3: Entry to the house normally costs £14 for adults (£5 for 6–18s), but your ticket to the workshop (£5 per child and free for one accompanying adult) includes free entry to the house. So you’d be a plonker not to. 

2: Walk into an IKEA bag and walk out with a bespoke one (and candyfloss)

Hus of FRAKTA
Saturday 11:00–20:00 and Sunday 12:00–18:00 (and daily until spring 2025)
216 Oxford Street, W1D 2JH
FREE entry
DiL age guidance: suitable for all

Interestingly, something like 74% of all marriages end inside an IKEA store. I can’t remember the source for this information, but it’s definitely true. And I’m pretty sure there are similar stats for families who visit together: everyone ends up disowning one another before they’ve had a chance to eat a single meatball. 

And this is why you or I should never go IKEA shopping with a loved one. 

But a random IKEA pop-up immersive thingammy with free stuff is a different situation entirely. And there’s one you can visit right now – in the location where the massive Oxford Circus Topshop used to be, and where the new IKEA store will officially open next spring. 

The main draw of Hus of FRAKTA is the “atelier” (or “ateljé” if you normally name everything in Swedish – which I’m pretty sure IKEA is known for). It's where you can initial your own FRAKTA bag with bespoke lettering for £3; the bags themselves cost 75p for a large one and 50p for a small one. (Fun fact: 45% of UK households own a FRAKTA bag, and 31% keep theirs for over five years.)

There’s also a delightfully small “curated” collection, where you can grab IKEA’s top sellers without braving the usual vortex of lost directions and mythical exits.

When you’re ready to leave, you first need to enter “an immersive experience which evokes the feeling of entering a FRAKTA bag, heighted with an ASMR soundscape and mirrored walls with 3D lighting – followed by a ‘press for candyfloss’ wall where customers can enjoy a taste of blue candyfloss on IKEA.” It’s a good thing IKEA wasn’t founded in Dublin, because this is about as far from an Irish exit as you can get. 

Find out more: https://www.ikea.com/gb/en/campaigns/hus-of-frakta-pub1c73a0b0/

While you’re there… 

👍️ Be sure to grab a couple of extra bags so you can recycle them into some incredible items: 

• A children’s raincoat

• Vegetable planters

• An apron

• A rolltop backpack

• And best of all, a bridal bathroom buddy

👍️ Go on a final nostalgic shopping trip in M&S before the famous art deco building is flattened. 

3: See how the world saw Winston – green velvet onesie and all

Churchill in Cartoons: Satirising a Statesman
Saturday and Sunday 10:00–18:00 (and daily until 23 February)
Imperial War Museum, Lambeth Road, SE1 6HZ
FREE
Imperial War Museum age guidance: suitable for all; DiL age guidance: probably most suitable for 9+

Here’s how I recommend you sell this exhibition to youngsters: it’s a chance to see some very very funny cartoons. (You can then expand on that once you have their interest.) If they’ve been learning about WWII in school, it probably won’t be too much effort to convince them to visit with you. 

The interesting thing about Churchill is that – despite him being one of our country’s most accomplished and inspirational PMs – there was a lot to ridicule and tons to criticise. While the original British Bulldog (turns out the insurance company was named after him, not vice versa) was an accomplished artist, won a Nobel Prize for Literature, invented a bunch of new words AND refused to surrender to the Nazis, he also wore a green velvet onesie and couldn’t kick his smoking habit. Oh yeah, and he also had some rather iffy personal opinions and made a fair few political blunders. 

Which is why he’s a great guy to satirise. It also can’t be denied that his visual appearance was very caricature-inducing. 

The exhibition covers his looooong career in the public eye, but also includes more recent cartoons in which he’s used to draw parallels with contemporary politicians. There are images from around the world – meaning you’ll get to see various international perspectives on his career and legacy. 

Find out more: https://www.iwm.org.uk/events/churchill-in-cartoons-satirising-a-statesman

While you’re there… 

👍️ The Churchill in Cartoons exhibition should only take you about 20–30 minutes, so you can then visit all the other free galleries in the museum. The Second World War Galleries and Turning Points: 1934 to 1945 gallery are fantastic in how they showcase both historical artefacts and personal stories from the time. 

4: Turn paper plates into Christmas miracles (ish)

Second Saturday Family Activity
Saturday 14 December, 11:00–16:00
Guildhall Art Gallery, Guildhall Yard, EC2V 5AE
FREE (you can turn up on the day, but it’s better to book tickets just in case)
Guildhall age guidance: 3-11 and their families

Not-a-hot-take: the permanent exhibition of paintings at Guildhall Art Gallery isn’t anything to get excited about. Thankfully, there are plenty of other reasons to visit – one of them being the family crafting events that take place every second Saturday of the month. 

This month, the theme is “Christmas”, of course, and there’ll be tables set up throughout the day to help you make stained-glass-inspired decorations and paper-plate angels. If you arrive by 11:30 or 14:30, there’ll also be 20 minuets of Christmas storytelling. The staff at Guildhall are always incredibly friendly and helpful – and they make sure every child goes home with some show-and-tell-worthy crafts.

As with all family events at Guildhall, there’ll also be a story corner with portable library, cushions, costumes, and soft play building bricks. 

One beef: you’re encouraged to “make a day of it” by bringing your lunch with you (as there’s no onsite cafe), but no food or drink is allowed the galleries – so the website explains that you can use the “warm cloakroom” for this purpose. I’ve been to that cloakroom. Yes, it’s warm. It’s also below ground, right by the toilets, and one of the most depressing ways to eat a meal that I can possibly think of. Guildhall people: if you’re reading this, please come up with some better alternatives. 

Find out more: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/second-saturday-family-activities-tickets-1080331082349

While you’re there… 

👍️ Stay in the very same building and head downstairs to the Roman amphitheatre. Incredibly, it was only discovered in 1988 while digging in preparation for re-building the gallery. (The original gallery was destroyed during the Blitz in 1941.) It’s the capital’s only Roman amphitheatre and, when it was discovered, it was integrated into designs for the new gallery. 

You can stand inside the surviving remains – right where crowds would have gathered to watch wild animal fights, public executions and gladiatorial combats – and there are lots of interactive thingammies and visuals to help you imagine yourself in the midst of it all. 

5: Sing gospel, craft crackers, and question everything 

Winter Reimagined: Reuse, Revive and Sing
Saturday 14 December, 13:00
Southbank Centre, Belvedere Road, SE1 8XX
FREE – no ticket required
Southbank Centre age guidance: suitable for all

I’ve always wondered why key-cutting shops also do shoe repair: it’s such a weird British idiosyncracy, and I’m both charmed and baffled by it. 

But now – in news that will relieve owners of such stores if they are indeed a front for BDSM shenanigans AS I ALWAYS SUSPECTED – my mind has a new preoccupation. Which is this: why would a children’s event offer a festive gospel choir performance and singalong, then segue into a sustainable craft workshop? 

Because… gospel music and upcycled crafting? It’s the most non-obvious combination since, well, key cutting and shoe repair. Nevertheless, the individual events sound fantastic – and the entire event is free. 

To help you plan your afternoon, the order of events is as follows: 

13:00–14:00: performance by Let’s Go Gospel Choir
14:00–14:45: singalong with Let’s Go Gospel Choir
15:00–18:00: fabric workshop with ESEA Unseen (which is about “textiles, imagination and community as a vehicle for liberation”)

The fabric workshop involves creating drawstring pouches out of all the materials they have available. There’ll also be a “learn to sew” table if you struggle with the basics, and – if you get bored of pouch-making – there’s the opportunity to make your own Christmas cracker. (Suggested cracker joke: “What happened to the man who stole an advent calendar?” “He got 24 days!”)

Find out more: https://www.southbankcentre.co.uk/whats-on/winter-re-imagined-re-use-re-vive-and-sing

While you’re there… 

👍️ Seems you can actually show up at 11:00 and take part in the crafting bit before the gospel-y stuff. Think of it as a gospel music sandwich, but you only eat one slice of “crafting”. There are a few differences in the Winter Reimagined: Family Morning (compared to the Family Afternoon outlined above), however: 

• In addition to the crafting and singing, there’s also a children’s book swap thing. (WHAAAT? As if this event couldn’t get any weirder.)

• The morning crafting workshop is all about the Christmas crackers and nothing to do with drawstring pouches. 

• There’s ALSO a joke-making workshop. (I was wrong: it just got weirder.)

• … And then it’s the gospel stuff at 13:00. 

👍️ MORE music and fun?? I feel like the Southbank Centre has decided to have an end-heavy, back-loaded kind of year when it comes to activities for children. This one features The Cocoa Butter Club’s cabaret, choreo and choir session (13:00–15:30), where you can sing, dance and join a band – no experience needed. There’s a big “ballroom boogie” at the end, and you’ll be encouraged to “move, dance and shake it out with the people you came with and the friends you’ve made throughout the session”. 

Bonuses! A bunch more events to consider…

👍️ In case you’re not yet Christmas-marketed out, It’s the Riverside East Big Christmas Market on Sunday – where you can “pick up Christmas gifts, drink festive cocktails and mulled drinks, eat from independent street food traders, enjoy face painting, workshops, DJs and festive films on the big screen”. 

👍️ It’s the last day of Southwark Park Galleries’ Annual Open on Saturday, which has been running since 1984. It provides “a rare opportunity for all artists at any stage of their career to submit work without a selection criteria, making it London’s longest-running open and democratic exhibition”. All works are for sale, with 60% of the value going directly to the artists and 40% contributing to the programme. 

👍️ Take part in a hands-on festive crafting experience at arts depot’s The Department of Winter on both Saturday and Sunday. You’ll be able to make flurries of snowflakes, design wrapping paper, play games and make a gift. 

👍️ The Royal Academy’s popular Make Studio is back on Sunday, and the theme is “Magic Marks”. You’ll be invited to experiment with ink and wax to make abstract art.