👑 5 things to do in London this weekend with the kids (9–10 November)

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Hey DiLFS!

While you were busy throwing rotten eggs at your neighbours’ cars last week, your fellow Londoners were booking up all the shows, carols, pantos, grottos and fabulously niche festive experiences that this city does best. Loads of them are free, tons more are surprisingly affordable, and almost all seem to be good value. (Except every single Christmas Afternoon Tea, because paying anything costing more than a fiver for some bread, butter and a couple of pastries is a swizz.)  

EVERYTHING is booking up. And while I know many of us delight in going with the flow, deciding on the day and acting like we’re oh-so laid back about planning stuff, Christmas is not the time for it. 

To help you out, here’s a list of almost every Christmas thing to do this year. It’ll save you tens of hours of research work and will only cost you £3 – which is the equivalent of 1/38th of one serving of a Ritz Afternoon Tea. (The price will convert to about $3.93 on the payment platform I use. You won’t get charged any conversion fees.)

And now for this weekend’s plans – which can be a bit more last-minute. Enjoy!

Jeff xx

1: Honour the past with a light show and a Crown Jewels bonus

Poppy Fields at the Tower
Saturday and Sunday, timed tickets from 17:00 (running every 15 minutes until 19:30)
Tower of London, EC3N 4AB
Adults £19.50, children (5–15) £12.50

This sounds incredible. It’s a live show at the Tower of London, with images of the World Wars projected onto the building (with accompanying music) to commemorate the Remembrance period. 

I’m not sure whether to blame my school history lessons or my poor attention span as a child, but I never knew that the Tower played such an important role in both the wars. Recruits were trained there, foreign spies were executed there, and it was used as a fortification during WWII – as a last-ditch defence of the capital against German invasion. Thank goodness for Wikipedia. 

Poppy Fields at the Tower is billed as completely suitable for children – and the BBC informs me that artwork includes “falling poppy petals, silhouettes of solders and the World War One military medal “For Bravery in the Field” – so I’m reassured that this won’t be Saving Private Ryan territory that’ll instigate nightmares for weeks. If your kids have been learning about the wars at school or if they had relatives who were involved, it certainly seems like a worthwhile thing to attend. 

But I can’t deny it’s pricey. It does last 70 minutes and tickets do include special access to see the Crown Jewels after-hours (which is a big selling point, because I have it on good authority that the daytime queue can be seen from space). Even so: £19.50 for an adult is steep. All I can hope is that it’ll be one of those special occasions that they’ll remember for a while. 

Find out more: https://www.hrp.org.uk/tower-of-london/whats-on/poppy-fields-at-the-tower

While you’re there…

👍️ Tower Bridge is just around the corner. 

👍️ There’s a hotel nearby called CitizenM, which has a huge, fantastic lobby that children seem to love. There are comfy seats everywhere, fun-looking books and magazines, and it’s generally just a great place to hang out. The lobby serves coffees and various snacks. 

👍️ Over the river, across Tower Bridge, is Shad Thames – one of the most beautiful streets in London (check out some photos here). There are plenty of places to eat and get a drink here after the poppy show, and there’s also a Shad Thames Trail if you want to dig into the genuinely interesting history of the place. 

2: Enjoy free entry at St Paul’s – for one day only

Lord Mayor’s Show at St Paul’s
Saturday 9 November, 08:30–15:30
St Paul’s Cathedral, St. Paul's Churchyard, EC4M 8AD
FREE 

Talking of pricey… you know what else costs a fortune? Entry to St Paul’s Cathedral. Sightseeing tickets cost TWENTY FIVE POUNDS per adult – with 528 steps thrown in as a “bonus” if you want to chase the skyline. (Yes: it appears I’m saying that Sir Christopher Wren was an arse for not having invented a lift back in 1710.)

If you’re not a fan of surcharges or stairs, then Saturday is your lucky day: there’s free and unticketed entry to the cathedral floor and crypt, but no free entry to the Dome Galleries (it's an extra £10 per person on the day). So you can just be like, “Sorry kids, but remember how we said we’d make this a special FREE day out together? Such a shame. Climbing stairs is so much fun. Never mind.” 

FYI the reason for the free entry is to celebrate the Lord Mayor’s Show – a yearly event dating back over 800 years, which symbolises the City of London’s autonomy from the monarchy. 

Find out more: https://www.stpauls.co.uk/whats-on/lord-mayors-show-day-st-pauls-1 

While you’re there… 

👍️ There’s also a procession as part of the Lord Mayor’s Show, and it’ll go past St Paul’s at 11:13. Just be aware that there’ll be a LOT of people watching. 

👍️ Guildhall Art Gallery is hosting a few activities to celebrate the Lord Mayor’s Show. Between 11:00 and 16:00, children can get involved in crafts and activities such as making a tri-corner hat, designing a Lord Mayor-inspired collage, and taking part in a family gallery trail. There’ll also be storytelling (plus costumes, cushions and soft play building bricks) at 11:30 and 14:30.

3: Embrace your inner critic at the Southbank’s wackiest show

Haegue Yang: Leap Year
Saturday 10:00–19:00 and Sunday 10:00–17:00, plus other dates and times until 5 January
Hayward Gallery, Southbank Centre, Belvedere Road, SE1 8XX
Adults £19, children (12–16) £8, under-12s free

Eeesh. I thought I’d wait until more reviews emerged before recommending this exhibition, because what do I know about contemporary art? So I waited, and now the reviews are in. I wouldn’t exactly say they're “mixed”, because that would imply there are some good ones among the bad ones.

But here’s the thing about art critics: they don’t necessarily like what you or I like and appreciate. If you need your art to have a hefty emotional or intellectual impact every time, and for it to be brimming with feelings and insights, there’s a chance you’ll be disappointed. 

But if you’re ok with stuff that’s entertaining and looks nice (even if the artist intended for it to be saturated with meaning), and for it to be interesting and intriguing (perhaps for all the wrong reasons), you’re fine here. 

The sculptures on wheels – which move around the gallery at various intervals – are delightful. And all the stuff with Venetian blinds is part-wtf, part-lovely. The paper cutouts are great if you have a toddler who’s learning to say the word “triangle”, and the curtain of jangly bells (which you have to walk though to enter the space) is jolly good fun. 

Like most of the critics, I didn’t understand for a second what any of it was meant to represent. But unlike them, I enjoyed it anyway. 

Find out more: https://www.southbankcentre.co.uk/whats-on/haegue-yang-leap-year 

While you’re there… 

👍️ The Southbank Centre has jumped the gun on the festive season, but is making a concerted effort to hide it by referring to its newest events as “Winter” rather than “Christmas”. For starters, there’s Winter Light – a free outdoor display of installations that use light and colour to create a magical atmosphere (especially after dark). The Southbank Centre website really underplays how good it looks, so here are some photos from last year. 

👍️ Then there’s the Winter Market, which couldn’t be more Christmassy if it tried. We’re talking mulled wine, Alpine-style chalets and twinkly lights aplenty. 

4: Marvel at nature (from a safe distance)

Wildlife Photographer of the Year
Saturday 10:00–20:00 and Sunday 10:00–18:00, plus other dates and times until 29 June 2025
Natural History Museum, East Pavilion Gallery, SW7 5BD
Adults £18, children (4–16) £10.95, under-4s free

I couldn’t pretend to enjoy a nature documentary if you paid me. A photo of a lion mauling a zebra doesn’t make me feel amazed by nature; it makes me feel sick. Birdsong? Torture. I can’t even muster up any admiration for David Attenborough: his hushed awe just annoys me too much. 

If you’re getting the hint, wildlife doesn’t do it for me. Never has. Yet the Wildlife Photographer of the Year exhibition has always been one of my must-visits. What can I say? In the words of Walt Whitman, “I contain multitudes.” 

This year’s entries are gasp-worthy. The weird slimy insects I can live without. And the orangutan in shorts just makes me feel sad (that’s probably the point). But so many are – and I can’t believe I’m about to use this word – majestic. Even when there’s bonking involved. Others are so, so cute, while a fair few are just silly – but in a good way. 

I’ve only viewed the online gallery so far, but I’m booking us into the exhibition asap. Just don’t expect me to sponsor a panda anytime soon. 

Find out more: https://www.nhm.ac.uk/visit/exhibitions/wildlife-photographer-of-the-year.html 

While you’re there… 

👍️ The Natural History Museum has created a kids’ activity trail for you to print out and take with you. The first activity feels a bit too much like what they’d do on a school trip, and the second and third ones (a maze and word search) are a bit phoned-in. Get past those ones, though, and they’re great! 

5: Watch young maestros make Shostakovich look easy

National Children’s Orchestra Winter Concert
Sunday 10 November, 15:00
Woolwich Works (The Fireworks Factory), 11 No. 1 Street, SE18 6HD
Adults £20.50, children (5–17) £7.50, under-5s free

Is there any other single venue in London where you can donate blood, get swept up in an ABBA party night, outsmart the competition in a weekly pub quiz, sneak away for a festive sisterland solstice (admittedly you may not be able to do this one), learn to dance, bond over “yarn and friendship” for a day, do good while having fun, buy art and laugh a lot?  

No. The answer is no. Woolwich Works is one of a kind.

And to top it all off, they always have excellent family events too – such as this weekend’s National Children’s Orchestra Winter Concert. (Will anyone refer to the event by its full name? Admittedly, it’s better than The International Conference on Harmonization of Technical Requirements for Registration of Pharmaceuticals for Human Use. But if TICOHOTRFROPFHU jumped out of a window, would the NCOWC? Quite.)

The musicians in the orchestra are just 13 and 14 years old, and this concert will showcase all the hard work they’ve put into two residential orchestra programmes, artist workshops and creative work over the past year. If your attempts at Tiger Dad-ing your way into having child musical prodigies aren’t working out, this performance could be all they need to get them taking violin practice seriously. 

Find out more: https://www.woolwich.works/events/national-childrens-orchestra-winter-concert 

While you’re there… 

👍️ Maryon Wilson Animal Park is a happy home to ducks, geese, chickens, sheep, goats, pigs, ponies and deer. It's found inside Maryon Wilson Park – a beautiful wooded area with streams and open grassland and all the idyllic things you miss about the countryside (until you remember that the countryside is mostly boring). It’s about a 15-minute drive or 20-minute bus ride from Woolwich Works. 

👍️ The Royal Arsenal has been around since the late 1600s, as the place where armaments and ammunition were manufactured for the British Armed Forces. These days, however, the only kind of “shots” you'll find are the espresso and tequila kind 🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️. It’s all green open spaces, creative places, and restaurants, cafes and bars, and it's just a grenade's toss 🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️ from Woolwich Works.