• Dads in London
  • Posts
  • šŸŽļø 5 things to do in London this weekend with the kids (22ā€“23 February)

šŸŽļø 5 things to do in London this weekend with the kids (22ā€“23 February)

Sponsored by

Get in front of 8,600 of the best people in London! Find out about sponsored ads here.

Hey DiLFs! 

That exciting thing I was planning to share with you this week? Damn: you remembered. NEXT week ā€“ I promise. Hold me to it! 

For now, letā€™s not dwell on that: letā€™s instead look at all the wonderful goodies Iā€™ve compiled for this weekend, to help you see out half term in style. 

Enjoy! 

Jeff xx

PS Random question:

Would you like this newsletter to include photos of the events?

Login or Subscribe to participate in polls.

CBeebies Wildlife Jamboree
Sunday 23 February, 13:00 and 15:15
Southbank Centre, Belvedere Road, SE1 8XX
Ā£14ā€“Ā£35 per person
Southbank Centre age guidance: 2+

When I googled this event for further details (because seriously: a shrug emoji is more informative that the info youā€™ll find on the Southbank Centre website), I realised that a recording of the entire performance is available on iPlayer. Itā€™s from July 2024, so ā€“ unless CBeebies has been on a hiring spree of cartoon characters or the definition of ā€œwildlifeā€ has changed recently ā€“ itā€™s likely that the one this weekend will be quite similar. 

Still, Iā€™d recommend you get tickets to the Royal Festival Hall rather than watch at home: thereā€™s nothing quite like the atmosphere of a live orchestra performing alongside animated undersea adventurers and various weird-looking dogs. 

Oh yes, but what is it exactly? The gist is that there are real people on stage accompanied by cartoon characters on a massive screen behind them, and together theyā€™re planning a huge jamboree with some unusual wildlife guests. Dodge (that effing puppet dog who must have the worldā€™s most generous golden handcuffs deal because heā€™s in EVERYTHING CBeebies-related) is there, and heā€™s in charge of invitations. Which I think means: chaos ensues. 

There are singalong songs, highbrow tunes, and various scrapes and escapades. The CBeebies East London Schoolsā€™ Choir will be singing, and the Sinfonia Smith Square orchestra will be providing the music ā€“ which relieves me greatly because the Sinfonia Smith Square orchestra is the best. (I mean, they sounded very much in tune when I last saw them. I donā€™t genuinely know if theyā€™re ā€œthe bestā€ because I canā€™t tell an orchestra from my elbow, but everyone seems to highly rate them.)

While youā€™re thereā€¦ 

šŸ‘ļø I canā€™t wrap my head around the concept of Rollercoaster (on Saturday, also at the Southbank Centre), but it sounds like the sort of thing I wish Iā€™d booked before agreeing to a playdate that day. ā€œStrap in for pop-punk juggling as juggler Wes Peden shares his cutting-edge tricks inspired by corkscrews, adrenaline and high-tech seatbelts.ā€

As well as focusing on, err, cutting-edge harnesses (at least they have an eye on safety?), the show also features ā€œa four-metre transparent tube making balls spiral around Pedenā€™s bodyā€. The juggling is apparently next-level, and is ā€œaccompanied by electro beats composed of distorted rollercoaster soundsā€. YMMV, but that last bit is enough to make me glad I went with the playdate option. 

šŸ‘ļø For something a little more low-key, go see Thereā€™s a Bear on My Chair (Saturday and Sunday) ā€“ which is the first ever stage adaptation of two books: Thereā€™s a Bear on My Chair and Thereā€™s a Mouse in My House by Ross Collins. 

Tarot - Origins & Afterlives
Saturday 22 February, 10:00ā€“17:00 (and other dates until 30 April)
Warburg Institute, Woburn Square, WC1H 0AB
FREE (but booking is required)
DiL age guidance: 6+

Note: tickets for this Saturday are nearly gone, but you can book for many other dates in the future. 

Tarot reading is a topic that ā€“ much like queueing etiquette ā€“ I should be more open-minded about. 

I only realised this approximately 15 minutes ago, after reading a helpful review of the exhibition that puts tarot in context and gives it much more backstory. To show you how far Iā€™ve come already, I can now appreciate that tarot is much more than ā€œscam artists scamming vulnerable people with their scammy little deck of scam-infused cards. SCAM.ā€ When tarot first became a thing, for example, it had a kind of humanist angle and was a serious game that allowed people ā€œto mediate the complexity of the world around themā€ ā€“ and it seems to be returning to these roots, somewhat, at the moment. 

Go me for personal growth! 

The exhibition presents a sequence of important moments throughout the history of tarot ā€“ from the origin story through all the transformations that the cards have undergone due to the influence of artists, mystics and writers. The gallery says it has some extremely rare and sought-after cards on display, and Iā€™ll have to trust that theyā€™re telling the truth because I only became non-cynically interested in tarot 17 minutes ago. What I do know is that ā€œAustin Osmanā€™s Square hand-painted Tarot deckā€ sounds AWESOME, and I hope Iā€™m not disappointed when I see it for real. 

While youā€™re thereā€¦

šŸ‘ļø Coramā€™s Fields is around the corner and I will question your childā€™s honesty if they say they donā€™t like it there. Itā€™s a seven-acre space with multiple playgrounds (each with different facilities), sand pits, a cafe, lawns, picnic tables, a wildlife garden and a paddling pool. Adults are only allowed in if accompanied by a child, which makes the place feel extra wholesome and friendly. 

The only downside? As with most places that contain ā€œFieldsā€ in the name, itā€™s outside. And itā€™s February. Youā€™ll be standing around outside in February. 

šŸ‘ļø Lambā€™s Conduit Street is lovely for restaurants and cafes at all price points, as well as shops that sell stuff you donā€™t need but have just decided you really want.

Quick interruption (it'll only take a sec)

If you're enjoying the Dads in London newsletter and think others would like it too, please do forward it to a friend or four!

And remember: if you refer just ONE person, youā€™ll get my free download of year-round activities and venues that are always great for kids. 

Commonwealth Festival
Saturday 22 February, 10:00ā€“14:30
The Chapter Office, Westminster Abbey, 20 Deanā€™s Yard, SW1P 3PA
FREE (but you need to buy general admission tickets: 1 adult + 1 child: Ā£30, extra child Ā£13, extra adult Ā£30
DiL age guidance: suitable for all

I used to live near a Commonwealth-themed cafe in Finsbury Park called Blighty. Their Full English was nicknamed The Winston, the Full Vegan was The Gandhi, the Full American was The Lincoln andā€¦ you get their drift.

The Winston featured bone marrow, which I mention only because ā€œgeniusā€, ā€œyumā€, and ā€œWHY DID I NOT EAT THERE DAILY Iā€™M AN IDIOT.ā€

ā€œThe Winstonā€ is also why the cafe was stormed by activists in 2018: they decided that naming a sausage and some beans (and of course the bone marrow) after Mr Churchill glorified colonialism (which the owners strongly denied).

Where was I going with this? Oh yes. First: bone marrow in a Full English should be mandatory. Second: my actual pointā€¦

Iā€™m surprised that Westminster Abbey has a Commonwealth Festival. I assumed that many people (rightly or wrongly) equate ā€œcelebrating the Commonwealthā€ with ā€œcelebrating colonialismā€ ā€“ and that the Abbey would rather stay away from anything that risked placards and egg-throwing. 

Maybe the Commonwealth is less controversial than I thought, because Westminster Abbey couldnā€™t be making a bigger deal out of it than if it strapped a giant crown to the London Eye and had the King bungee jump off it.

Thereā€™ll be performances (steel bands, Māori dancing, African drumming), family workshops, storytelling, arts and crafts, educational bits, and photos and archives to ā€œpour overā€, which I hope is a typo but Iā€™ll double check when I visit.

It all sounds like fantastic fun, although Iā€™m still not sure if itā€™s a history lesson, a celebration, or just a way to get kids excited about drumming while adults sidestep the empire chat.

 While youā€™re thereā€¦ 

šŸ‘ļø Most museums or visitor attractions have two choices for where to eat. There are the cafes that offer an assortment of overpriced muffins, a couple of limp sandwiches and not much else. And then there are the restaurants ā€“ where vegetables are ā€œbraisedā€, salads have ā€œsoftā€ leaves, butter is ā€œculturedā€ or ā€œmisoā€ or ā€œsageā€, and prices are ā€œI guess weā€™ll have that damn cafe muffin after all.ā€

If both options strike you as equally undesirable, youā€™ll be pleasantly surprised by The Cellarium CafĆ© and Terrace. It serves proper food youā€™ll actually want to eat, and is reasonably priced (unless youā€™re comparing it to Wetherspoons, in which case nothing will ever be reasonably priced again). 

Short ad break (donā€™t go off to make a cuppa: itā€™s a good one)

Participate in running research with RunDot and get two free months of run training

It is an annual research initiative that uses optimized run training to help runners reach their true potential.

Why should you join?

RunDot athletes improve their running abilities, on average, 3.2x more than non-users, and experience performance improvements in 30% less training time.

Qualified participants also receive 2 free months of run training.

Do you qualify?

You are a good fit if you check these boxes:

  • You train with a GPS-enabled device

  • You have not used RunDot or TriDot in the last 12 months

  • You are not a professional runner

  • You are enthusiastic and motivated to accomplish your running goals

Do you meet these criteria?

Reverb
Saturday and Sunday, 12:00ā€“19:00 (and other dates until 2 March)
180 Studios, 180 The Strand, WC2R 1EA
Adults Ā£20, children 13ā€“18 Ā£15, under-13s free
DiL age guidance: 3+

This exhibition-of-sorts has been around for a while, but online descriptions gave me the thinking wobbles: I couldnā€™t figure out what Iā€™d be experiencing. So instead of trying to explain it to you while second-guessing myself into a coma, I thought Iā€™d just wait until Iā€™d actually visited and seen for myself. 

That visit has now happened, and the seeing has taken place ā€“ and in many ways I have even less of a clue than before I went. The organisers say that Reverb ā€œcelebrates the intersection of art and soundā€ with ā€œsite-specific audio-visual installations and sonic experiencesā€, which I thought might mean art installations accompanied by weird sound effects ā€“ and occasionally I was right. (The melting ice block thing was pretty cool.) But mostly it seemed to be large-screen videos of music performances or of important events in history. 

Was I disappointed? No ā€“ for two reasons. Firstly, Iā€™m clearly the problem here: I donā€™t think Iā€™m cultured enough to appreciate this sort of art, whereas reviewers seem to love the concept and fully grasp what was going on. Secondly, I actually enjoyed it ā€“ and so did my kids. 

I found that if I ignored the  exhibitionā€™s attempts to apply an overarching theme to everything ā€“ if I simply took each individual installation for what it is ā€“ it was a fantastic experience. Many of the music performances are brilliantly (and creatively) displayed, and the spoken word stuff provided some useful history lessons. 

Iā€™ll never forget the look on my seven-year-oldā€™s face when we entered the first ā€œroomā€ and watched Stan Douglasā€™s Luanda-Kinshasa; he was entranced, and couldnā€™t stop jigging along to the six-hour jam session. (We did not watch it all. Hereā€™s a clip if youā€™re interested.) He even said it was better than The Floor is Lava song, which is high praise indeed. 

So yes. Thereā€™s a good chance Iā€™m ignoring something profound or inspirational ā€“ a project of creative genius. But even if I am, I found a way to have a great time anyway. 

While youā€™re thereā€¦ 

šŸ‘ļø Waterloo Bridge has my favourite views in London. Look west to Big Ben, the South Bank and London Eye, and look east for Tower Bridge, Canary Wharf and St Paulā€™s Cathedral. 

K1 Speed (formerly Capital Karts)
Saturday and Sunday, 09:00ā€“17:00 (junior races finish at 17:00; adult races go on until 23:00) and other future dates
15 Cabot Square, E14 4QS
Ā£29ā€“Ā£69 per person, depending on number of races
K1 Speed age guidance: STRICTLY 7+ only

Have you ever worked for a company that invented testimonials for its website? I have. I may have even written a few of the glowing endorsements myself. And, as every fake-testimonial writer should do, I made sure they were realistic enough to pass for reality. 

The people at K1 Speed didnā€™t get the requisite training. The testimonials on their homepage are so anodyne and so conveniently concise that even ChatGPT would be like, "That reads like the first draft of a chatbot that got scrapped."

ā€œFantastic! Highly recommend. Great fun for all the family,ā€ says one. ā€œKids loved it and safety was well maintained,ā€ claims another. And my favourite, because it must have been ripped from the whiteboard of an in-house marketing meeting: ā€œGreat fun day out if youā€™re taking kids or just a big kid yourself.ā€

Anyway! This place has a 4.2 rating on Google (658 reviews), which seems more realistic. Itā€™s ā€œthe UKā€™s fastest indoor go karting trackā€ with ā€œ100%, all-electric kartsā€ that can reach speeds of 45mph. It opened last year, but I never bothered to mention it because I thought it was 18+. (Thatā€™s because thereā€™s another place in Canary Wharf called Fairgame, which is essentially an indoor fairground and looks amazing ā€“ and it is indeed 18+.)

Is K1 Speed actually worth it, though, or am I just using it as an excuse to blather on about fake testimonials and big up other venues that you should dump your kids to visit? Itā€™s all those things. 

The genuine reviews have some decent criticisms and some slightly hmmm ones (apparently someoneā€™s boyfriend wasnā€™t as good as he thought heā€™d be on the track). But itā€™s mostly praise ā€“ and parents agree that itā€™s a great day out. 

ā€œFantastic! Highly recommend. Great fun for all the family,ā€ one might say. 

Was this email forwarded to you? Sign up!

Iā€™ll email you once a week, and you can unsubscribe at any time.