Booking now: 5 family arts activities you won’t want to miss

Leonardo da Vinci at the Science Museum Exhibition views © EPPDCSI – Ph Levy

I am always getting asked how on earth I find out about the things that I write about, especially when most activities are sold out quicker than you can lift a limb. Sometimes it’s a tip-off by press contacts, sometimes it’s my own digging around and sometimes it’s just pure luck – a chance spot on social media or a passing conversation with a friend. 
 
With half term holidays just around the corner, and Easter looming not long after, here are 5 unmissable arts activities where only the truly organised will be richly rewarded.
 
1. Imagine Children’s Festival
The Southbank Centre’s annual art, theatre and literary festival for kids takes hold for just under two weeks in February bringing a smorgasbord of family fun. This year’s event celebrates 100 years since the birth of the great poet and storyteller Roald Dahl, and is marked by its very own programme of events including an orchestral production of the BFG and the chance to make your own very own dream jar. The infamous giant storytelling bed also returns as well as a range of events and workshops ranging from improv to writing and poetry. Outside of the paid programme there’s also a host of free activities to get involved in, suitable for children of all ages. 
 
Imagine Children’s Festival
10-21 February, Southbank Centre, Belvedere Rd, London SE1 8XX
Admission prices vary. Check specific events for age guidance
See website for details

Giant storytelling bed at Imagine Children’s Festival

2. Leonardo da Vinci: The Mechanics of Genius
The much celebrated painter of the Mona Lisa has being given special recognition by the Science Museum in this incredible exhibition which honours his status as an inventor and engineer by re-building his inventions. Promising 13 interactive games and 10 multimedia installations, the exhibition also features historical models recreated from his famous drawings and sketches of flying machines and some more modern examples too. Set to be the must-see exhibition of the year and so exciting it’s sure to put the dinosaur queue at the neighbouring Natural History Museum to shame.   
 
Leonardo da Vinci: The Mechanics of Genius
10 February-4 September, Science Museum, Exhibition Road, South Kensington, London SW7 2DD.  Admission Adults £10, Children 7-16 £8, Under 7s Free
Recommended age 5+
 
3. Goosebumps Kids
Last year Adventures in Wonderland set the bar very high in the world of children’s immersive theatre, so with the handiwork of the same set designer (Samuel Wyer) and the same incredible location (The Vaults) I am expecting great things! Audience members are expected to wind their way through the abandoned railway tunnels and through a series of spine-tingling tales inspired by some of Stine’s most popular creations including The Blob That Ate Everyone and The Haunted Mask. Goosebumps Kids is billed to be a shorter (50 mins, no interval) and slightly less scary take on the adult version which opens on the 6th April, but is expected to have enough twists and turns to keep you all on your (curling) toes.
 
Goosebumps Kids
From 14 May, The Vaults Theatre, Leake St, London SE1 7NN
Admission for all visitors is £15 per visitor, plus £1.50 booking fee  
Recommended age 5-11
Book tickets for Goosebumps Kids

4. Half Term at the Royal Albert Hall
If you’re feeling the need to improve your child’s listening skills, what better place to go than one of Britain’s most famous concert halls, home to the annual Proms. As well as term-time music and storytelling sessions for the under 5s, half term brings a musical extravaganza to this incredible Grade II Listed building in the form of Jazz For Kids; a special jazz session for children aged 4-9 hosted by The Dixie Ticklers. Children are invited to sing, dance, listen to the music and meet the musicians, with plenty of opportunity to fondle the instruments for themselves. When you’re done, you’re in the perfect place to make a day of it – right on the doorstep of the fabulous Kensington Gardens, home to Princess Diana Memorial Playground and the Serpentine Galleries.
 
Jazz For Kids: Jumpin’ at the Royal Albert Hall
18 February, Royal Albert Hall, Kensington Gore, London SW7 2AP
10.30am and 1.30pm. Admission Adults £13.24, Children £7.12
Recommended age 4-9
See website for details of this and other half term events

My First Ballet: Sleeping Beauty

5. My First Ballet
For the fifth year running, My First Ballet returns to London’s Peacock Theatre in an exciting collaboration between English National Ballet and English National Ballet School, enabling children as young as three to experience an adaptation of a classic ballet production. This year’s treat is the romantic fairytale Sleeping Beauty, featuring all the magic of the traditional story but with the addition of narrators and shortened musical scores to help little ones to follow proceedings. A victim of their own success, these tailor-made productions are always a sell-out, so if you aren’t lucky enough to catch its preview in London, the production will be touring around the country until the end of May.

My First Ballet
24 March–2 April, Peacock Theatre, Portugal St, London WC2A 2HT
Times vary, check website for booking details. Tickets £10-£25, Family ticket £65
Recommended age 3+
Locations included in the nationwide tour are Norwich (8 & 9 Apr), Dartford (16 & 17 Apr), Hastings (7 & 8 May), Manchester (23 & 24 Apr), Bristol, (21 & 22 May), Woking (28 & 29 May) and Oxford (30 Apr & 1 May)

Twist and shout in the Tunnel of Love #southbankforlove

So with the hottest day of the year forecast, feeling brave (or crazy?) I decided to head to the South Bank with the kids to check out the Southbank Centre’s Festival of Love. For as long as I can remember, the Southbank Centre’s summer festival has always had plenty on for the kids; and this year is no different, with the fantastic addition of Sliding Gate by Sean Griffiths, six huge playground slides installed on Festival Terrace to symbolise family love and the ups and downs of family life.

The ever-reliable city beach was also in full effect (although lacking in buckets and spades!), as was the hilarious Appearing Rooms by Jeppe Hein, a popular installation-cum-water park, which left me smug at having packed a spare set of clothes after getting caught out last year for thinking that it looked very dry inside the rooms!

Having picnicked in Jubilee Gardens, we decided to escape the heat and have a nose inside the Tunnel of Love, housed in the Spirit Level of the Royal Festival Hall. Don’t be put off by the very x-rated looking exterior. It’s actually just a very playful and interactive installation piece by Heart n Soul, a leading creative arts company.

Today was the perfect day to explore this space as it was almost empty, with most of its planned activity taking place in the evening in the form of gigs, club nights and talks. Aside from the initial hall of fame walkway which features images of anyone and everyone from Jason Donovan to Prince Harry (to which my daughter said ‘mummy, who are all these people?!’), the highlight for me was the giant Twister mat.

It didn’t take too long to convince a 3 year old that clambering around on your hands and knees at the orders of an automated spinning board was a fun way to spend 15 minutes, it soon however descended into confusion, followed by an argument around who was or wasn’t cheating, mainly due to the issue that my only opponent still doesn’t quite know her left from her right! Thankfully, we had less of an audience than any game of Twister I have ever played. Don’t miss it. Just try to rope in more players.

Festival of Love runs until the 31st August.