May half term is here - although I’m sure last time I blinked it was Easter! And with the long summer holiday looming, I reckon we could do with some purse-friendly ideas. So this newsletter contains five free things to do every day of the May half term holidays, plus weekend ideas too.

May has been such a fun month for the Museum Family so far. We wound a rainbow round the maypole during a family ceilidh at Cecil Sharp House, initiated Museum Girl into Punch and Judy at the Covent Garden May Fayre and Puppet Festival and shimmied along the outside of a historic barge in the IWA Canalway Cavalcade. And MG coloured in the walls at Greenwich Peninsula’s Urban Village Fete.

I checked out the openings of two new animal-themed exhibitions. Charles Dickens Museum’s Faithful Companions has a welcoming reading and play space for young ones. Over at the Natural History Museum, Birds: Brilliant and Bizarre is filled with fascinating facts for any avian fan eager to read the captions - although there are too few interactives to keep littler ones engaged.

To celebrate his birthday, Museum Dad and I had a date day (well, until school run called!) I’m so glad we caught Frank Auerbach. The Charcoal Heads at The Courtauld before it closes, it’s an intense and powerful show of works I’d never known about. I’m not entirely sure The Vinyl Factory — Reverb at 180 Studios hangs together as an exhibition, but there’s some fascinating works which merit more time than we had, so we’ll be back.

I might be quieter on social media whilst I lean into family time this half term. But please continue to tag, email and DM me about your visits and I’ll share when I can on Instagram Stories.

FREE May Half Term 2024 Activities

Let's dive into my selection of completely FREE family activities in London for this May Half Term.

I've included up to 5 recommendations per day. Some events run on multiple days, so do check them all. Everything listed currently has space or is a drop-in event. For specific times and booking details, click the link. Hurry – you don't want to miss out.

Need more inspo? Take a look at my bumper guide to the May half term, showcasing over 100 activities across London (both paid and free!).

Monday 27 May 2024

1. Join an interactive musical storytelling session about the life and inventions of OG engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel at National Maritime Museum, SE10. Drop in. Different engineering-themed activities run daily 26 May-2 June 2024.

2. Make a pipe cleaner skeleton or a Victorian paper doll, and learn about how doctors of the past worked to keep our bodies healthy in Brilliant Bodies at the Old Operating Theatre Museum & Herb Garret, SE1. Book. Note access is via a 52-step spiral staircase. Plus card making workshop on 28 May.

3. See an 1886 sewage works steam pump in full swing in Special Steaming Open Day at Markfield Beam Engine and Museum, N15. Drop in.

4. Visit the White House in Dagenham, RM8 for a special Spring Garden Party. With family workshops, artist-led activities, food and live music. Book.

5. Play with masks, ribbons, costumes, blocks, balls and buckets under a rainbow of organza in a special Bank Holiday opening of Play Works at Orleans House Gallery, TW1. Book. Runs until 23 June 2024, usually Tuesday-Sunday.

Tuesday 28 May 2024

1. Bring clay faces to life with animation at the Fun With Faces Family Day at National Portrait Gallery, WC2. Make a giant cardboard head mask and join a gallery procession. Paint a portrait on a mug and create a colourful paper collage. Drop in, limited capacity.

2. Make hanging sculptures that sway, swing, and swirl through touch and height in Uniqlo Tate Play Holiday Make Studio – Kinetic at Tate Modern, SE1. With soft, playful space for Under 5s. Runs 25 May-2 June 2024. Drop in.

3. Create a plant print with Hapa zome, design a park of the future, try calligraphy and meet Queen Victoria in Discovery Day – Time Travellers at The Hyde Park Learning Centre, W1. Drop in. Also 29-30 May 2024.

4. Today’s a great day to visit Museum of London Docklands, E14. Take a dance workshop through the galleries in Materials in motion, go on a musical storytelling adventure with The adventures of Billy Button, or hear the story of Sadie the seamstress in The Emperor of Rock. Free, mix of drop in and tickets allocated on arrival. Some events run other dates.

5. Learn about Allies’ D-Day preparations in World War Two and create a fake army to deceive the enemy in D-Day Deception at National Army Museum, SW3. Drop in. Ages 5+. Also 29-31 May 2024.

Wednesday 29 May 2024

1. Hammer your own playground with Woodland Tribe at Brockwell Bounce in Brockwell Park, SE24. Plus Big Fish Little Fish family rave, dance lessons, silliness with Sharkey and George, inflatable bunjee run, carnival mask making, slime mixing, screen printing and much, much more! Drop in.

2. Explore their garden and create your own botanical artwork to take home in Fantastic Ferns at Museum of the Order of St John, EC1. Drop in.

3. Make seed bomb sculptures, design cyanotype flags and press eco-bricks in Sow, Press, Fly! family day at Museum of the Home, E2. Drop in.

4. Follow a spring scavenger trail, take a closer look at nature with binoculars, create your own nature crafts and try interactive games in Nature Roadshows at St. James’s Park, SW1. Drop in. Also on 31 May 2024 at Kensington Gardens.

5. Head back to Museum of London Docklands, E14, for two Under 5 fashion-themed activities: Frocks at the Docks play session and Musical threads with Baby Broadway, featuring West End singers, iconic tunes, puppets, bubbles and action songs. Drop in.

Thursday 30 May 2024

1. Try fun experimental drawing activities with artists at pop-up stations in Make Your Mark! at British Museum, WC1. Drop in. Book museum entry.

2. Inspired by their Fanciful Figures exhibition, make Georgian silhouettes at the Family Drop-in at Sir John Soane’s Museum, WC2. Drop in. Ages 4+.

3. Enjoy creative play and explore paintings through shapes and mirrors, reflection and sparkling gold in Gold reflections at National Gallery, WC2. Drop in.

4. Make, decorate and take home a ‘story scroll’ and contribute towards a mountain scene mural in Shavuot Half Term Family Activity Day with the Jewish Museum at Swiss Cottage Library, NW3. Drop in.

5. Watch Daffy, Maple, and Thistle get a new summer look with sheep shearing at Spring Fair at Vauxhall City Farm, SE11. Plus kids film club, art and craft, springtime educational workshop. Free, book. Cuddle corner at additional charge.

Friday 31 May 2024

1. Solve mysteries, explore exhibits in an interactive adventure by Moulded Theatre Company. Dr. You's Case Notes - The Opossum & The Battery at Grant Museum of Zoology, WC1. Book / drop in.

2. Be snap happy at V&A South Kensington, SW7 with photography workshops including Experiments with Photography, Digital Kids: Crafty Cameras! and Pop up Performance: I am the Camera. Drop in. Ages 5+. Runs 29-31 May 2024. Ages 5+.

3. Help build a sprawling bird sanctuary from Lego, marvel at feathers under the microscope, join a new Family Nature Talk or quiz a scientist in May Half Term Family Festival at Natural History Museum, SW7. Drop in. Runs 25 May-2 June 2024.

4. Get to know one of the world’s leading ballet companies in a special one-off workshop, English National Ballet: Creative dance workshops at Poplar Union, E14. No experience needed! Book. Ages 11 – 19 only.

5. Have fun outdoors with clay in Cranham Brickfields Clay Art in Sunnycroft Gardens, RM14. Make impressions, marks and moulds to create beautiful pieces that will be set with plaster, plus play and sculpt with clay. Book. All ages.
   

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Are you a last minute Lara or an Anne with a plan?

This week, I was asked if I could share my June and July What’s On Guides already, so that person could plan their weekends further in advance.

That got me thinking - when do YOU want my monthly guides? Would you like them the weekend before the month starts, as I do presently? Or would you prefer a couple of weeks beforehand?

I hold back the guide until the new month to include last-minute events from smaller venues. It also means I can confirm availability just before the month starts, making it more likely the guide will still be useful as the weeks go on. But if it that’s not working for you, I need to know.

Hit reply and let me know if you want the monthly what’s on guides earlier, or to stay as they are.

What’s FREE this weekend 25-26 May 2024

Finally, here’s more free ideas to tide you over this weekend. Click the links for more details, exact timings and any booking info before heading out.

1. Last chance to see: Chelsea In Bloom finishes 26 May 2024 and Belgravia in Bloom ends 27 May 2024.

2. Origami Animals with Lizzie at Grant Museum of Zoology, WC1. 25 May 2024.

3. Hands on Armour – Hot Stuff at Wallace Collection, W1. 25 May 2024.

4. Make clay earth tenders in Family Space at South London Gallery, SE5. 25 May 2024.

5. Music, dance workshops and crafts in Summer Saturdays at Chrisp Street Market, E14. 25 May 2024.

6. Make Croydon better free family art workshop with Turf Project, CR0. 25 May 2024.

7. Hands-on activities in Weekend of Wildlife at Morden Hall Park, SM4. 25-26 May 2024.

8. Big Weaving with Matt Shaw at Young V&A, E2. 25-26 May 2024.

9. Cycle traffic-free in Central London, plus family fun zones in Ford Ride London Freecycle. 26 May 2024.

I’ll be back at the end of half term (hopefully feeling refreshed!) with my June Whats On Guide.

Until then, have fun!

Bye for now,

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