Summer Hols Week 3 ➡️ Free London Days Out With Curious Kids

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We’re halfway through the summer holidays but London shows no sign of slowing down. Read on for my time-saving selection of the best things to do with the kids this week - and all of them are completely free!

My personal battery is running lower than my WiFi signal, so I’m skipping this week’s recap of my own adventures (and some pesky images which won’t upload) so that I can get this edition out asap.

London’s best family-friendly museum days, theatre shows, and cultural outings - curated for busy parents. Forward to a friend so they don’t miss out,

Help Shape Family-Friendly Museums

Parents and caregivers, share your thoughts on what makes a museum visit truly welcoming for families.

Stephanie Foley, fellow newsletter reader and Masters student at Westminster University, is running a short online survey for her final project on playful interpretation in museums.

Your feedback will help shape future museum activities and make sure families’ voices are heard. All responses are anonymous and you can take part as much or as little as you like.

Click here to take the survey.

Free Summer Holiday Activities: Week 3 (11-17 August 2025)

Here’s this week’s pick of completely free and fun things to do from London’s best cultural and community venues. All are drop in unless otherwise marked.

🎤 Catch the premiere of Head’s Up: Frank’s Story, a high-energy mix of theatre, film, beatbox and rap by young refugee artists at Marylebone Theatre (11 Aug; all ages; book).

😂 Shakespeare gets silly when 440 Theatre’s riotous Romeo & Juliet bursts onto Eden Dock for Canary Wharf’s Alfresco Arts (11 Aug, ages 7+).

🏀 Bounce into Basketball by London Sports Festival at Guildhall Yard with junior coaching, cheerleading, wheelchair basketball with GB stars and “Turn Up & Play” fun for all ages (11–15 Aug; book).

🚲 Let little legs find their balance at Wheely Tots’ Toddler Cycle School at Spitalfields City Farm, with drop-in sessions, loan bikes and friendly instructors (12 Aug; ages 2-5; some bookable).

✂️ “Draw with scissors” and craft your own layered paper sculpture in the Playful Paper Sculpture Workshop at the National Gallery, inspired by Pieter de Hooch’s The Courtyard of a House in Delft (12–13 Aug; all ages).

🕵️ Crack codes, make decoders, hear mysterious tales, and train at spy school in Westminster Abbey’s Covert and Classified Family Day, inspired by historic spies (12 & 14 Aug; book; ages 3+).

🏴‍☠️ Hunt treasure, build fairy homes, test pirate catapults and set sail with nest boats in Discovery Days: Peter Pan at Hyde Park Learning Centre (12–14 Aug; best ages 2-9).

🎲 Take on a giant Second World War-themed board game at the National Army Museum, tackling tricky tasks and questions to race to the finish (12-15 Aug; ages 7+).

🪴 Make a gruesomely realistic fake wound and discover the healing power of freshly picked herbs at the Museum of the Order of St John (13 Aug; ages 3-10).

🐛 Craft your own bugs from air-dry clay at the Garden Museum’s Summer Family Session: Clay Minibeast Making, inspired by this year’s Summer Reading Challenge books (13 Aug; ages 3-12).

💘 Shipwrecks, disguises and mixed-up gender-bending romance fill Changeling Theatre’s lively adaptation of Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night at The Scoop (13 Aug; best ages 10+).

🎭 Watch historic toy theatres spring to life with a double bill of mini plays from Pollock’s Toy Museum at Hackney Museum (13–14 Aug, ages 3+; first come, first served).

🎶 Experiment with adaptive instruments and digital tools to create your own track in Digital Kids: Sound Explorers at V&A South Kensington (13–15, 20-22 & 27-29 Aug; ages 5+).

🌳 Build dens, dress up and let imaginations loose in Assemble Play’s Colour Forest at the Barbican Centre (13-15 Aug; limited walk ins available). Part of Play, Make, Do.

🏛️ Imagine, design and build bold Visions in LEGO cityscapes in Lincoln’s Inn Fields with Sir John Soane’s Museum (14 Aug; ages 4+; indoors if raining).

☀️Summer Family Fridays at Young V&A wrap up with clay coin making, a family design challenge, finger knitting for teens, and relaxed storytime for under 5s (15 Aug)

🎨 Try your hand at Pastel Portraits with Margo Wallace at Copeland Gallery, learning her tips and techniques in a relaxed all-ages workshop (15 Aug; book).

⚔️ Follow a Roman trail between London’s ancient sites, complete quests, dodge a roaming Centurion and win a prize in the Roman London Family Quest (15–16 Aug; book; ages 5–11). There’s also a Roman Family Activity Day on 14 Aug.

🧱 Create magical monsters from your wildest dreams (or nightmares) in Bricks McGee’s LEGO workshops at Old Spitalfields Market (15–18 Aug).

Free weekend wonders: River Crane Fun Day (16 Aug); Ilford inColour (16-17 Aug); and Summer Family Fun Day at Tower Hamlets Local Studies Library (16 Aug).

And here’s one to book ahead:

🔥 Help fight the flames in the Great Fire of London Family Show at London Museum Docklands as you uncover how the 1666 blaze began and join in saving the city (19, 21, 26 & 28 Aug; ages 5+; book).

And if you need more ideas for the summer holidays, check out my guide with 100+ ideas (free and paid).

👀 4,000 pairs of eyes are better than one… let me know what you get up to, and what you thought of it! That way, I know what’s really worth sharing with other parents.

Stick a fork in me - I’m done! Expect to hear from me next weekend with more free summer activities.

Until then, have a wonderful week,

Please check listings before heading out. Events can change or be cancelled at short notice; and, despite my best efforts, sometimes I make mistakes.