Totally free family fun this May half term!

Happy Friday everyone! I’m back after a week’s break from the newsletter so I could focus on bringing you (probably) the only guide to the May half term holidays you’ll need! More below.

What have we been up over the last couple of weeks?

The Coronation went by in a blur! Despite the rain, we coloured in with artist Samme Snow at Coal Drops Yard. The Royal Opera House Family Sunday was packed with performances and activities whilst the St Paul’s Church Covent Garden party felt like a welcoming village fete in the heart of London! On our first visit to the Food Museum we were inspired by foraging and baked Coronation scones in an outdoor oven.

I’ve had fun child-free time with my cultural buddies - from cocktails in the Painter’s Room in Claridges to Middle Temple Hall lunch. I raised a candyfloss cloud-covered glass to toast the new skylight and successful community projects at The Old Operating Theatre. And despite not understanding it, I somehow triumphed in poker to take home a copy of the newly launched Monte Carlo book at Maison Assouline.

I was impressed by the storytelling in two very different places which opened this week - the Hunterian Museum and The Offbeat Sari at Design Museum. If you have a teen who wants to be a medic or a fashion designer, take them!

Let me know what cultural activities you've been up to - hit reply, post in my Facebook group or DM me on Instagram. And please do tag me if I inspire a day out - I love hearing how you get on.

May Half Term 2023: 25+ FREE activities with kids

Only one week until the final half term of the school year! I’ve just shared 100+ ideas for things to do with kids this May half term in my latest blog post - click here to read.

And to make it even easier to enjoy culture for less, here’s 25+ completely free activities coming up in May half term:

1. Judge for yourself the best ‘Flowers on Film’ floral displays in Chelsea In Bloom. 22-28 May 2023.

2. And there’s more floral fun with Into the Wild! in Belgravia in Bloom. 23-28 May 2023.

3. Ally Pally's 150th birthday party includes theatre performances, circus skills training, pinhole camera making and more. 27 May 2023. Book/drop in.

4. Bring a picnic and enjoy crafts and storytelling in England's oldest garden in Family Day: Coronation celebration garden party at Westminster Abbey. 27 May 2023.

5. It’s Museum of London Docklands’ 20th birthday! Play Victorian parlour games and join an old-fashioned East End knees-up. 27 May-4 June 2023.

6. Create a giant activist fabric banner in Empower Holiday Make Studio at Tate Modern. 27 May-4 June 2023, with special under 5s activities.

7. Make your own paper toy and try wartime games in Play through time at Imperial War Museum London. 27 May-4 June 2023, ages 5+.

8. Survey maps and navigation from across the globe in May Half Term: Making Maps at National Maritime Museum. 27 May-4 June 2023.

9. Learn how to grow your own food, ride a pedal plane and make a giant rag rug in 1940s week at RAF Museum London. 27 May-4 June 2023.

10. Explore people and portraits in Spring Family Day at Royal Academy of Arts. 28 May 2023.

11. Construct sculptures with just newspaper and tape at Sunday Spot at South London Gallery. 28 May 2023, ages 5-12.

12. See an 1886 sewage works steam pump in full swing on a special steaming open day at Markfield Beam Engine and Museum. 28-29 May 2023.

13. Fun in gWRENwich at Old Royal Naval College explores architecture with photography (29-30 May 2023, book) and junk modelling workshops (1-2 June 2023).

14. Explore prehistoric life through fossils, activities and talks in Family fun: be a palaeontologist at the Natural History Museum. 29 May-2 June 2023.

15. Create wall art inspired by Caribbean culture in Drop-in Design: Celebration Wall Art at V&A Museum. 30 May 2023, ages 5+.

16. There's two free family tours at National Gallery. Take a family sketching tour and learn about Decoding pictures. 30 May-1 June 2023, ages 5+.

17. Meet Queen Victoria and design a park of the future in Discovery Day - Time Travellers at Hyde Park LookOut Centre. 30 May-1 June 2023.

18. Make your own royal guardsman or cypher in Coronation Crafts at National Army Museum. 30 May-1 June 2023, ages 5+.

19. Hear from a Victorian pickpocket with a penchant for danger in The Curious Tales of Polly Pickles! at Museum of London Docklands. 30 May-1 June 2023.

20. Find out about saving money, or if the vault was broken into at interactive storytelling at the Bank of England Museum. 30 May-1 June 2023, book.

21. Plus earn a golden sticker when you take the Wren trail around the Bank of England Museum and St Paul's Cathedral garden. 31 May-1 June 2023.

22. Participate in magical tales in Families Storytelling: Caribbean Tales at V&A Museum. 31 May 2023, ages 5+.

23. Design a traditional Korean mask in Drop-in Design: Digital Tal-nori at V&A Museum. 1-2 June 2023, ages 5+.

24. Join the British Museum to celebrate the art and culture of ancient Persia and Greece with crafts and storytelling. 1-2 June 2023, drop in.

25. Visit Scotland's most famous loch and have a knees-up at The Marvellous Myth Hunter Ceilidh on the Riverside Terrace, Southbank Centre. 2 June 2023. Outdoors.

26. Meet your favourite Tudor characters in Totally Tudor Tales: Royals, rascals and ruffs at Valence House Museum. 2-3 June 2023.

27. Party like it’s 1523 in Come have a Merrie Tudor Tyme Workshop at The Charterhouse. 3 June 2023, book.
    

    I’ll share more May half term events as they are announced over on my Instagram stories.

Weekend activities: 20-21 May 2023

No plans for the weekend? Don’t despair - all these events have availability:

1. Creative play space for under 5s and their families in Squish Space at Barbican. 20 May 2023. Free, book/drop in.

2. Meet Mary Seacole at Florence Nightingale Museum. 20 May 2023. Paid, drop in.

3. Families Create: Action Painting! with artist Rosie Gibbens at Zabludowicz Collection. 20 May 2023. Free, book/drop in.

4. Pigs and Bears Don’t Come in Pairs at Lyric Theatre. 20 May 2023. Paid, book. Ages 3-7.

5. Enjoy maypole dancing, face painting, crafts, treasure hunt and balloon modelling at West Dulwich Spring Fair. 20 May 2023. Free.

6. Join designer BY.WUZZY for Redesigning and repurposing your denim (ages 13-17) at V&A Museum. 20 May 2023. Paid, book.

7. Badge making and bug hunt at historic Nunhead Cemetery open day. 20 May 2023.

8. It’s Hampton Kempton waterworks railway’s Gala weekend. 20-21 May 2023. Paid, book.

9. Silly games and old fashioned fun at Wandsworth Bridge Road Spring Fayre. 21 May 2023. Free.

10. Make snake mobiles at Open Sundays at Pitzhanger. 21 May 2023. Free.

11. Celebrate the essence of SE22 at the Goose Green Fair. 21 May 2023. Free.

12. Last chance to see All Things Fall by Mat Collishaw at Bomb Foundation Marylebone. Closes 21 May 2023. Free.

Have a fantastic week ahead - let me know if you make it to anything cultural! Please do tag me in your adventures.

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Until next time,

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