So, you’re stuck indoors in the rubbish weather with your little one running riot and your in-laws in your ear telling you how you need to take them out to stop them screaming, what do you do? Luckily for you over half term, the Imagine Children’s Festival is on in London’s Southbank Centre with loads on offer to keep your little ones out of mischief and your in-laws at bay, so here’s our pick of everything it has to offer that you can go and check out!
The Soundpit
[ 23 Nov 2019 - 19 April 2020 - £8 Adult, £8 child, Under 18m goes free ]
Yes, you heard me right, the SOUNDpit, although yes, it does involve sand! The Soundpit offers an immersive musical experience for both you and your little one, with numerous sandpits that when you play in them, give an array of lights and sounds for your little one to enjoy, a pleasure which may overhaul the minor beach you may end up hoovering out of your carpet when you get home!
We sent our blogger Matilda Miles along with her son Dexter to try this experience out:
“[The Soundpit was a] very sensory environment, using sand and projections in a dark room with lots of different sandpits. [When you] move your hands in the sand, the projection moves and makes music. The session lasts for 45 mins, which [is great], especially for younger kids [to allow] them to take it all in and visit each pit. Some you were able to walk in the sand whilst others were up on tables, so hands only. [The Soundpit] would be a great experience for children of all ages.”
To find out more, or book your Soundpit experience click here
Gong Babies
[ 7th Oct 2019 - 17th July 2020 - £5 per adult and accompanying child ]
No, don’t worry this is not as loud as it sounds! I’m sure your first thought when you saw the title ‘Gong Babies’ was a load of littluns freely let loose on a load of loud musical instruments, but this is definitely not the case. Gong Babies offers the opportunity to try gamelan music, which is a form of Javanese percussion orchestra. This kind of music is relaxing for both mum and baby, and all you need to do is be willing to sit down, meet some new people, try something new, and have some fun! Easy right?
Gong Babies is a really easy way of getting your little one being creative early on, and loses the need for 5 shower trips afterwards as you try and get a mix of glitter, glue and paint out of your hair after attempting some Half Term crafting! It is available at the show for only a small fee but could set up a great creative future for your little one, so why not give it a try?
To find out more, or book your place in Gong Babies click here
Erth’s Dinosaur Zoo
[ 15th Feb - 21st Feb 2020 - £16 Adult, £12 child ]
Who doesn’t love a good dinosaur! Well, now you can get your little one’s imagination going wild with this dinosaur experience, whilst also losing the nightmares that come with subjecting them to Jurassic Park too early on! Erth’s Dinosaur Zoo offers a great opportunity to keep your kids entertained if they are slightly past the days of wet nappies and sleepless nights but still in need of entertainment.
With a great array of dinos available, Erth’s Dinosaur Zoo is an exciting way to spark the imagination of any budding palaeontologists in your family and does a great job of keeping all the family engaged with a display like nothing you’ll have seen before.
To find out more, or to book your trip back to the past, click here
Chopin and the Dragonfly Who Brought the Spring
[ 19th Feb -20th Feb 2020 - £9 Adult, £6.75 Child ]
Storytelling plus music plus playing plus kids, sounds like a recipe for disaster right? Wrong! This storytelling experience gives a great opportunity for kids to play and you to relax. The combination of music and story means even parents can enjoy it, and the kids can either enjoy it sat with you or playing as it happens around them.
This is a great way to not only take some of the pressure off from yourself to entertain your little ones but also a great chance to get your little one into reading and music, so two birds with one stone, can’t complain! If you’ve been checking out the festival all day this is a great way to wind down as well before heading home, so why not give it a go?
To find out more or to book your tickets click here
The Very Hungry Caterpillar Show
[ 12th Feb - 14th Feb 2020 - £14 Adults, £10.50 Child ]
The tale that everybody knows from their childhood comes to life! The Very Hungry Caterpillar is a story that has been around for 50 years but still never fails to captivate little ones. Here we see the tale in a whole new way, with a collection of 75 puppets portraying the loved tale for your little ones to enjoy in a brand new way.
In addition to this, the stories of Brown Bear, 10 Little Rubber Ducks and The Very Lonely Firefly are covered by this great band of puppeteers, so be ready for a great storytelling time for you and your little ones.
Matilda got the chance to see this show too and said:
“It was incredibly interesting with warhorse style puppets for kids. The performance was made up of 3 stories, the last one being the caterpillar. Normally with kids and toddlers, they do not like to sit down for anything longer than 2 minutes, but in this, not a single kid screamed or tried to run around the theatre, and I've certainly never seen Dexter being quiet for an hour! He was enthralled by it, and I certainly enjoyed the show as it was very well done and wasn't performed in a childish way but a fun way that got the kids engaged. I could see Dexter's little mind going 1000 miles per hour using his imagination.”
To find out more, click here
Edible Books Craft Workshop
[18th Feb 2020 - FREE! ]
You’re not dreaming, reading just became edible! No longer do you have to look at a load of books you’ve already read thinking when will I read them again because instead, you’ll have scoffed them down with a nice glass of red on the side. Ok so maybe that’s a bit of an exaggeration, you’re not going to be having your next coffee with a copy of Oliver Twist as a snack, but this is close enough!
This workshop gives you and your little one the opportunity to have a play with wafer paper and edible ink to create your own edible stories! And if that isn’t good enough, this tasty fun is completely free for you to enjoy! So why not get creative, as well as sort out your little one’s next sugar high! And to the person who takes this and truly makes edible literature, have a drink on me, you deserve it!
To find out more, click here
Picture It! Print It!
[18th - 19th Feb 2020 - Free (but a ticket is required)]
Have you ever wondered what your favourite book would look like with your creativity on the front? Well, wonder no more, because you can find out! In this great little workshop, you and your child get the opportunity to create a design for your own book front cover however you want, before they print that cover properly with their risograph.
This workshop is a great opportunity to not only have some messy fun with your little one but also to get the chance to create something that you will have to remember the day by in the form of your own personal book cover, so why not go and give it a go or yourself?
To find out more, click here
SLIME
[15th Feb - 16th Feb 2020 - £14 for one adult and one child]
Here comes the mess! What kind of baby show would this be without the opportunity to make your next load of washing even more lethal! SLIME has a great mixture of messy play (as the name suggests!) and storytelling, keeping your child engaged and happy in a refreshing way.
This performance gives your child a fun and entertaining way of looking at the bigger world struggles like working with others, making opinions, and the slightly less serious, but equally important, idea of having fun. So why not get a bit messy for the sake of this awesome show?
To find out more, click here
Face Painting with The Glitterbox
[ 15th Feb - 23rd Feb 2020 - £5 per child ]
How could it be a children’s event without this beautifully simple piece of entertainment, face painting! Simply a lot of paint, with some glitter, with your child’s face being the canvas for this wonderful kind of art, what could possibly be bad about that!
Face painting never fails to be an easy way to keep your child happy and entertained for a little while, and on top of that, it gives you a great opportunity to snap some possibly embarrassing photos ready for when your little one isn’t little anymore!
To find out more, click here
Eco Rug Rhymes
[ 17th Feb 2020 - FREE ]
Rhymes and children are a match made in heaven, it keeps them quiet, it keeps them entertained, and it doesn’t involve any kind of paint, glue, glitter, sand or other annoying craft-based substances that keep you in and out of your shower! On top of that, it gives them a great reason to start getting into reading, can’t complain at that surely?
This session focuses on the natural world and how we can strive to look after it, making it not only entertaining but also an informative session for children and parents looking to be more friendly to the environment, so why not go and relax to some rhymes with your little one to wind down from your day of exploration and mess!
To find out more, click here
Relax and prepare for labour from the comfort of home, suitable for all levels. Includes breathing techniques to assist in labour & postures to release tension.
There is loads more on offer for you to check out at the Imagine Children’s Festival this is simply some of our top picks. So why not grab the kids, get out of the house and take a look around everything it has to offer, a great day out without the need to fork out loads or stress over planning, what could be wrong with that?
