Things to do in London with Kids: Science Museum Live

I want my daughter to want to learn.  I want her to be a curious soul like me.  If I don’t know the answer to something I love Googling to find the answer.  Kids nowadays don’t appreciate education and take it for granted and don’t seem bothered to make the effort.  Some kids in Africa walk miles to be educated in makeshift classrooms, but they can see the link between education and the opportunities that it can offer.

We don’t pressure her but try and make learning fun and expose her to wide variety of activities.  On the weekend we went to the Science Museum Live.  It’s billed for kids aged 7-11 and quite a bit went over her head as she is only 5 and to be honest, I got a bit lost with Potential Kinetic Energy myself.  But she did get a lot out of it and the explosions made her jump out of her seat, spilling popcorn everywhere.

If you’re at a loose end this weekend, I’d recommend it and if you quote “blog1” (or enter into the booking system) you can get 25% off full price adult and kids tickets. The offer is only valid from 22nd October – 28th October.

If you do go we’d love to hear what you thought?

Disclosure:  Our tickets were complimentary

 

 

Child Friendly Hotel in London

This is what I posted on my personal Facebook page before heading into London earlier in the week.

What little did I know?

We arrived a bit early at the Park Plaza Hotel (County Hall) for check in.  We were warmly greeted and informed that they had a lovely room for us.  I knew that already as I’d checked out the Junior Suite online; a separate room with big comfy bed for us, plasma TV, separate living space with a double sofa bed for Madame, kitchenette, bath and a walk in shower and of course Free WIFI. Rooms start from £99 a night.

As we were early, the helpful lady at the front desk had to ring up housekeeping to see if the room was ready.  I overheard her say ‘is room 1405 ready’.  I’ve stayed in enough hotels to know that room 845 would be on the 8th floor, room 310 would be on the 3rd floor and 401 would be on the 4th and so on.  I had a quick glance over my right shoulder at the sign by the lift and it said that the 14th floor was the Penthouse Suites!!!!

I did my best to stay composed, but on the inside I was squealing with delight.  No, this couldn’t be true and there must be a mistake, but yes, in fact it was true.  We’d been upgraded to a Penthouse Suite.  I’ve stayed in 5 star hotels before for work but could never afford such a treat as a family.

For someone with a fear of heights, the trip up to the top floor was a bit unnerving in the glass walled elevator which our daughter renamed the ‘Wonkavator’.

The room itself was absolutely amazing, it had everything that the Junior Suite had but a bigger bedroom with a King sized bed, a larger living space with a dining table and the most amazing private balcony with views of the London Eye, Big Ben, the Houses of Parliament, Jubilee Bridge and of course the Thames.

 

The Tower of London

There are loads of attractions within a 2 or 3 minute walk of the Hotel; The London Aquarium, The London Eye, and The National Theatre.  Our daughter could have spent the rest of the day in the hotel room but we dragged her out as we’d planned on visiting the Tower of London, which is only a 20 minute bus ride, just grab the RV1 bus from Chicheley Street heading to Tower Hill.

 

Both my husband and I hadn’t been to the Tower of London, neither of us had ever been with a child, which was built by William the Conqueror after his successful invasion in 1066. Since then it:

  • was a Royal Residence for 500 years
  • was a prison for those waiting to be marched up to Tower Hill to be beheaded
  • a place for private executions, including Anne of Boleyn (who is buried on the site)
  • contained the Royal Mint and the Royal Zoo
  • now is home to the Crown Jewels if you like a bit of bling!

To get the most out of our visit we decided to join one of the Beefeater Tours which lasted about an hour with the perfect amount of History, gore and humour to keep all of us interested.  We all thoroughly enjoyed it and learned a lot.

Adult tickets start at £18 and children under 5 go free.  However, do have a look online as I’ve seen loads of 2 for 1 offers to many London Attractions.

Stress free dining with kids!

We then returned to the hotel for a lovely dinner in the Spectrum Restaurant, even though it’s rather fancy, as you can see by the pictures, we felt perfectly at ease dining with our 4 year old.  The waiting staff including, Mirko the lovely maître d‘ went out of his way, including giving our daughter a stuffed animal, to make her feel welcome and at no point did I panic about her disrupting other guests.

They have an extensive children’s menu, a three course meal costs £11 and for central London we thought this was great value.  Our daughter opted for Tomato Soup, which apparently she ‘loved more than Mummy and Daddy’, Fishcakes and a Chocolate Brownie with Ice Cream.

My husband and I opted for Rib Eye Steaks (£22), one of our favourites and shared a lovely bottle of wine (£20), again I think for London these prices are very reasonable.

The rest of the evening was spent sitting on the deck, with ‘another’ bottle of red wine soaking in the London Skyline by night.

I can see why the hotel was voted best family friendly hotel in London by HRS.  As parents we often feel that we have to give up quality when we have children, so it was a really nice change to be able to enjoy a short break that resembled what we would have done pre-kids.

Disclosure:  The room (£540) and meal were compliments of Park Plaza Hotel and our Entry Tickets to the Tower of London were compliments of Super Break

 

 

 

 

Scarecrow Festival, Flamstead 2012

It’s official, the English are eccentric.  Today we went to the Scarecrow Festival in Flamstead, Herts.  Apparently, it’s been going for over 10 years and was started to generate funds for the upkeep of the Village Church and the Herts Multiple Sclerosis Therapy Centre.

At least 70 locals took part, hoping for the most votes at the end of the day.  We’d printed out a map beforehand but found ourselves just roaming the streets on the look out for these rather unique home-made anomalies dotted around the town.  Our favourites were the 3 Little Pigs, The Hungry Caterpillar and the Guy on the Throne.  However, we forgot to vote in the end.

All in all it was a great day out, albeit a bit hot!

Is this a British thing?

My First Sleeping Beauty

I don’t think my daughter realises how lucky she is. She’s only 4.5 and she’s already been to her first ballet. I’m 40 and it was my first ballet!

We went to see ‘My First Sleeping Beauty’ which was put on by the English National Ballet at the Peacock Theatre in London. It was specifically designed for children to foster a love of ballet from an early age.  It was short and sweet with two 40 minute halves with an interval in the middle. They also incorporated narration, which probably helped the little ones follow it. Plus, it being a favourite fairytale they already knew the story.

The theatre was a sea of pink; little girls in their favourite princess attire. We managed to get by the merchandise fairly unscathed, I was only fleeced £3 for a hideous pink, fluffy, flashing wand.

My First Ballet

My daughter and her pal were absolutely mesmerized. I’ve never seen them sit so still and so well behaved for so long. When it was time for the interval, my daughter refused to leave the theatre as she didn’t want it to end. However, with a bit of persuasion I manage to get to the bar for a glass of red!

During the second half, towards the end, they got up went down to the stage and joined in with their own style of ballet.  It was absolutely precious.

Disclosure: Our family ticket was courtesy of the English National Ballet.

Nausicaa Sea-Life Centre only an 1.5 hours from London!

I had no idea there was a Sea-Life Centre, in Boulogne, which in only 1.5 hours from London.  We hopped onto the Eurostar at St. Pancras International and within an hour we were in Calais.  The Sea-Life centre is only 20km from there.  The journey through the tunnel was enough excitement on it’s own for a 4-year-old. The journey was a breeze, still stunned at the lack of immigration control on the other side we just strolled right into France!

On the face of it, Nausicaa looks like any other aquarium that you would find at the seaside in the UK with giant aquariums and underwater exploration.  However, they’re absolutely passionate about conservation, education and raising public awareness of the need to live in harmony with the sea.  In 1997 they were awarded the Centre of Excellence in recognition of their work.

They’ve been into conservation long before it became fashionable’.

To celebrate Nausicaa’s 20th Birthday we were treated to a behind the scenes tour by the Aquarium’s Curator, in his flamboyant fish shirt, to meet the baby animals that have been born in the centre and their parents such as Sharks, Rays, Lumpfish and Guitarfish.  You could feel his passion and commitment as he spoke to us about pollution, global warming and the threat to fish stocks.

My favourite was the Sea Dragon as it looked mythical.  My daughter squealed with laughter at the unicorn fish and we both came to the conclusion that the large shark looks rather grumpy!  We also watched the Sea-lion training, visited the penguin enclosure and we even got to stroke a ray.  They were almost puppy dog like.

As it was a gorgeous day we finished off the day with a quick visit to the beach.  My daughter played in the sand while I digested everything that I’d learned with the sea as a backdrop.

It was a fantastic day out and I would highly recommend it.  To keep the costs down you may want to enquire about a Ferry Crossing.

Entry into Nausicaa when booked online:

Adults £14.60

Kids £9.40

Family Ticket (2 kids and 2 adults) £39

If you want to learn more about being a responsible fish consumer, including information on selecting seasonal fish visit the Mr. Goodfish Website where you won’t find any lectures but good solid advice.

Disclosure: all expenses, inclusive of lunch, entry and travel were covered by Nausicaa.