London for children Archives - A Baby on Board blog

London with toddlers: 10 of the best things for toddlers to do in London

Gillian — Wed, 23 Mar 2016 21:43:30 +0000

London with toddlers…what are the best things for toddlers to do in London? Here’s a list of our top ten things to do with toddlers in London – these are all things we love and have liked in London at the baby, toddler and pre-schooler stage. There are many ways that London changes when you’re a parent, not least how you spend your time (goodbye leisurely shopping sprees and long weekends spent drinking) but these are some of our favourite, kid-friendly, mainly free, ideas for when we venture out with our two in tow. Make sure you also read my tips on how to use London’s public transport with a pram, and if you’re not at the children stage just yet, here’s how to get a baby on board badge. And if you have any firm favourites I’ve missed off, leave a comment and let me know. London with toddlers: Here are the best things for toddlers to do in London: Museums: There are SO many museums in London and lots of them are great, like all the big ones – the Science Museum, Natural History Museum, The Transport Museum – and of course the Horniman Museum if you’re further south. Public transport: Sounds like strange one to recommend as it can often be a nightmare, especially when you have a pram and it’s busy (which is, lets face it, at all times). But London it’s a city that includes trams, a cable car, buses, trains, a monorail, boats and a train that goes under the ground. Which is the most fun when you’re small. E loves nothing more than sitting on the top deck of any bus, pretending to drive it. Or going down to Ikea Croydon on the tram, the joys. Here’s how to get around on London’s public transport with a pram. You can also plan an accessible journey with TFL. Animals: London Zoo, with newly added lions at the moment. There’s a surprising amount of city farms – we used to live in Crystal Palace really close to Crystal Palace Park Farm. There’s also an aquarium at the Horniman that includes the much-Instagrammed glow-in-the-dark jellyfish. Art galleries: In terms of the best things for toddlers to do in London, the Tate Modern is still our favourite (despite this incident). There’s lots of space to run around, great things to look at and decent eating options for everyone. Parks: Here are the best south east London parks – but there’s so many good green spaces. Play parks: We’ve still not visited any of the big parks like Comram Fields or The Princess Diana Playground – both are on the list. But at the moment we spend a lot of time in local ones including Crystal Palace Park, the Bromley ‘sandpit park’ but mostly our local local little park. I don’t think you can go far wrong with any of them at this very young age. Touristy sites: We mainly avoid these like the plague, but have taken a couple of detours via Buckingham Palace, because it’s where the Queen lives, and that’s kind of a big deal when you’re four. Walks: Go along the Southbank (with a trip into the Royal Festival Hall). Covent Garden is good, but parts of it are a nightmare with a pram due to the cobbles. Walking down Carnaby Street when the Christmas lights are on can be lovely. Eating: I’d love to say my children are complete foodies who love nothing more than going to the latest London pop-up restaurants, but that would be a) a lie and b) expensive. So Pizza Express aka ‘the pizza cafe’ or Giraffe are still the favourites, and they are everywhere. Or any cafe, or going to M&S for a park picnic. Drinking: One for the adults! It’s hard to find good pubs with play areas and beer gardens in London – let me know if you know any! But there’sThe Paxton in Gypsy Hill (with beach huts and a play area in the garden) and The Florence in Herne Hill. Things we wouldn’t recommend: Anywhere uber touristy like Madam Tussards. Museums on Saturdays or during school holidays. Hamleys right before Christmas (or at most times). Actually, this could be a whole other list… If you loved this post on the best things for toddlers to do in London read more posts…if toddlers did London fashion week and the politics of Paw Patrol

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Presents for playful one-year-olds

Gillian — Mon, 05 Oct 2015 05:00:34 +0000

What are the best presents to buy for one-year-olds, especially when they’re the second child? A certain little someone has a very significant birthday coming up and I’m on the look-out for present ideas. It’s actually really hard when you already have so much stuff around from the first child, isn’t it? I really feel that anything we buy now has to be completely different, beautiful or useful, and will minimise the inevitable child-clutter. This year I’m working with children’s gift site The Kid Who and picking out my favourite selections from the site each month – my previous post was on our rules for play – so this month I thought it would be good to look at playful presents for first birthdays. There’s a great selection of gifts on the site, from these musical instruments to the Design Letters alpha-blocks set and the animal stacking toys from our last post. So what did we actually go for? I think you can’t ever go wrong with books, and The Kid Who has a brilliant, quirky and unusual selection that are less boring and more fun. Herve Tullet’s Big Book of Art is less of a story book, and more of a big colourful play thing. It’s an interactive book with split pages that lets children mix and match all the patterned pages to create their own mini artworks. There’s no words, so it’s a conversation starter and imagination spark. But mainly it’s cheerful and fun. We also chose a classic book for a London child, This is London. And this owl cushion from Aarrekid is part toy, part cushion and completely soft and pleasingly wonky. There’s also a huge selection of gift cards on the site (with lots of future framing potential). What are the best presents you’ve bought for first birthdays? Any other good suggestions? Thanks to The Kid Who – we’re play ambassadors for the next couple of months and were sent all these products for the purposes of this post. More posts…art galleries and children, the Tate Modern for babies and a new Miffy competition

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Golden tickets

Gillian — Thu, 17 Sep 2015 05:00:54 +0000

One of the things everyone told me about having a second child was that you really miss spending time with your first. Which sounds weird because you’re probably still with them the same amount of time, and as it is the three of us bump along happily throughout the week. But it is very different; your attention is divided, the baby places lots of limits on what you can do and clearly it’s not just the two of you any more. It’s so important to spend time together with your older child separately, even if it’s just during the baby’s naptime (ha!). So when Eliza and I were offered tickets to go and see Charlie and the Chocolate Factory at the theatre, it seemed like a great chance for the two of us to spend some time together with just us. And the original film adaptation of the book was one of my favourite childhood films – and still is now – so it’s pretty fair to say I’m not sure which of us was more excited. We booked our tickets the week before via TodayTix , a new-to-the-UK ticketing app that’s already hugely popular in America. You just need to download the app and create an account, then can book discounted tickets to London shows, musicals and theatre productions one week to one hour before the show. You can choose your seats via the app and just pick them up on the day from the box office. We’ve not been to the theatre in forever, but this is such an easy way to buy tickets and I love the idea of being able to make spontaneous bookings on the day, right before the show. Eliza had never even been to a full-length cinema screening before, so I wasn’t sure how she’d react. But she absolutely loved it, right up to when the loud and noisy Oompa Loompas appeared in the second half and it all got a bit too much. At that point we ducked out but an incredibly lovely usherette let us watch it from the downstairs bar. So Eliza happily coloured away with some crayons the TodayTix team had given us, and we saw the rest of it on TV. Has anyone seen the show? It was so brilliantly done and looks stunning – and would be the most Instagrammable show ever if you were allowed to take any photos. Although the soundtrack is catchy there’s only one song from the original film in the show – Pure Imagination – which is a massive wasted opportunity as the original songs are the best. So there’s no Golden Ticket song, no I Want it Now song, no Oopma Loompa song and no Cheer up Charlie (oh wait, that one’s pretty dull anyway). Thanks to TodayTix for the tickets, the app is really worth trying out if you’re booking tickets in London. Does anyone go to the theatre a lot? We’re definitely taking Eliza again for some more one-on-one time, any good Oopma Loompa-free recommendations of things she might enjoy? P.S. How to travel by public transport in London with a baby, how to get a baby on board badge and the Science Museum for children.

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Baby brain, trains and t-shirts

Gillian — Sun, 17 May 2015 21:40:25 +0000

Good weekend? Here’s a round-up of life, lately… I was pretty thrilled to be at number 4 in the Tots 100 top ten baby blogs for 2015 (out of 10,000 blogs!) It made me really happy, especially as I’m currently up against my usual blogging battles of baby brain, no sleep and no time…a massive thank you for reading. Did you know Thomas the Tank Engine is 70? He doesn’t look it, does he? Last weekend we headed over to his birthday party at the British Museum. A crazy and riotous affair, it took place in the small hours of…the afternoon, with loads of kids running around and harassed parents running after them. There was a giant Thomas-shaped cake, cinema showings of the episodes, face painting, toys and everyone taking selfies with the giant Thomas (and the Fat Controller photobombing ours). Our mini Thomas fan had an absolute blast, and the goodie bag kept her entertained for hours on the way home. A few people asked about the cards that featured in my open letter to sleep, as well as my post on mum milestones. They are Miffy Milestone cards that we were sent recently. There are 30 cards in the box, each marking a specific baby milestone with the iconic Miffy illustrations (you can buy the cards from Amazon). I was a massive Miffy fan as a child, and it’s one of the childhood favourites I’m happily passing on. It’s Miffy’s 60th birthday this month, so expect a few more Miffy posts shortly. A big thanks to etre petite for Eliza’s t-shirt! It’s the new current favourite… And finally, if you’ve yet to nominate in the MAD Awards, I’d love a nomination in the pregnancy or baby category (which you can do here). Thank you xx. Recent posts: other people’s Sophies, why we took our daughters to vote, and Florence’s six month baby update.

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The one where we have afternoon tea with Elmo

Gillian — Wed, 15 Apr 2015 22:31:36 +0000

Have you seen The Furchester Hotel? It’s the new CBeebies children’s TV programme featuring a whole host of furry muppets, monsters and some of the Sesame Street characters, who all work together to run a hotel. You’ll know if you’ve seen it, because you’ll be happily singing the Furchester songs for the rest of your days (no exaggeration). To celebrate the release of new episodes of the programme as well as the launch of a new range of Furchester toys, we were invited to have afternoon tea with none other than Elmo, as well as some of the other characters from the show. I’m not sure which member of our family was more excited. So what was it like to meet the great red man (?) himself? Well; it was a lot of fun. It took place at the Millennium Mayfair hotel in London (which is really close to the Maze Restaurant). All the children got to watch the new Furchester episodes – introduced by the man behind the series – before meeting the puppets and their ‘helpers’ (*cough* puppeteers) who do the voices in the show. So we got to meet the ‘actual’ Elmo, as well as Funella and Phoebe. There were also lots of the new toys to play with (you can see the full range here). The Elmo soft toy was the biggest hit. Florence was really into Elmo, and was overjoyed to meet the puppet – she even attempted to chew on his nose. We also wangled a Florence-sized Cookie Monster to come home with us and Elmo too. We tried the pretty amazing afternoon tea while all of the muppetery was going on (it was as great as it looks; those cakes!). There was also a children’s afternoon tea, with peanut butter sandwiches, veg sticks, cakes and smoothie shots. Everyone at the hotel was really lovely, and even gave us toddler-sized dressing gowns to take home. Afternoon tea with the muppets should totally be a regular thing, shouldn’t it? I’m pretty lucky to get to do some great things because of my blog, but this is probably one of the best. The morning after our visit, Eliza woke up and said to me ‘Can we go back to the Furchester Hotel please?’ It made me really sad that I had to say no. But at least we’ll always have Elmo. The new episodes of Furchester Hotel will be on CBeebies in May. The toys range from £1.99 for the single figures to £19.99 for the giant plush toys.

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Saturday in photos

Gillian — Sat, 22 Nov 2014 11:03:24 +0000

Last Saturday was the momentous occasion of Florence’s first trip to central London. Taking a newborn to the busiest part of the country, a few Saturdays before Christmas…what were we thinking, I hear you ask? Well, we’d been invited to a blogger event I thought Eliza would love, at the Build-a-Bear shop in Hamleys on Regent Street, for 3 Mobile. I’d been loaned the Samsung Galaxy S5 smartphone to test out ahead of and at the event, and all photos in this post were taken using it. So here’s a few pictures from our journey: After picking her bear (Olaf the snowman, of course – there’s a couple of Frozen options at Build-a-Bear, and he’s the best) Eliza’s usual toddler attention span saw us going for a wonder around the rest of the floor while everyone else had musical chips put in the bears, which in hindsight was a good move as Eliza hasn’t put Olaf down and singing might have been ever-so-slightly annoying. After having Olaf stuffed – possibly her favourite part of the process – we ducked out to take Eliza to lunch with just the four of us. What did I think of the Samsung Galaxy S5 smartphone? I was really impressed by the camera, both by the quality of the images and the amount of different functions. My favourite was the ‘selective focus’, which gives you the blurry background / depth of field look (you can see this in the photo of Eliza looking out of the window). The phone also had a larger screen, which is great for browsing. I am one of those people who’s pretty attached to my iPhone though – even if the camera isn’t as good – but I’d recommend the S5 to consider if you’re not, especially for the camera. More info here. And how did we get on with a newborn in central London? Luckily, she was asleep the whole time. I’d forgotten what it’s like to take the proper pram and all the baby things on public transport (the change bag in the bus photo is the super-lovely Pacapod Sydney we’re currently reviewing). Eliza had great fun though. Although she was slightly overwhelmed by the amount of people in Hamleys, she’s in love with her Olaf, got to have pizza for lunch and several bus rides and babyccinos. And put herself to bed before 7pm, result. What’s everyone’s plans for this Saturday? x Thanks 3 – we were invited along to the event and given E’s bear.

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The Science Museum, revisited

Gillian — Tue, 16 Sep 2014 06:50:50 +0000

We first took Eliza to the Science Museum in London when she was pretty tiny (cruising but not walking, which is forever ago). She enjoyed it at the time, but in the style of living in London and being lazy, we’d not made it back since. I’d actually been more as a child – living over three hours away in the country – than my London-dwelling daughter. I know she’s only two, but still… So we finally went again this summer, along with some friends who have same-age toddlers. Although lots of the Science Museum is, of course, suitable for older children, there’s the The Garden (the area in the basement with water play, a sensory area and a climbing and building space) and the Pattern Pod (interactive play and video displays) for younger visitors. There’s also the free bubble lecture, where the science of bubbles is explained (kind of…if you’re a toddler then it’s lots of bubbles being blown, including some giant ones around people). It’s safe to say they all absolutely loved it. Two minor points though – if you have a pre-school age child, don’t go during holidays (it was really busy compared to our last visit). There’s also a lot going on – people, noise, lights and millions of activities to do all at once – which is possibly a bit too overstimulating at times when you’re really little. It was lots of fun though, so we’ll be back. The bubble lecture especially made a massive impression, and I had many requests to recreate the bubble that looked like a snake – which is a tough act to follow at home with a standard bubble pot. Great mystery of London though; why is South Kensington tube so inaccessible for prams and small children? There’s no lifts or escalators. It’s strange considering it’s the main hub for most of the child-friendly London museums. Here’s some tips for getting around London transport with a pram, a good app for the tube, and more things to do in London when you’re two.

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Can you really take children to a Gordon Ramsay restaurant?

Gillian — Mon, 12 May 2014 07:48:32 +0000

One of the things I miss the most about our pre-baby life is going out for dinner whenever we felt like it; to celebrate, on special occasions, or just because. And often because we had no food in the house, which used to happen quite frequently as we didn’t need to worry about it back then. I miss the kind of lovely dinner where the waiter has to keep coming back to take the orders as you’re talking too much to have even looked at the menu, there’s lots of wine, and trying each other’s food, and too much cheese, and shall we have desert? I’m too full. Really. Oh go on then. As a parent, it can feel like you’re limited to the usual quick pizza / pasta / gastropub affairs where they welcome tiny visitors who run riot, spill stuff and don’t spend anything on booze. So when we were invited along for lunch at Gordon Ramsay’s Maze Grill restaurant, in honour of a new promotion where kids eat for free during weekend lunches (from 12-6, with every adult course ordered), it took me about two seconds to say yes please. However; children at a Gordon Ramsay restaurant? Eliza is not one to sit demurely at the table when there’s new places to explore and things to see, so we approached our lunch with a healthy side serving of trepidation. The Maze Grill restaurant is in the Marriott Hotel, just on Grosvenor Square. It’s mere minutes from the top end of Oxford Street but you seriously wouldn’t know it as it’s so leafy and green and well, very Mayfair. We told Eliza where we were going, and she was very excited about on the bus journey over about our trip to ‘the cafe’ where she wanted to eat sausages, chips and peas. Which did make us laugh. When we arrived, we were taken to the bar for a drink first. I had half a champagne and it was seriously amazing. Eliza was offered contraband orange or apple juice (the waitress actually asked her which she wanted; very sweet). I think this was her favourite part of the whole meal. She did not put her glass down, probably for fear I’d swipe it. Going through to the main restaurant… …and children are given their own menu, which is actually printed on a box with crayons and pictures inside. Instant distraction tactics. There’s a choice of about five options, including a soup starter. It’s not a huge choice, but then I can’t image most children wouldn’t eat one of them. Eliza picked sausage and mash which arrived within about ten minutes. She tucked right in, and so did we – purely in the interests of research, of course. It’s mainly a steak and sushi restaurant, so Alex and I both went for steak. Because you would, wouldn’t you? Despite having to have it cooked for a pregnant person, it was so, so good – I’m still getting flashbacks as to how good it was. I had a complete baby brain moment and went for the blue cheese sauce because the béarnaise had raw egg in it. I didn’t click till it arrived (and luckily it was heated; seriously though!) And of course, a little someone helped themselves to our chips. When we’d finally finished – and were too full for desert – we were taken to see the kitchen and meet the chef. It was the calmest kitchen ever, and there was definitely no screaming and shouting going on. So can children really eat in a Gordon Ramsey restaurant? Yes! Everyone was beyond lovely with Eliza. Not just the people waiting on our table, who paid her a lot of attention, but everyone who walked past did too. She did do a fair bit of exploring away from the table; we were sat near to the hotel steps and she ran up and down those a few times, but no-one minded or made us feel like we were getting in the way. I don’t think we were given special treatment either, as there were a handful of other families with young children also eating, and they all seemed to receive the same attention. There was even a couple with a tiny baby in a car seat; clearly too young to take advantage of the children’s menu, but how lovely would it be to go here for a post-pregnancy rare-steak-and-champagne celebration? Children eating free at the weekend is a good deal, and it makes a nice change for parents to eat in such a lovely environment. What also surprised us is how reasonably priced the adult food was. The steak is what you’d expect for good steak prices (from around £25+) but if you go for a standard main like the burger, it was only £14. Final point; I didn’t get to eat in a Gordon Ramsay restaurant till I was 27, and have only eaten in a couple since. So my daughter has just had her first fine dining experience and she is only TWO. Kids today, hey? We were invited along to the Maze Grill and given a free lunch, for the purposes of this hungry person’s review.

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The Southbank and Royal Festival Hall: London With Children

Gillian — Sat, 29 Mar 2014 07:47:46 +0000

The Southbank And Royal Festival Hall – With Kids If you’re looking for something to do in London this weekend with your toddler, last weekend we went to The Southbank and Royal Festival Hall. Taking Kids To The Southbank And Royal Festival Hall Last Saturday we met up with some friends and went for lunch at the Southbank. I know, I know, it does get pretty rammed at weekends, especially if there’s any hint of sun – all those parents and prams, ahem – but there’s great views, always something going on, art galleries, the skatepark and The Tate at one end and the London Eye at the other. Where Is There For Lunch At The Southbank? We went for lunch at the über child-friendly Giraffe (they bring children’s food out first – it took under five minutes, amazingly, no exaggeration. There were balloons, crayons and they don’t seem to mind little people underfoot who insisted on making a break for it just as they approached with all the food one on tray. They must be well practised with such avoidance tactics). There is always a big queue at lunch – parents and prams, again – so either go very early or wait. How Child-Friendly Is The Royal Festival Hall? After a walk we retreated to the Royal Festival hall. I always forget about how lovely it is in there. Last weekend there was an exhibition about the making of the Royal Festival organ (no smirking at the back) and a child-made contraption that you could play by whacking some pipes with a flip flop. There was also a band and choir playing, which fascinated E and our friend’s young daughter. And more than anything, it’s just a really massive space for toddlers to run around exhausting themselves for hours, and and loads of interesting things to discover. Definitely worth checking out if you want something low-key, fun – and free – to do in London with children. Once You’ve Read Our Post On The Southbank And Royal Festival Hall: Follow me on Pinterest Read our Kidzania London review Here’s how to get a zip card Here’s a review of the Florence Nightingale Museum

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Three cheerful things

Gillian — Sun, 09 Mar 2014 22:56:09 +0000

We’ve been feeling rather under the weather lately, not helped by the never-ending winter, grey, and rain, rain, rain (but spring finally arrived today – hurrah!) So here’s three things from the past few weeks that have been cheering us up: 1) Strawberries from Viva Strawberries, which are grown in sunny Spain and Morocco, so it doesn’t matter that it hasn’t stopped raining here for years and there’s definitely no tennis on TV. We were sent a half term activity pack, with strawberries, fruit and lots of fun stuff for Eliza including a game and personalised name labels. And for me, a mini wine with an ‘in case if emergency’ label on it. How brilliantly thought out is all of that? We were going to use the fruit to make kebabs and strawberry milk, but ended up eating the strawberries just as they were (here’s some more ideas if you’re feeling a bit more adventurous). They are available in most supermarkets, if you want an early taste of summer. 2) When was the last time you had a really good fish finger sandwich? I’ve been a secret fan since my student days. So I absolutely loved the surprise knock on my door that happened to be a fish finger sandwich construction package from Birds Eye to celebrate it’s new TV ad. So that was dinner sorted, and I even ate half cold the next day (What? It was seriously that tasty). 3) I wrote about Big Fish Little Fish baby raves a while ago but we finally ended up going to the first one in Balham last weekend. It was brilliant; Eliza ran round like a maniac in the soft play area, craft corner and loved dancing on the stage and under the glitter cannons. And she hasn’t stopped talking about the ‘fun parachute’ since. Pre-pre-baby we used to live in Balham, so it took us right back, as it did when the DJ played ‘Sweet Harmony.’ It did make me laugh that Alex thought it was ‘exhausting’ (he’s never been to soft play). What’s been cheering you up lately?

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