London is enjoying superb weather for this weekend’s annual Mayor’s Thames Festival as you can see from this photo. It was taken yesterday in The Scoop and you can see Tower Bridge in the background. And it’s not over! I’ll be heading down to the river later to enjoy today’s festivities and the spectacular parade and fireworks this evening. The event coincides with the Paralympic Games Closing Ceremony.

Have you ever been to the Mayor’s Thames Festival? What was your highlight?

Tourists often ask if they can go on a day trip to Stonehenge from London (the answer is yes). But now this English icon has come to the capital. Well, sort of…

Sacrilege is effectively a massive bouncy castle, the creation of Turner Prize winning artist Jeremy Deller. Unlike the real Stonehenge, visitors are encouraged to interact with the structure and wow, is it fun! Adults and children alike jump and run with expressions of pure joy (and ultimately exhaustion) on their faces. My young family and I loved the experience so much, we went back to North Greenwich the next day for more. It’s free and no ticket is required.

Part of the London 2012 Festival, Sacrilege is touring the UK and is in London between now and the end of the Olympic Games on 12 August. The remaining London stops are:

• King Edward VII Park, Brent (25 Jul)
• Paddington Recreation Ground (28 Jul)
• Cheam Park (29 Jul)
• Ravenscourt Park (31 Jul)
• Hampstead Heath (1 Aug)
• Clapham Common (2 Aug)
• Burgess Park (4 Aug)
• Barra Hall Park (5 Aug)
• East Ham Central Park (7 Aug)
• Crystal Palace Park (9 Aug)
• Alexandra Palace (10 Aug)
• Christchurch Green (11 Aug)
• Waterworks Nature Reserve (12 Aug)

For full details see London 2012 Festival. So, will you be making a date to get in touch with your bouncy inner child? Now the school holidays are here, what’s your favourite London destination for family-friendly fun?

At the Theatre Royal Drury Lane, West End stars including Richard Blackwood and Carly Stenson (from Shrek), Tom Chambers (Top Hat), Bonnie Langford (Spamalot) and the boys from Thriller Live, gave an audience of super-chirpy children a taste of all the excitement to come this summer.

This year, theatregoers will be able to book for hit musicals including Billy Elliot, The Lion King, Jersey Boys, Les Misérables, Singin’ In The Rain and We Will Rock You, comedies like The 39 Steps, One Man, Two Guvnors and Yes, Prime Minister, dramas Chariots Of Fire, The Doctor’s Dilemma and The Woman In Black, and colourful children’s shows such as Dora The Explorer and The Tiger Who Came To Tea. Kids Week offers you a free child’s ticket for every adult ticket purchased to one of the participating shows, plus the opportunity to purchase up to two more children’s tickets half-price.

As well as the shows, Kids Week gives children the chance to take part in singing workshops, Q&As, dance classes and puppet workshops, backstage demonstrations and more. You can take part in a Tigerlympics Tea Party, become a Munchkin in the Wizard of Oz or learn about the Terrible Tudors in a Horrible Histories workshop.

Go to www.kidsweek.co.uk for a full line-up of shows and activities on offer. Tickets go on sale on the website at 10am tomorrow or you can call the Kids Week 24 hour booking hotline on 0844 248 5151. You can also keep up-to-date with Kids Week on their facebook and twitter pages. www.facebook.com/kidsweeklondon and www.twitter.com/kidsweek

If you’ve ever wondered what happens after dark in London’s museums and attractions, here’s your chance to find out. Family sleepovers are on the increase, and you can now spend the night at many of London’s top attractions. Kids must be accompanied by an adult at most sleepovers, so grown-ups can join in the fun too!

Natural History Museum
Discover what goes on at the Natural History Museum after staff and visitors have gone home. Monthly Dino Snores sleepovers for kids aged eight to 11 include a torch-lit trail through the famous Dinosaurs gallery, a live show about creatures that bite and sting, a fossil workshop, and a chance to sleep under a diplodocus skeleton. The fun continues in the morning with breakfast and a session with Animal Man Nick Spellman.

Science Museum
Fancy spending the night among the Science Museum’s exciting models, machines and exhibits? Once a month, the museum holds Science Nights for children aged eight to 11, with hands-on workshops and a 3D film screening in the impressive IMAX cinema. At the end of the evening you’ll snuggle down for a night in the museum, before enjoying a tasty breakfast in the morning.

ZSL London Zoo
Don’t be surprised if you hear rustling in the night at ZSL London Zoo’s BedBUGS sleepover. Kids aged eight to 11 are invited to spend the night in BUGS! with the spiders, beetles and tamarins. (Don’t worry, they are all safely behind glass!) Activities include animal talks, games, storytelling and a torch-lit tour around the zoo, where you can find out what animals get up to during the night.

Golden Hinde
Experience life as a member of Sir Francis Drake’s crew on the Golden Hinde’s Family Overnight Living History Tour for kids aged six to 11. On arrival you’ll be dressed in Tudor costumes as an officer, barber surgeon or gunner. After an evening of activities and a Tudor dinner, you’ll spend the night among the cannons on the gun deck. Continental breakfast in the morning signals your return to the 21st century.

Chelsea Football Club
Perfect for young football fans, Chelsea FC sleepovers offer the chance to stay overnight at Stamford Bridge. Kids aged five to 10 can take part in an evening of fun-filled activities including a game of five-a-side football, a look around the home dressing room and a walk through the players’ tunnel. Plus they’ll get to meet Chelsea mascot Stamford the Lion before settling down for a night in the Chelsea FC Museum.

One thing to consider when booking tickets for the new West End production by the Birmingham Stage Company is the name. Horrible Histories is every bit as horrible as the title suggests.

There is blood and guts galore in Barmy Britain, now appearing at the Garrick Theatre on Charing Cross Road. Over the course of just one hour, actors Lauryn Redding and Benedict Martin race through the goriest events from Britain’s dark past.

The pair, who have both appeared in previous Horrible Histories’ productions, introduce the audience to the likes of ruthless Romans, vicious Vikings and that most terrible of Tudors, Henry VIII. They bring their subjects to life with quirky takes on hit TV shows like Manky Chef and Who Wants To Blow Up Parliament.

Terry Deary is one of Britain’s best-selling authors and last year was the tenth most borrowed author in British libraries. His Horrible Histories series has instilled a generation of children with a love of history, which their teachers might not have thought possible. He dusts down dreary episodes from the past and appeals to kids with his wicked sense of humour and attention to deathly detail.

The hit series has spawned several productions from the Birmingham Stage Company and an exceedingly popular BBC children’s programme, which is a regular favourite in our house.

My boys were thrilled when I told them I had tickets for Barmy Britain. They loved the actors’ high-energy performances and laughed their way through many of the skits. My eight-year-old considered himself a little too cool for the audience participation, but his six-year-old brother joined in the song about Henry VIII’s worried wives with gusto – happily performing the actions to divorced, beheaded, died, divorced, beheaded, survived.

If I’m being honest, I had my doubts and exchanged a couple of knowing looks with other slightly uneasy parents. But I kept quiet while all around me were laughing and guffawing.

Then it all went a bit too far for my boys as the pair started describing the gruesome executions of tens of thousands of commoners at Tyburn (now Marble Arch). After a particularly grisly explanation of what it meant to be hung, drawn and quartered, the dancing duo moved on to the story of Victorian “baby farmer” Amelia Dyer. If it happened today, would I be happy to let my little ones watch a news story about a prolific murderer of babies?

At this point it became clear that the content wasn’t just washing over my sons’ heads, as I’d initially convinced myself. Separately, they both turned to me saying that the show was “really gross”, and my oldest did so with his bottom lip quivering.

I fully appreciate how clever and popular Horrible Histories is with both children and adults alike and I hate to be the prudish parent. But, based on my children’s reactions, I disagree with the published age recommendation of six years and over. That said, the show is likely to be a great hit and much-loved by older children and teenagers.

Horrible Histories at the Garrick Theatre until 1 September 2012. Book tickets

Aspiring young zoo keepers have the chance to go behind-the-scenes at ZSL London Zoo. Kids can get close to some of their favourite zoo animals and find out what’s it like to take care of them during the Junior Keeper for a Day experience. We sent 12-year-old Téo Grimshaw to report on his day as a zoo keeper:

“We were given numerous jobs during the day which included feeding, grooming and cleaning the animal enclosures. We started at the Rainforest Life zone and fed lion-headed tamarins, titi monkeys, emperor monkeys, anteaters and sloths with apples, grapes and meal worms.

“The next job was scooping up llama, alpaca and donkey dung. We really enjoyed petting them when cleaning was competed.

“One of my favourite tasks was feeding the cute meerkats. They nervously came out of their habitats under the ground, as they were frightened of a blue kite which they mistook for a bird of prey.

“The coatis were unusual animals – we had to make a game of hiding their food for them around their enclosure.  They were running around our feet looking for the food.

“The most favourite task for me was feeding three enormous giraffes with carrots. They used their long blue tongues to wrap around the carrot sticks and eat them.

“The whole experience lasted just over 3 hours. At the end we were given a goody bag which contained a cap, t-shirt and fabric bag all with Zoo Keeper for a Day logo and certificate. It was a great day and everyone really enjoyed themselves.”

Junior Keeper for a Day is available for 11-15 year olds and costs £170 per person, including zoo entry for the participant and one accompanying adult. The experience lasts from 9:15am to 1pm and includes morning refreshments. Find out more

Too old? There’s a Keeper for a Day experience for adults too, or spend a night at the zoo in a luxury tent.

School was out and fun was in, especially along London’s South Bank.

The Southbank Centre has been playing host to the ever popular Imagine Children’s Festival, which returns this year with even more attractions than usual. The good news is that although half-term may be over for most, the action-packed festival continues to run until Sunday 26 February.

I have never braved the Tube on my own with all three of my young men. Yet I felt compelled to conquer my fear of excitable little ones on busy platforms and venture up to Waterloo. I packed a bag with activity books, sharpened pencils and a delectable array of goodies. There was no moaning, no crying and the journey went remarkably smoothly.  

But when we arrived at the Royal Festival Hall, my heart sank. For there in the foyer was a lengthy queue of fed up parents, all surrounded by kids and similarly stuffed backpacks. They were all there for the free Become a Superhero workshop. Staff were on hand to help aspiring Supermen and Wonder Women create their very own super hero persona, complete with superpower and dazzling costume. The problem was that you needed to be super patient to stick out the lengthy wait of one hour or more! As patience has never been my super strength, my boys sadly missed out.

Another free attraction, the Imagine craft pavillion, was inundated too. So we went in search of a bespectacled man in a stripy red top called Wally. Yes, that’s right, he of Where’s Wally fame. The kids loved racing around the Royal Festival Hall in search of the popular book character, though they only found two “injured” cardboard cutouts behind the ticket desk. Probably not quite the idea, but they enjoyed themselves all the same.

After a quick pitstop for some ice cream sundaes at nearby Giraffe, we headed over to the Queen Elizabeth Hall for James Campbell’s Comedy 4 Kids. If you’re wondering what Comedy 4 Kids is, it’s exactly as it sounds. Comedian James Campbell performed an hour-long stand up set especially for those aged six and up. James, a father himself, clearly knows what makes kids tick and he really gets down to their level. He made jokes about scooters, school and the double entendre that is the Nintendo Wii! Of course, this led to a good 10 minutes of toilet-related humour, which obviously had the kids tickled pink (there were a many adults chortling away to themselves too).

The packed-out comedy performance was unfortunately a one-off at Imagine, but there is much, much more in store for families this week. Highlights include a chance to meet bestselling author Jacqueline Wilson and the London Book Swap.

Imagine Children’s Festival at the Southbank Centre until 26 February 2012. Read more

Twinkle Twonkle is the latest production from Tall Stories, they of  The Gruffalo fame. During the two-person show at the Roundhouse in Camden they take on the challenging concept of the Big Bang – or Big Sneeze – Theory and do their best to explain it to kids as young as five.

Stella’s bedroom is her own makeshift version of the universe. Paper lanterns, inflatable globes and a colander all substitutes for the planets she is so fascinated by.

Meanwhile her younger brother Ryan is more interested in the cow that jumped over the moon. Desperate for a playmate, he badgers Stella to take part in his endless renditions of his favourite nursery rhymes.

But Stella just wants her brother to go to sleep so she can stare at the starry night through her telescope.

When Ryan refuses, she does the next best thing and teaches him about the worlds around him.

There are plenty of laughs and songs in the 50 minute performance and we all came out a lot wiser and more informed about the likes of constellations, galaxies and the basics of astrophysics! Even so, I’m still left wondering – what exactly are stars made of…?

Twinkle Twonkle at the Roundhouse until 31 December 2011

Neither myself nor my kids had any idea of what this might mean, and so we took ourselves down to the lovely Unicorn Theatre by Tower Bridge in the hope of finding out.

Walking in to this intriguing performance for pre-schoolers, we were each handed a weird and wonderful hat. My boys were too shy (or too cool) to wear theirs, but how could I refuse the offer?! Once inside the studio theatre, the children got to meander their way through a walkway of hoops and bells. Then as the doors closed we were asked to take our seats by the… Er… Strange table-type stage.

Specially designed, it is essentially an outsized ring-shaped wooden table. There are actually two concentric rings which move in opposite directions. The actors are inside the ring, while the little ones sit with their elbows on the table – their curious parents right behind them. And so the show began. It is a simple tale of a little girl who goes in search of her beloved lost dog. What makes this production by interactive theatre company Oily Cart so special is that the characters are played both by actors and puppet versions of themselves. The original music is catchy and the set and props are all crafted from a host of recyclables.

As the human girl sings her way through the story, her tiny alter-ego brings the action to life on the moving set. Her journey takes her from home to sea, then out to a desert island and eventually to space. Meanwhile the kids get very involved in the action, helping the puppets to travel faster and faster, heaving on a rope that sends them out to sea, searching for choccy biccies and even teaching the doleful man in the moon how to dance.

Audience participation is always a winner with kids, but Ring A Ding Ding takes this to new heights as the little ones really feel as if they are an integral part of the performance.

Ring A Ding Ding at the Unicorn Theatre until 30 December 2011. Book tickets

Christmas is not Christmas without a family trip to the theatre. And this year there’s only one show in town.  Well… that’s not strictly true, but you catch my drift. It’s hard not to gush about Matilda The Musical, which has just opened at the Cambridge Theatre and will hopefully become a permanent fixture in London’s West End.

The Royal Shakespeare Company has dusted down Roald Dahl’s much-loved children’s classic and given it an all-singing, all-dancing makeover.

The play opens with a chorus of children boasting that “My mummy says I’m a miracle”. A million miles from those proud parents is ballroom dancer Mrs Wormwood, who, to her dismay, has just discovered she is pregnant – and nine months gone at that.

Her husband, a brash wheeler dealer (played by comedian Paul Kaye), is rather more upbeat about Matilda’s arrival, until he discovers she’s a girl. The uncouth pair adopt a peculiar style of parenting; ignoring and teasing their daughter in equal measure.

But despite their best efforts to get her to stop reading and watch more telly, Matilda turns out to be a bookworm extraordinaire. The little girl, played by one of four very talented young actresses, seeks solace in a kindly librarian and her sensitive teacher, Miss Honey. There is no doubt that Matilda (ours was played by 11-year-old Cleo Demetriou) is the star of the show. Her powerful voice and fine acting suggest a lengthy career lies ahead.

That said, it is the humour that makes this such a success and that is thanks to writer Dennis Kelly and musical comedian Tim Minchin, who wrote the score and lyrics for the play.  There’s a laugh a minute when Matilda’s crude, uncaring parents are on stage, but it is actor Bertie Carvel who steals the show as the evil headmistress, Miss Trunchbull.

Carvel’s hilarious depiction of the one-time Olympic hammer thrower is comedy genius. With her high-pitched voice and uber-padded outfits, Miss Trunchbull is like an extreme kickass pantomime dame. Though a little fearsome at first, she soon becomes the villain we love to hate, which explains why Carvel recently won the award for Best Performance in a Musical at the 2011 Theatre Awards UK.

I’m not sure who loved Matilda more – me or my kids. There were a few loud bangs and a couple of split-second scary moments, but otherwise their little faces were plastered with huge grins throughout. Whether or not you have children, Matilda is a wonderful show with catchy tunes and a brilliant script so be sure to catch it while you can.

Matilda at the Cambridge Theatre until 12 February 2012. Book tickets