WWT London Wetland Centre
New LegoLand Windsor 01753 621621 Pirates Landing gets a major re-vamp to become New Pirates Shores featuring Castaway Camp a new pirate adventure play area with more than 100 brand new Lego modes & themed features on the Pirate Falls Treasure Quest log flume ride, plus a new themed restaurant plus lots more on offer.
23-26 May Elderflower Fields Festival Ashdown Forest Family festival designed with kids in mind, activities to include skateboarding, slack lining, mountain biking, kayaking, raft building & tree climbing. There is also a Sports Camp that will include volley ball, archery, rounders, hockey, an assault course, plus Arts Camp workshops a brand new Youth Music Zone with instrumental taster sessions & lots more. For parents there is a Woodland Spa offering a wide range of spa treatments plus over 40 bands that will be performing, www.elderflowerfields.co.uk.
24 May – Sunday 1 June Did you know that hidden at there are flying pink elephants? It’s easy to spot the ducks which live at the Centre, but the wetland reserve is teeming with other life which is sometimes a bit more difficult to spot unless you know where to look. www.wwt.org.uk/london 020 8409 4400
24-25 May Sheffield Park and Garden Nr Haywards Heath East Sussex 0825 790231 Archery in the garden unleash your inner Robin Hood & try archery in the garden. 26-30 May Plants & Planting Week take home your own potted seed to nurture into a full grown plant. 1 June-17 July International Garden Photographer of the Year Exhibition. .
24 -25 May HMS Belfast Tooley Street 020 7940 6320 020 7403 0719(f) D-Day Family Weekend with themed activities to include simulating Morse code messages, making medals workshop, Tattoo T-shirts workshop & lots more, drop in, FREE. 24 May-1 June Half Term Making Medals in honour of the 70th anniversary of D-Day with drop in plaster casting activity for all ages, FREE. Ongoing HMS Belfast Private Tours with exclusive behind the barrier access, discover some of the quirky sailors’ stories of living & working on board including the time a reindeer joined the crew!
24-25 May The Albany Deptford 020 8692 4446 Rubbish puppeteers show children of 5+yrs & adults how to create magic with the contents of a bin, giving new life to discarded items whilst engaging with the ideas of recycling.
24 May-1 June Victoria & Albert Museum Cromwell Road 020 7942 2000 Half Term Digital Kids visitors can create their own garden using drawing, model making & animation, 5+yrs, FREE, drop in. 24 May-1 June The Imagination Station, 3+yrs, FREE drop in. 24 May-1 June Pop Up Performance , all the family, FREE, drop in. 26-30 May Make It: Landscape Design workshop, opportunity to work with a landscape designer to design a garden for a grand house, 5-12yrs. Daily Back Packs families can pick up an activity back pack filled with jigsaws, stories & games to explore the collection, 4-11yrs, Activity Cart hands on art fun for children to create a Samuri helmet, a silver goblet or an elephant mask to take home, FREE, drop in plus Agent Animal bag a sensory activity bag that has been developed for under 5’s containing an audio map & fabric cubes, FREE.
24-26 May Dover Castle & The Secret Wartime Tunnels 01304 211067 WW11 Weekend, witness a battle, walk through military encampments & get up close to a full size replica Spitfire, experience the German field hospital, get tips on the latest period fashion & witness the firepower display plus a live band playing music from 40’s & plenty of hands on activities for children, entertainment for all ages.
24 May-1 June Shorne Woods Country Park Gravesend 01474 823800 Half Term activity trail.
24 May-1 June Emmetts Garden Idle Hill Sevenoaks 01732 868381 50 things activity week see how many of the 50 things you can complete this half term.
24 May-1 June Canterbury Tales Visitor Attraction 01227 479227 Costumed character guided tours
24,28 May Thursley Common www.rspb.org.uk/groups/tonbridge/events. All day bird watching field trip for Dartford warblers, stonechats, redstarts &whitethroats as well as damselflies & dragonflies, meet at 10 a.m, booking essential.
24 May-1 June Standen East Grinstead 01342 323029 Half Term family fun with 50 Things family fun walks, trails & activities, trails & activities to include batty about bats, go bird watching & photography workshop.
24 May-1 June Alfriston Clergy House Polegate 01323 870001 Half Term Hunt bird themed search around the garden.
24 May-1 June Spinnaker Tower Portsmouth 02392 857520 Half Term family fun with a brand new family trail available.
24 May-I June Royal Naval Submarine Museum 02392 545034 Half Term Under water fun & commemorations of the derring do of the WW2 X Craft submarines. 27 May Diving toys watch different diving toys such as a submarine powered by baking powder, find out how they work & see if you can make your own diving squid or jellyfish, FREE activity with valid museum ticket. 29 May Underwater Kingdom make your own under the sea scene in a box with a clay sea creature. 31 May Making your Mark find out about the events that marked the preparations for D-Day & try your hand at reconnaissance, surveying beaches making mulberry harbours & lots more, FREE activity. 1 June Lighting the Way a shadow puppet play, FREE.
25 May East Kent Railway Tenterden 01304 832042 Railway Jamboree ride restored heritage train.
25 May Bandstand Victoria Gardens Broadstairs 01843 237750 Crystal Palace Band, 2.30-4pm. 26 May Landslide Country Band, 2.30-4pm. 1 June Kent Coastal Concert Band.
25 May RSPCA Millbrook Animal Centre 0300 123 0740 Fun dog show with many fun categories, stalls & refreshments, fun for all the family, registration from 10.30am. judging starts at 12noon.
25 May Surrey Sports Ground Guildford Race for Life women only fundraising event to walk, jog, dance or run 5K & 10K events in the name of raising money in the fight against cancer, www.raceforlife.cancerresearchuk.org.
25 May Victoria Gardens 01843 866991 Charity Fun Dog Show.
25 May St Mary’s Hall Whitstable 01227 772605 Oyster & Pearl Vintage Fair with a mixture of vintage clothing & accessories, collectables, jewellery & lots more, FREE entry, 10-4p.m.
25-26 May Hop Farm Paddock Wood 01622 872068 West Country Show with all day entertainment to include birds of prey, working dogs, children’s entertainment as well as arts, crafts, gifts & food marquees.
25 May Addiscombe Carnival & Fair Ashburton Park Lower Addiscombe Road Croydon Carnival procession from Woodside Green to Ashburton park with a full funfair, arena events, games & races, stalls, refreshments, fun for all the family, www.addiscombecarnival.org.uk, Tel: 020 8689 7507.
25-26 May Painshill Park Cobham 01932 868113 Napoleonic re-enactment see cannons, rockets & firing, find out how soldiers lived by visiting the living history camp plus a skirmish will take place in the afternoon as well as a drill which children can take part in.
26 May St Paul’s Church Bedford Street Family concert with Bach to Baby, entrance children, FREE.
26-30 May Museum of Childhood Bethnal Green 020 8983 5200 Hal Term Victorious Victorians families can take part in a Victorian trail listen to the tale of the Selfish Giant, dress up in Victorian costumes & make a popular Victorian toys to take home, FREE drop in all ages. Until 2 Nov Daydreams & Diaries, the story of Jacqueline Wilson one of Britain’s best loved children’s authors exhibition.
26 May Stoke Park Guildford 01483 444333. Surrey County Show with all the usual attractions of a country fair & the Show horses are a big part of the show plus the hounds are all child & shy friendly & love being petted in the arena.
27-30 May Birdworld Farnham 01420 22140 Love your Zoo Week with additional tours & demonstration in all of the animal departments plus topical trails & arts & crafts.
27 May Benjamin Franklin House 36 Craven Street 020 7839 2008 Family Day Georgian Homes with fun session, build a street of 3D, model Georgian terraces 5-11yrs., FREE for adults.
27-30 May Geffrye Museum Kingsland Rd 020 7739 9893 Half Term Ideal Homes exhibition, create futuristic homes, 5-16yrs. 27-30 May Nursery Rhyme Time, Home Sweet Home explore homes then & now through stories, songs & craft activities, 2-5yrs. Every weekend & school hols Geffrye explorers with FREE activity backpacks, audio guides, feely box, quizzes & trails.
28,30 May Birling Gap & Seven Sisters Eastbourne 01323 423197 Half Term Big Bug Week with bug hunt walks, arts & crafts & lots more.
28 May Old Royal Naval College 01494 764932 Animate This: try your hand at making moving images from zoetropes to digital animation, drop in workshop, 5+yrs, FREE.
31 May The Dulwich Park Fun Run 0300 373 1100 Adults can choose 10K or 5K race or join their children on the 1 mile fun run with a buggy push, there will also be stalls selling baked goods, post run massage, face painting & much more in aid of Cystic Fibrosis Trust.
1 June National Maritime Museum Greenwich 020 8312 6565 Discover Sundays explore your personal connections to the sea, all ages, FREE.
Written by Penny McCarthy
