For inspiring days close to home, check out our round-up of activities and events to enjoy with your kids in East London.
There’s a month of fun to be a had on your doorstep! We’ve done the research so you don’t have to.
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1 Tiny Planet
Carrying the echoes of the classic The Little Prince, Tiny Planet invites you on a journey to explore how we can all feel impossibly small and infinitely gigantic. Live camera projection and breathtaking puppetry bring to life the idea of a whole world no bigger than a house. A planet that can be explored in a matter of minutes, yet it is the centre of a galaxy. Your children will love the original live folk songs as they uncover the mysteries that keep this little globe turning. Discover a tiny world in which the smallest things hold the biggest stories. Marvel as asteroids collide and discover the curious and wonderful as new creatures evolve.
Saturday 7th March 2026 11 am
Half Moon Young People’s Theatre, 43 White Horse Road, London E1 0ND
£8
2 Watch the Haringey Huskies at Alexandra Palace
Calling all North American and Nordic parents keen to share their traditions! But even if Hockey has no cultural significance for you, you can still get into a high-octane ice-hockey showdown as the Haringey Greyhounds take on the Slough Sirens in this cup fixture. It’s a roaring, family-friendly evening of puck-slams, fast breaks and community atmosphere. Perfect for introducing kids (or yourself) to ice hockey.
Sunday 8th March 2026, from 10 am
Stepney City Farm, Stepney Way, London E1 3DG
£5, £2.50 for under 12s
3 Last days to see The Last Days of Pompeii
Wrapping up on the 15th March! Step into ancient Rome at this spectacular immersive experience: wander reconstructed streets of Pompeii, explore VR gladiator combat, see real artefacts and body-casts, and witness the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 360° projection designed for families and history fans alike.
Ends Sunday 15th March 2026
Immerse LDN, ExCeL London Waterfront, 1 Western Gateway, London E16 1FR
Tickets: From £15.50 (children 4–15), £20 (general admission 16+), free for children under 3
4 The Hunger Games
A thrilling new stage version of The Hunger Games that pulls you right into the world of Panem. Expect high-energy action, immersive staging, striking visual effects and powerful storytelling as Katniss Everdeen steps forward to protect her sister and becomes an unexpected symbol of hope. This production brings the intensity of the books and films into a live, cinematic-feeling performance that older children, teens and adults can enjoy together.
Everyday except Tuesdays
Troubadour Canary Wharf Theatre, Water Street, Canary Wharf, E14 5GX
Prices vary by date/seat; advance booking advised
5 Cut A Shine Family Barn Dance – St Patricks Day
A super inclusive event with all ethnicities and abilities welcome… If you’ve never danced a Ceilidh before, don’t worry, they’ll teach you the moves. Suitable for all ages. Cut a Shine will mix up the sets with dances for really small kids and some for bigger kids. The littlest ones will love the simple dances, but there will also be a couple of proper ones for the grown-ups. Get your folk on with Cut A Shine St Patrick’s Day! Celebrating Irish Culture, Music and Dance. Tuck into some Irish Stew and Champ (Meat and Vegan), swig some Guinness, Stouts, and even fine Whisky. Soft play for crawlers.
Saturday 14th March 2026 1-4 pm
Roundchapel, 1D Glenarm Road, Clapton, London E5 0LY
£7 per human
6 Kiddical Mass Spring Bike Ride
Cycle from Kings Cross to Shoreditch with a super fun family friendly bike ride! The theme is YELLOW! Dress up and/or decorate bikes taking inspiration from daffodils, sunshine and bananas! The mission is to become a great big yellow posse spreading the colour of hope, warmth and optimism through the streets of London. Start at Granary Square or join the feeder ride from Hackney, your family can enjoy a relaxed, fully marshalled ride along a family-friendly route with disco tunes. All ages and abilities are welcome, just bring your energy, some snacks, and weather-appropriate gear!
Sunday 15th March 2026, 10 am Haggerston, 10:30 Kings Cross
Haggerston station or Granary Square
Free, booking required
7 Inside Aardman
Take a look behind the scenes with this exhibition celebrating Aardman Animation’s 50th anniversary at the Young V&A in Bethnal Green! Step into the whimsical world of stop-motion with beloved characters like Wallace & Gromit, Shaun the Sheep, Morph and more, and discover how these clay creations are brought to life. The exhibition takes you through the whole filmmaking process, from first sketches and storyboards to model-making, lighting, and final animation effects. With lots of interactive activities for kids and 150 iconic items on display, including rare models, sets and props, there’s plenty to explore and inspire budding animators and fans alike.
Wednesday 12 February – Sunday 15 November 2026, daily at Young V&A, Cambridge Heath Rd, Bethnal Green, London E2 9PA.
Young V&A, Cambridge Heath Road, Bethnal Green, London, E2 9PA
Tickets: Kids £6 – Adults £8 (free for babies under 1)
8 Shabba Big Day Out St Patricks Day
A craic for all ages! Traditional Irish Dancing by the Trainor School with multi competition winners! Live modern Irish music from The Urban Family Band and Shabba DJs with Celtic deep cuts. Bouncy castles with split ages, soft play, retro gaming and a cheap and well stocked bar. If that doesn’t sound like parenting heaven well… Here’s to eyes in your heads and none in your spuds. All adults buying a ticket must be accompanied by a child to attend.
Saturday 14th March, 2026
Walthamstow Trades Hall, 61-63 Tower Hamlets Road, London E17 4RQ
Tickets from £11 Adults £6.10 Kids
9 Parkour School
Are your little monkeys climbing the walls? Why not take them to a place where it’s truly encouraged? Parkour School is lots of fun with instructors who help kids understand how to make falls and jumps safer. Guaranteed to help them burn off steam so you can have a quiet and calm day. They have classes for kids from 6 months old which is adorable too!
Daily Classes
The Parkour School, Ostro Tower, 31 Harbour Way, London E14 9ZP
Trial classes from £20
10 Chiharu Shiota: Threads of Life
An immersive contemporary art exhibition showcasing the work of Japanese artist Chiharu Shiota at the Hayward Gallery, Southbank Centre. The show transforms the top floor of the gallery with intricate web-like installations of thread that envelop everyday objects—from keys, shoes and chairs to beds and dresses—drawing visitors into vast, atmospheric environments that reflect on memory, connection, the fragility of existence and the body. Alongside the signature woven works are large-scale sculptures, drawings, early performance videos and photographs, underlining Shiota’s exploration of life, death and relationships through thread as both medium and metaphor. The exhibition runs alongside Yin Xiuzhen: Heart to Heart, and a single ticket grants entry to both shows.
Until Sunday 3rd May 2026
Hayward Gallery, Belvedere Road, London SE1 8XX
£19 per adul, under 12s free, 12+ £8
11 Replay: A Limitless Recycled Playground
Replay returns to the Southbank Centre this March with its limitless world of play. Designed to stretch imaginations this recycled playground/art installation is for children while inviting their grown-ups to experiment too. The space is built entirely out of waste materials repurposed for fun by The Herd Theatre and set to a score composed from recycled sounds and a crowd-sourced play generator. Play side-by-side in this space full of things you can move, change, combine, wear and reimagine. For ages 6 months – 11 years.
Wednesday 4 March – Sunday 12 April 2026
Royal Festival Hall, Southbank Centre
Tickets from £7.50 + £3.50 booking fee
12 Your Toys
What do Buzz Lightyear, Barbie and that stray Lego piece from behind the fridge have in common? They’re all setting off on a wild journey together as Slot Machine Theatre bring their extraordinary puppetry skills to a show like no other. Children and their grown ups are invited to bring along a toy and lend it to them for the duration of the performance where it will be brought to life on stage! Expect joyful music, belly laughs and plenty of surprises as the new found friends (your toys) pull together and deliver a brilliant show all about the power of play. For ages 5-9.
Sunday 22nd March – Sunday 21st April 2026
Unicorn Theatre (Clore), 147 Tooley Street, London SE1 2HZ
Tickets: £16.50
13 ArcelorMittal Orbit aka ZipWorld!
Under new ownership, Zip World is sending people flying down the Olympic sculpture by Anish Kapoor and Cecil Balmond that East Londoner’s know as ArcelorMittal Orbit or the big red thing. You may not know that it is a brilliantly thrilling ride called the Helix that is actually the world’s longest and tallest totally tubular slide?! It’s certainly thrilling and highly recommended for anyone else currently struggling with the cognitive dissonance of trying to carry on as normal while the world falls apart. Screaming your head off all the way down is probably quite cheap as far as therapy is concerned. You need to be 1.3M to ride the slide.
Open Daily
ArcelorMittal Orbit, Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, Newham, Greater London, England, E20 2AD
From £14
14 The Cat in the Hat
Experience mischief and mayhem in this acclaimed stage adaptation of Dr Seuss’ The Cat In The Hat. From the moment his tall,red and white-striped hat appears, Sally and her brother know that the cat in the hat is the funniest, most mischievous cat they have ever met. With the trickiest of tricks and craziest of ideas, he turns a rainy afternoon into an amazing adventure. Families can expect a lively and engaging theatre experience for children aged 3+ . There will be an opportunity to meet the Cat in the Hat after the show.
2 & 4pm Saturday 28th and 11am & 2pm Sunday 29th March 2026
Greenwich Theatre, SE10 8ES
Adults £17.50 Kids £15.50
15 The Everywhere Bear & Family Workshop
Julia Donaldson’s much loved classic the Everywhere Bear, will be brought to life with rhyme, original music and delightfully expressive puppets in this fun and exciting stage adaptation. Your little ones will love the story of the take-home bear shared by the children in Class One, who he gets more than he bargained for when he falls unnoticed from a backpack and embarks on his own big adventure! He’s washed down a drain and whooshed out to sea, rescued by a seagull…how will he ever make it back to Class One! There will be a special workshop for families on the 14th and 15th of March to make it all the more memorable.
15th May – 21st September 2025 11 am – 6 pm
Little Angel Theatre, 14 Dagmar Passage, London N1 2DN
£10 per person
16 Menagerie in The Museum – a Petting Zoo – LIVE
Meet, handle and even cuddle our scaly, furry and even feathered friends. The Victor Wynd Museum of Curiosities is hosting interactive sessions with creatures. They can’t promise exactly what animals are coming but they have a strong inkling there will be ducks, reptiles, insects and maybe even something furry! If you’ve never taken the kids, it’s an extraordinarily quirky East London museum sure to spark their imaginations.
Wednesday 25th March 2026 various times (inc after school)
Victor Wynd Museum of Curiosities, 11 Mare Street, London E8 4RP
£15.95
17 Vikings: The Immersive Experience
East London is to be invaded by Vikings this Spring! Opening at Dock X on the 12th March, a revolutionary new immersive, educational and historical exhibition will tell the story of the Vikings beyond the battlefield with a view into the lives of the Viking World’s most formidable family: King Ragnar Lodbrok and the wise Queen Kraka, along with their world-conquering and fearsome sons Ivar The Boneless, Bjorn Ironside, Hvitserk and Sigurd Snake-in-the-Eye. With VR and full scale models, the team behind this have gone great lengths to deliver something that will blow their tiny minds and probably yours too!
Opens 12th March 2026
Montgomery Square, Canary Wharf, London E14
Tickets start from £19 for children and £23 for General Admission (16+).
18 Easter London Museum Docklands
This Easter, the London Museum Docklands is planning a feast of fun with some drool-worthy food stories! Nibble your way to the docks and explore the flavours, memories and journeys behind what we eat. From tropical ingredients carried across oceans to recipes passed down in your own kitchen, discover where food comes from and what it means to each of us. More details to come! Watch the website!
Saturday 28th March – Sunday 12th April 2026
No 1, West India Quay, Hertsmere Rd, London E14 4AL
Free
19 Discovery Garden Family Day
Spring into the season with a free outdoor family day celebrating the launch of the Discovery Garden at the Museum of the Home! This fun, drop-in event invites families of all shapes and sizes to enjoy a variety of hands-on activities themed around nature, growing and creativity. Explore crafting workshops, learn about medicinal and edible plants with a landscape expert, and get stuck into outdoor play and gardening activities where you can plant your own seedling to take home. The Discovery Garden itself is a new permaculture-focused outdoor space created with local schools and community partners to spark curiosity about the natural world.
Tuesday 31st March 2026 (half term) Morning (10am–12pm) & Afternoon (1pm–3pm)
Museum of the Home – 136 Kingsland Road, E2 8EA
Free to drop-in
20 Bow Families: miniature ornaments for a ‘tea party theatre’ with Ayesha Sureya
Artist and designer Ayesha Sureya invites children and families to a playful ‘tea party theatre’. Children can make miniature ornaments of their favourite food objects from colourful oven-bake clay pieces. Bow families is also now running a regular session at the Rum Factory in Wapping https://bowarts.org/event/bow-families-at-the-rum-factory-4/
Sunday 25th May 2025, 11:00 am – 1:00 pm
Bow Arts Trust Courtyard Room, 183 Bow Road, London, E3 2SJ
Free, drop-in