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Fun things to do with kids in South Kensington

Looking for family-friendly activities in South Kensington? Dive into a world of exploration and experimentation with interactive experiences tailored for families. From music and science to arts, performance, film, parks, playgrounds, immersive galleries, and beyond, there's plenty of inspiring fun for your kids to discover!

Mission: Invertebrate

The Royal Parks
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Download Mission: Invertebrate's free activities and information sheets to see London’s green spaces in a whole new way. Whether you’re at home, in your local park or one of the incredible Royal Parks, these resources will help you and your family discover fascinating nature on your doorstep.

Behind the Scenes Tour: Spirit Collection

Daily
11am, 3pm
Natural History Museum
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Go behind the scenes with our knowledgeable science educators for a look at the Museum's fascinating zoology collection preserved in spirit.

V&A Secret Seekers

Online
V&A South Kensington
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Set off on a treasure hunt to unlock the secrets of the museum hidden in its walls. Meet a cast of characters, collect gems and reveal the museum's secrets!

IMAX: The Ronson Theatre

Daily
Varies
Science Museum
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Experience this fully immersive IMAX, on one of the biggest cinema screens in the UK. With an IMAX laser 4k projector and an IMAX 70mm film projector, this experience is great for all cinema lovers. Regularly showing are scientific documentaries and the latest blockbuster releases.

Self-Guided Tours at the Natural History Museum

Daily
10am-5:50pm
Natural History Museum
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Whether you're visiting for the first time or the fiftieth, these tours and free things to do, will take you through the best the Museum has to offer.

Technicians: The David Sainsbury Gallery

Daily
10am - 6pm
Science Museum
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Step into the fascinating world of technicians for a peek behind the scenes in the Science Museum's brand new interactive gallery. Experience what it’s like to create visual effects on a blockbuster film set or operate a robot in a manufacturer's workshop,

Young V&A opening in July

Opening 1st July 2023
V&A South Kensington
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Young V&A will showcase the transformative power of creativity, displaying remarkable and optimistic stories of children’s ingenuity alongside 2,000 works from the V&A’s collection of art, design, and performance.

Outdoor Activities for Kids

Online
Natural History Museum
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Fun, free things to do in a park, on the street, or anywhere outdoors.

Power Up

10am - 5.30pm
Science Museum
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Immerse yourself in this hands-on gaming zone, featuring the very best video games and consoles from the past 50 years. From Pong to Pacman and Minecraft to Mario, there’s something for everyone, whether you’re a retro games fan, a serious gamer or just want to beat your family at Mario Kart.

Engineers

Daily
10am-6pm
Science Museum
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Engineers shape the world that we live in, creating bold, ground-breaking innovations that respond to global challenges and improve billions of lives. But how much do we know about the people behind these innovations?

Ciné Lumière

Various
Institut français
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Showcasing the best of foreign film - it screens a mix of French, European and Global films - with subtitles.

Young V&A

Opens 1st July
10am-5:30pm
V&A South Kensington
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Get ready to spark your creativity at Young V&A – the museum where children, young people and families can imagine, play and design. From 1 July 2023, be inspired by spaces, explore our collection and get creative. Right now, keep in touch on social.

Family Trails at the Science Museum

Science Museum
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Go on a journey of discovery and exploration around the Science Museum.

Giants of Today Trail

Natural History Museum
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From hefty herbivores to jungle jumbos, discover who's topping the charts when it comes to being the biggest, the tallest and the heaviest of them all. Follow the trail to meet some of world's biggest animals and to find out all about the highs and lows that come with being so big.

Image credit: 1959 Barbie No. 1 © Mattel, Inc.

Barbie: The exhibition

5th July - 23rd Feb 2025
10am - 5pm
Design Museum
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A major exhibition exploring the design evolution of one of the world’s most famous dolls: Barbie®. Journey into the Barbie universe and discover over 250 remarkable objects, with rare, unique and innovative dolls dating from 1959 to the present day.

Ghostbusters in Concert

26th Oct
7.30pm
Royal Albert Hall
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The beloved ‘80s sci-fi comedy, Ghostbusters, will join the Royal Albert Hall’s Films in Concert series: Watch Ivan Reitman’s original 1984 classic on the big screen at Halloween - all whilst Elmer Bernstein’s famous score is performed live by a full orchestra conducted by Peter Bernstein.

Metalworking Now

23rd March - 31st Dec
10am - 5.45pm
V&A South Kensington
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Contemporary metalworking is a dynamic field and today’s metalsmiths continue a long tradition of experimentation in a range of metals to create exciting and innovative work. This display highlights a selection of work by metalsmiths from across the world that have been collected by the V&A since 2010.

Tropical Modernism: Architecture and Independence

2nd March - 22nd Sept
10am - 5.45pm
V&A South Kensington
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Last chance to explore Tropical Modernism - an architectural style developed in the hot, humid conditions of West Africa in the 1940s.

Adventures Babies

Various Dates
Various Times
Natural History Museum
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Delight the little ones with this sensory storytelling class at the Natural History Museum. Take part in a host of activities designed specifically to engage babies and encourage their development.

Birds: Brilliant and Bizarre

24th May - 5th Jan
10am - 5.50pm
Natural History Museum
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Birds: Brilliant and Bizarre explores the world of birds like never before. From surviving the mass extinction that wiped out all the other dinosaurs to their remarkable evolution into more than 11,000 species.

Energy Revolution: The Adani Green Energy Gallery

Daily
10am - 6pm
Science Museum
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Discover how the world can generate and use energy more sustainably to limit climate change in the Science Museum’s new, free gallery. Energy Revolution looks at the past, present and future of sustainable energy and how we can achieve a low carbon world.

The Natural History Museum Gardens

Daily
10am - 5.50pm
Natural History Museum
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Say hello to a full-size Diplodocus grazing in a Jurassic garden, come face-to-face with the earliest mammals and walk in the footsteps of our earliest ancestors. As you explore the grassland, wetland and woodland habitats, experience how nature can thrive in urban spaces. Booking not necessary.

Serpentine Pavilion 2024

7th June - 27th Oct
Serpentine
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Seoul-based Korean architect Minsuk Cho and his firm Mass Studies have been selected to design the 23rd Pavilion which opens at Serpentine South on 7 June.

The Sunken Garden

Wed - Sun
9.30-17.45
Kensington Palace
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The beautiful Sunken Garden was planted in 1908, transforming part of the gardens previously occupied by potting sheds into a tranquil ornamental garden. Today, the garden continues the tradition of rotational flower displays in the spring and summer.