Half Term in London

Next week is half-term holidays for school kids in London and the centre of town and the Tube will be busy with parents looking for ways to entertainment their little angels. If you’re in the city next week and have youngsters along here are some places that are having special events for half-term.

The Science of Spying On at the Science Museum, always a good place to take the kids, this interactive exhibition lets you find out what it takes to be a spy and whether you have what it takes. There are a number of special rooms where you learn and are tested on the soies secrets including a Spymaker Training Base and Technology Centre and enemy HQ with the latest security and spying gadgets. The exhibition begins tomorrow 10 February and runs until 2 September, tickets are £10 adults, £8 kids or £23 1 adult + 2 kids during the school holidays. The Science Museum is open seven days a week from 10am-6pm.

Hunt the Rat Aimed at 5-12 year olds who follow clues to track down rats (not real ones) on board the cruiser HMS Belfast which is permanently moored along the south bank of the Thames between Tower and London Bridges. There are also art projects that they can take part in on the ship. Hunt The Rat is on from 10-25 February, 11am-1pm and 2-4pm daily. Tickets are £9.95 adults, kids under 16 are free.

Eddie Catz This is a children’s entertainment centre on Putney High Street in West London and next week they have a session called Deep Sea: Life in our Oceans, on 13 February from 10am-1pm. This is aimed at 5-7 year olds and looks at sea life and will feature live animals such as tortoises, snakes and lizards. On 15 February they have Chinese New Year Craft & Cookery for 4-6 year olds where the kids can make Chinese lanterns and paper dragons and learn about the Chinese calendar. Tickets for these classes are £26 each with lunch.

Imagine: Children’s Literature Festival On at the South Bank Centre, just west of Waterloo Bridge, this festival runs from 18-21 February and has well known children’s authors reading from their work and answering questions from the kids afterwards. Tickets for the readings are £7 adults, £4.50 child.

V&A Museum of Childhood Part of the Victoria and Albert Museum but located in its own building in the East End of London not far from Bethnal Green Tube, two of their current temporary exhibitions are Happy Birthday Miffy which looks at the work of Dick Bruna, Holland’s most successful children’s author, and Alfred and the Pirates-The Making of a Children’s Book folows the writing of the story by Irving Finkel and its illustration by 15 year old Emily Donegan. Admission is free and the museum is open daily from 10am-5.45pm.