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Coram's Fields – This park is unusual in that adults can
only enter the park if they are accompanied by a child. Once the original
site of the Foundling Hospital, Coram's Fields is now a wide spacious
playground with swings, slides, and lots of climbing structures. Kids
will get a kick out of this London playground. |
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The Foundling Museum (Brunswick Square) – Right next to Coram's Fields is a new museum that tells the story
of the Foundling Hospital. Established in 1739, the Foundling Hospital was
a home for abandoned children, and also an art gallery for British artists
such as Hogarth and Reynolds, and concerts by Handel. Explore the museum
with a children's guide book or drawing activities, listen to an audio tour
with poems by kids, dress up in 18th century kid's clothes – this museum
is a real eye opener. |
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London Canal Museum – Kids interested in boats and navigation
will have fun in this small museum, located just east of King's Cross
station. Here you can find out about the canals that were the main source
of industrial transportation from the 19th and into the 20th centuries.
Step into a full-size narrowboat (whole families lived on these boats),
check out the exhibits of horses that pulled the canal boats along the
tow paths, and go out behind the museum to see narrowboats moored in the
water. |
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Dickens House Museum – Here at 48 Doughty Street in Bloomsbury,
Charles Dickens wrote Oliver Twist. His house is now a museum,
the rooms preserved with their Victorian décor. |
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.Russell Square – Large tree-lined square, with
benches, lots of grass to flop down on, and a cafe for lunch or a snack.
This is the perfect oasis, when kids need a place to run around or you'd
like a picnic spot (there are sandwiches shops close by with everything
you need for a picnic). |
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British Museum – The British Museum has just a
boggling collection of fabulous goodies from the ancient world – Assyria,
Mesopotamia, Egypt, Greece and Rome, plus prehistoric Europe. It's free,
and there's lots to explore, but start early in the day, or better yet,
come back more than once. |
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Where to start? Egyptian mummies (upstairs) are a good
place to begin. You can go to the Reading Room and borrow a free activity
backpack, filled with numbered packets and hands-on stuff, coordinated with
the mummy exhibits. |
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Don't miss the Rosetta stone, important for school
reports, or the amazing Assyrian reliefs and winged bulls. Personal favorites
are the incomparable sculptures from the Parthenon (Elgin Marbles) and Sutton Hoo treasure from 7th century Anglo-Saxon kings – golden
weapons, helmets, swords, drinking horns and silver bowls. |
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Spend some time in the newly restored Great Court and
Reading Room, now open to the public. The light airy indoor courtyard is
only eclipsed by the magnicent blue and gold dome inside the Reading Room. |
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To scout out the museum in advance, look into the British
Museum Web site. The Web site has a calendar of activities for kids at the British Museum. |
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This irresistible
pop-up book showcases Egyptian art and artifacts you'll see at the
British Museum. Imagine boats on the Nile, Ramses II in his war
chariot, pyramids at Giza, an Egyptian villa, Hatshepsut's temple
at Deir el Bahari, Tutankhamun's tomb.
(Pop-up book)
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Before
you see the Rosetta Stone, find out why this unimpressive black
stone is so amazing – where the stone was found (and why
it ended up in the British Museum), what's inscribed, and how
Champollion, having decided at age 11 that he'd read the hieroglyphics,
solved the puzzle. (Chapter book, illustrations)
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Dickens'
novels, told as stories with lots of pictures, rollicking illustrations
that evoke familiar characters and Victorian England. "What
the Dickens." This is a gem. (Picture book)
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Before you visit
the house where Charles Dickens wrote Oliver Twist, this
is a wonderful read about the life and times of this best-loved
author – Dickens' own childhood (and his favorite books), his
job in a boot polish factory at age 12, work in a law office as
a teen. Fabulous illustrations re-create the world of Dickens and
Victorian London. Good for older kids. (Illustrated chapter book)
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Poignant story
of the Foundling Hospital, home for abandoned children, and now
a museum. Find out what kids' life was like in the home – chores,
uniforms, food (milk porridge, boiled beef and vegetables), schooling
and apprenticeship. This is a personal story too – the author's
grandfather grew up in the orphanage. (Chapter book, illustrations)
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(More children's
books on other London and England pages) |
