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Coram's Fields – For this park, 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 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 and concerts by Handel. |
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Explore this free museum, children can dress up in 18th century kid's clothes, storytelling and hands-on activities: Family activities. |
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British Museum – Step into the Treasure Gallery |
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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 canals, 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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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 – Egypt, Assyria,
Mesopotamia, Greece and Rome, plus prehistoric Europe, China and Japan. The museum is 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? At the information desk in the Great Court, pick up Family Trails, such as Sailing on Nile (ancient Egypt), Travelling in Time (ancient Greece), Hunting for Dragons (dragons around the world). |
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The Ancient Egypt galleries (ground floor, level 3) are filled with mummies (including mummies of cats, crocodiles and baboons), sphinxes, tomb artifacts, and colossal sculptures of pharaohs. Don't miss the Rosetta stone, at the entrance to the gallery. |
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The "biggies" from ancient Greece are the Parthenon sculptures. Marble friezes show the Panathenaic Festival, an amazing procession of horsemen, chariots, galloping horses, musicians, animals, elders, gods Athena, Poseidon, Apollo, Artemis (and more). |
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Next to the Parthenon gallery is a "hands-on room" with replicas of the friezes kids can touch, colors (red, yellow, blue) originally painted on the marbles. |
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For background about the Parthenon, read our blog: "The Parthenon: Athens and London" |
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Personal favorites
are the amazing Assyrian reliefs and winged bulls and Sutton Hoo treasure from 7th century Anglo-Saxon kings – golden
weapons, helmets, swords, drinking horns and silver bowls. |
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In the Great Court is a cafe to buy lunch, and picnic tables if you brought your lunch (like all the British school children). |
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To scout out the museum in advance, look into the British
Museum website and check out the calendar of activities for kids at the British Museum. |
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Delightful book for little ones – red shoes, orange tiger, yellow fan, green crocodile, blue hippo, purple handkerchief, pink cat, gold mask, and more. All 40+ artifacts are in the British Museum collection. (Board book)
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Read this before visiting the Parthenon Gallery. The book explains the sculptures inside and outside the temple, cultural context of ancient Greece, focusing on particular sculptures you’ll see in the museum.
(Picture book)
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Lottie Lipton lives in the British Museum with her Uncle Bert. When the Golden Cat of Cairo mysteriously disappears, can Lottie follow clues through the museum to find the missing statue? (Chapter book)
Her next adventure involves the priceless Rosetta Stone: The Secrets of the Stone
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Before
you see the Rosetta Stone, find out why this 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 solved the puzzle. (Chapter book, illustrations)
Also, Seeker of Knowledge, a picture book biography of Champollion.
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(More children's
books on other London and England pages) |
