Archives: What's On

The children’s classic tales of the Mr Men are returning to our TV screens very soon. They will be appearing from February 25th on Channel Five. However, alongside familiar characters such s Mr Lazy is a new character that I certainly don’t remember called Mr Rude.

Apparently Mr Rude has a french accent and is prone to farting (especially when you pull his finger!). The makers of Mr Men do not think that Mr Rude will offend the French:

‘Mr. Men is a comedy show for four to seven year olds. The fact that Mr. Rude has a French accent is meant to be light-hearted and tongue-in-cheek and no offence is intended.’

Source:Jim Snapper at Flickr

The Chinese New Year Celebration will be taking place on Sunday 10th February. There will be a grand parade along the Strand, Charing Cross Road and Shaftesbury Avenue and on to Trafalgar Square. The parade will start at 11am and you will be able to see all sorts of performers including acrobats and Chinese dragons. There will also be fireworks to round off the celebrations.

There are lots of different activities for kids including:

+ China in London at London Zoo - learn about the species that form the chinese zodiac

This Sunday is the first of several when the Design Museum is running special workshops for kids to give them a chance at design. Categories include products, fashion, furniture, architecture and graphics. Designs created at each workshop will be photographed and the most exciting will be exhibited on the museum’s website. These workshops will also be running on 10th, 17th and 24th February.

The Museum runs different themed workshops for kids each month so do check the website for more details.

Tomorrow is World Wetlands Day and it marks the date of the adoption of the Convention on Wetlands on 2 February 1971. There are lots of events around the UK to raise awareness about the values and benefits of Wetlands and many are aimed at children:

London Wetland Centre
Children under 16 will be allowed free admission and there are various tours as well as:
10.30 - 11.30am Paper making and turtle making
12.00 - 12.30pm Pond dipping - showcasing a healthy pond makes a happy garden
1.30 - 2.00pm Healthy Wetlands Healthy People games and activities
2.30 - 3.00pm Dr Quack’s medicinal plant trail - find out the historical medicinal uses of wetland plants
3.30 - 4.30pm Paper making and turtle making

Source: edwin11_79 at flickr

I am not sure why the Changing of the Guard at Buckingham Palace is such a famous spectacle. Maybe it has something to do with the well known poem by A A Milne (author of Winnie the Pooh):

They’re changing guard at Buckingham Palace -
Christopher Robin went down with Alice.
Alice is marrying one of the guard.
A soldier’s life is terrible hard, - Says Alice.

Or maybe people are just curious to see men wearing tall, black, furry hats!

This exhibition strikes me as the perfect day out for the family - the kids will have loads of space to charge around and everyone can enjoy a bit of culture at the same time. (I am a bit of an art lover so this event particularly appeals to me.)

Twenty-eight of Henry Moore’s sculptures have been sited around Kew Gardens and it is the first exhibition of its kind in London. All the sculptures are huge and intended to be placed outdoors. It is a great way of bringing art to life for kids:

The London Mime Festival is running until 27th January, so this weekend is your last chance to catch a couple of the shows. Mime really has moved on a bit since my day as a kid!

There are two very impressive family-friendly shows at the Southbank Centre this weekend:

Pep Bou from Spain
Sun 27 Jan 6pm - one performance only - runs approx 75 mins with no interval
Seats £12, £15, £18 (limited concs)
This master of mime creates beautiful, hand-blown bubbles in all sorts of shapes and sizes. These shimmering creations then dance to a variety of music (as shown in the above video)

If, like me, you are beginning to think about what to do for half-term and are thinking of taking the kids to a show in London, here are 6 ideas:

Afrika! Afrika! at the O2 Arena (17th January to 19th April)
Billed as The Magical Circus Adventure from the Amazing Continent, this show has over 100 performers from 17 african nations. There is everything from dancers and contortionists to acrobats and jugglers. Check the official website for further details.

If you like clubbing and you feel that your dancing days have taken a bit of a nosedive since you had kids then this is the event for you. Baby Loves Disco has events in London or Manchester where parents can groove along with their young kids and just have a bit of fun.

Baby Loves Disco is an afternoon dance party for little kids (6 months-7 years) and (especially) their parents: featuring Heart 106.2 DJs playing feelgood tracks guaranteed to get those little booties moving and grooving.

Keeping Teenagers amused on holiday is no mean feat, so I was pleased to read about “New on the Scene” which takes place at the Courtauld Gallery.

It is an all day painting workshop for teenagers (13 to 18yrs) where they explore the world of Manet, Degas and others. They look at the way in which the invention of photography kickstarted artists’ preoccupation with modern life.

The best bit is when they can put their newfound knowledge to use by creating their own artwork.

Nearest Tube: Temple/Charing Cross
Saturdays 10.30am to 4pm
£10 each (booking advisable)
Tel 020 7845 4600 or email familyandlearningbookings@somersethouse.org.uk