Morning, London! Happy Thursday. And just like that April’s done. We made it. Bank holiday Monday, the parks will be rammed, and that very specific London energy where everyone collectively decides it’s summer. It’s not quite summer yet. But close enough.

Did you watch the London Marathon on Sunday? Kenya’s Sabastian Sawe somehow ran it in 1:59:30. Under two hours. Which feels… unnecessary. Just kidding, well done. We’re fairly confident he’s not one of our readers. But if he is, please get in touch. We’d love to understand your morning routine. Meanwhile, someone else did the whole thing in medieval armour. So wherever you’re at this week, just know there’s a wide spectrum.

Gentle reminder: May half term is in a few weeks. This is your early warning before everything good books out and you end up explaining to your kids why “staying local” is actually fun. Oh and this Saturday you can hop on a 1938 Tube train. Peak London. Details below.

Right. Let’s go.

🎂 David Attenborough Turns 100 and London Is Celebrating. Sir David Attenborough hits 100 on 8 May, and somehow still feels like a national treasure we all share. To mark it, a special live event from the Royal Albert Hall will bring together music from his documentaries and familiar wildlife voices paying tribute. One hundred years, countless unforgettable moments, and still the calmest voice on Earth. Full story

✨ Westminster Cathedral Is Getting a Giant Light Show. This summer, Westminster Cathedral will be transformed by an immersive projection show, with visuals lighting up the iconic interior and narration from Hugh Bonneville. Big building, big voice, lots of lights.. Full story

🦁 London Zoo Is Getting a £20m Hospital You Can Watch Live. A mystery £20m donation is funding a new animal hospital at London Zoo, complete with a viewing gallery where visitors can watch vets at work. From penguin check-ups to the occasional aardvark ultrasound. Educational… and slightly intense. Full story

Ok not that I want to get serious or anything, but I had a chat with a parent last week which got me thinking. Most parents know they should talk to their kids about money. Most also quietly avoid it because… where do you even start? Guilty? Same. (I can barely explain my own spending half the time.)

One thing I read somewhere, and I'm assuming it's true: by around age 7, kids are already starting to form their basic money habits. Not the maths, but the instincts. Saving. Waiting. What feels “fair”. What things are worth.

So, should kids -whenever possible- get an allowance? How much? A simple rule that might help: about £1 per year of age, per week. So a 7-year-old gets £7. Simple enough to stick to. Real enough to matter. And if the amount sounds wildly optimistic, tweak it. The point is they practise, not that they retire early.

Stumbled across this and lost a solid five minutes to it.

NASA has this brilliant little tool where you type in a name and it spells it out using real satellite images of Earth. Think rivers for an “S”, coastlines for a “C”, bits of farmland for… well, most of the alphabet.

Typed my kids’ names in. Then mine. Then… a few more. Quite satisfying.

Takes about 30 seconds, looks genuinely cool, and you can download it like a little poster. Easy win for a rainy afternoon or a “we’ve got 5 minutes before bed, what do we do?” moment. Give it a go!

🍼 A Tale Of Us @ Polka Theatre
Date & Loc: Apr 30–May 3, Wimbledon SW19
Ivy's just had a baby and she's working out how to function. Quiet, funny and genuinely made for newborn parents and their babies rather than just any old family outing. Stay and play session after each show.
Age: 0–18 months | Price: from £26 | Info

🐺 The Gruffalo @ The Radlett Centre
Date & Loc: Apr 30, Radlett WD7
Tall Stories' 25th anniversary tour: Mouse, monsters and woodland songs, the classic Donaldson/Scheffler picture book done properly on stage. Note: Outside London.
Age: 3+ | Price: £15.50 | Info

🥋 Karate Kid The Musical @ New Wimbledon Theatre
Date & Loc: Apr 30–May 9, Wimbledon SW19
The coming-of-age story reimagined as a musical with inventive choreography and energetic storytelling. Based on the iconic film about underdogs, balance and wax-on-wax-off.
Age: 6+ | Price: from £22 | Info

🍜 Jung Festival @ Canopy Market
Date & Loc: May 1–4, King’s Cross N1C
London’s first Korean food festival lands just in time for the long weekend. Fried chicken, desserts, street food, and enough options to derail any “quick bite” plan.
Age: Everyone | Price: no cost | Info

🚂 1938 Heritage Train Ride (Heathrow Loop)
Date & Loc: May 2 (Sat), Northfields W13
A proper throwback Tube ride on a 1938 train. Short loop, old-school carriages, and a rare chance to see what commuting used to look like before phones took over.
Age: Everyone | Price: £15 (under 3 free) | Info

🧀 Aardman in Concert @ Cadogan Hall
Date & Loc: May 2 (Sat), Chelsea SW1X
Live orchestra performs the music from 50 years of Aardman films alongside clips on the big screen. Wallace, Gromit, Shaun, Morph and Creature Comforts, with real musicians at Cadogan Hall.
Age: Everyone | Price: TBC | Info

🛁 The Flying Bath @ Little Angel Theatre
Date & Loc: May 2–Jul 12, Islington N1
Julia Donaldson and David Roberts' story about a bath that flies off into the night, with catchy songs, rubber ducks and everyday heroes. Long summer run at Little Angel for the youngest audiences.
Age: 2–5 | Price: TBC | Info

🎨 Clay Workshop (11–16 yrs) @ Leighton House
Date & Loc: May 2 (Sat), Kensington W14
Hands-on pottery session with a visiting ceramicist. Expect messy hands, actual skills learned, and something to take home that isn’t just another drawing.
Age: 11–16 | Price: £10 | Info

🎬 Finding Dory @ Barbican Centre
Date & Loc: May 2 (Sat), Barbican EC2Y
An easy win. Bright, funny, and just the right length for a low-effort morning outing. You already know the drill.
Age: 5+ | Price: £2.50 | Info

🌾 The Enormous Turnip @ Puppet Theatre Barge
Date & Loc: May 2–3, Little Venice W9
A gentle, playful retelling of the classic folktale with a magical twist, told with puppets on a barge in Little Venice. One weekend only.
Age: 3–8 | Price: £12 | Info

🔢 Mathmagics! @ The Royal Institution
Date & Loc: May 2 (Sat), Mayfair W1S
David Hall's interactive maths show at the Royal Institution: facts, tricks and stories spanning centuries. Works on the maths-lovers and the maths-avoiders alike. Selling out quite quickly but new tickets being released.
Age: 6–17 | Price: from £10 | Info

🎈 Up Movie @ Garden Cinema
Date & Loc: May 2–4, Covent Garden WC2
Pixar’s emotional ambush disguised as a kids’ film. Comes with a post-film kids activity.
Age: 5+ | Price: Pay What You Can | Info

🦁 London Zoo Big Birthday Bash @ London Zoo
Date & Loc: May 2–4, Regent’s Park NW1
200 years of the zoo and they’re throwing a full-on street party. Food, activities, and a lot of small people insisting on seeing the lions immediately.
Age: All | Price: Included with entry | Info

🐢 Tortoise and the Hare @ Polka Theatre
Date & Loc: May 2–31, Wimbledon SW19
A classic fable turned into a lively, toe-tapping show with puppets, music and just enough chaos to keep small attention spans locked in.
Age: 3–7 | Price: from £10 | Info

✏️ Tom Gates @ The Radlett Centre
Date & Loc: May 3 (Sun), Radlett WD7
Liz Pichon's bestselling books on stage: illustrations come to life, live music and hilarious performances. For fans and families.
Age: Everyone | Price: from £17.50 | Info

🌿 Go Green Fest @ Fulham Palace
Date & Loc: May 3 (Sun), Fulham SW6
A laid-back spring festival with gardening bits, eco crafts and plenty to keep kids busy outdoors. Expect mud, plants, and at least one “can we grow this at home?” moment.
Age: Everyone | Price: from £3 | Info

🎭 MakeBeth @ artsdepot
Date & Loc: May 3 (Sun), North Finchley N12
Shakespeare, but with cardboard crowns and kids running the show. A playful take on Macbeth where they help build the story as it goes.
Age: 7–11 | Price: from £13.75 | Info

🚂 Starlight Express @ Troubadour Wembley Park Theatre
Date & Loc: until May 3, Wembley Park HA9
Andrew Lloyd Webber's show on wheels, seen by 20 million people worldwide. Trains race around the audience, big pop and rock anthems, entirely bonkers and a great time.
Age: Everyone | Price: from £95 | Info

🎊 Dulwich Festival 2026
Date & Loc: May 8–17, Dulwich SE21
Annual community arts festival across Dulwich with open houses, performances, walks, talks and family-friendly events. Local artists, mostly free, and a genuinely good-natured stretch of south London culture.
Age: Everyone | Price: No cost | Info

🐶 Toto Kerblammo! @ Unicorn Theatre
Date & Loc: May 8–24, Southwark SE1
Effy can't bring her dog to her new flat, so she smuggles him in anyway. Tim Crouch's play about rules, kindness and what happens when you try to please everyone at once. For older children.
Age: 10+ | Price: TBC | Info

🍄 Fantastic Fungal Festival @ The Royal Institution
Date & Loc: May 9 (Sat), Mayfair W1S
Performance about Ophiocordyceps, the zombie ant fungus that hijacks ant nervous systems, followed by hands-on activities with scientists and experts. The RI doing what it does best for families.
Age: 4–11 | Price: from £7.75 | Info

🎲 Board Game Night @ Rose Theatre Café
Date & Loc: May 7 (Thu), Kingston KT1
Tables full of games, zero prep required. Just turn up, pick something, and try not to fall out over Monopoly.
Age: Everyone | Price: No cost | Info

🎩 I Want My Hat Back Trilogy @ Little Angel Theatre
Date & Loc: Until May 9, Islington N1
All three of Jon Klassen's hat books on one stage — a bear who lost his hat, a fish who stole one and two turtles who found one. Wry, funny, perfect.
Age: 3-6yo | Price: £13.50 | Info

🐴 War Horse @ Peacock Theatre
Date & Loc: May 16–Jul 30, Holborn WC2A
The National Theatre's production with the life-sized Handspring puppet horses is back in London for the summer. Morpurgo's story of Albert and his horse through the First World War. The puppetry is genuinely something else.
Age: 10+ | Price: TBC | Info

🐱 Toto The Ninja Cat and the Great Snake Escape @ Little Angel Theatre
Date & Loc: May 17–Jul 19, Islington N1
Dermot O'Leary's bestselling children's book comes alive with music, laugh-out-loud fun and extraordinary puppetry. Toto is almost completely blind but has incredible ninja skills and a big heart.
Age: 5+ | Price: £13.50 | Info

🎪 Giffords Circus @ Chiswick House and Gardens
Date & Loc: May 21–Jun 1, Chiswick W4
Giffords Circus pitches up in the grounds of Chiswick House. Small tent, performers right up close. The opposite of an arena circus, and all the better for it.
Age: Everyone | Price: TBC | Info

🎂 Michael Rosen's Birthday @ Southbank Centre
Date & Loc: May 23 (Sat), Southbank SE1
The author and poet turns 80 and the Southbank throws a party. Silly rhymes, storytelling and special guests for the whole day. He's Michael Rosen. You know the one.
Age: 5+ | Price: No cost | Info

💫 evim [my home] @ The Place
Date & Loc: May 23 (Sat), Euston WC1H
A gentle, sensory dance show inspired by Rumi and whirling dervishes. Think music, movement and a bit of magic as kids explore the idea of “home” in a very calm, slightly hypnotic way.
Age: 2–7 | Price: £10–£14 | Info

📚 The Fairy Tale Fan Club @ British Library
Date & Loc: May 26 (Tue), King’s Cross NW1
Richard Ayoade + fairy tales is already a strong combo. Expect funny twists on classic stories, live readings, and plenty of “wait… what happened after?” moments.
Age: 8+ | Price: £12 | Info

📗 Anne of Green Gables @ Royal Festival Hall
Date & Loc: Jul 2–5, Southbank SE1
London Children's Ballet adapts Lucy Maud Montgomery's story about Anne, a lively orphan who keeps getting into scrapes but wins over the whole community. Young dancers performing at the Royal Festival Hall.
Age: TBC | Price: TBC | Info

🐕 Dog Man: The Musical @ Southbank Centre
Date & Loc: Jul 30–Aug 16, Southbank SE1
Based on Dav Pilkey's bestselling books, hilarious and heartfelt in equal measure, with a dog for a hero. Tickets on sale now for the summer holidays.
Age: 5+ | Price: TBC | Info

🧚 Fairy Tales @ British Library
Date & Loc: until Aug 23, King's Cross N1C
The British Library opens a fairy tales exhibition with books, original illustrations, theatre costumes, puppets and pop-ups.
Age: 3-10yo | Price: £11.50 | Info

🙏 If this makes your week a bit easier, pls think of two parents who'd love it, or drop it in a WhatsApp group. Takes 20 seconds. Please don’t ignore me 😂.
Appreciated, kind Londoner!

Got any comments or suggestions? Feel free to reply; I’d love to hear from you.

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