It’s child’s play! Read our pick of summer days out with the kids
BMX Track, Haggerston Park. Photograph: Eleonore de Bonneval
Children are spoilt. For choice, that is – and nowhere more so than in Hackney. We have mind-bogglingly great adventure playgrounds, shops brim-full of toys and kids’ clothes and theatres where child-friendly acts tread the boards, as well as children’s cafes like That Place on the Corner.
Not only that, there seem to be an ever growing number of what one might call phenomena associated with the under tens that seem to be magicked onto our streets from who knows where.
The Dalston Children’s Festival is one example. LolliBop, the self-styled “big bash for little people”, is another and will take place in newly reopened parts of the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park between 16 and 18 August. For tickets call 0871 3308 077.
Just around the corner from Hackney is the Museum of Childhood in Bethnal Green, or for stories of piracy and mudlarks head to the Museum of London Docklands.
There are also tons of courses on our doorstep teaching things you couldn’t learn in schools. YogaHome in Stoke Newington runs kids ballet classes, and MovingEast – based just around the corner – also organises dance classes for kids.
Wanabee Bear Gryllses aged eight and over can plunge into a survival skills workshop at the WaterWorks Nature Reserve, where they can learn about gathering supplies and building shelters. The event is on 10 August. For more information call 020 8988 7566.
Further outdoor adventures can be embarked upon at the Laburnum Boat Club, which offers kayaking, narrowboat trips and climbing. The club can be contacted on 020 7729 2915.
A young boater at Laburnum Boat Club. Photograph: Eleonore de Bonneval
The acclaimed and community-run Shakespeare Walk Adventure Playground is expected to run sessions throughout this summer. For more information call 020 7249 8405.
The Geffrye Museum plays host to numerous educational events for children, including something called Bugs and Blooms, which takes place on 11 August and involves handling mini-beasts.
For bigger beasts, head to the marvellous Hackney City Farm in Haggerston Park. Pigs, goats, sheep, guinea pigs, rabbits and chickens abound and the farm also hosts puppetry workshops and boasts a terrific café. When you’re there you can almost imagine you are in the countryside.
A goat at Hackney City Farm. Photograph: Eleonore de Bonneval
For those of a theatrical persuasion, meanwhile, Hackney Children’s Theatre will be bringing Tales of the Shed, a production by Enfield-based Chickenshed, to St John at Hackney Church on 20 July. Tickets are a snip at £4.
The Hackney Empire (Box office: 020 8985 2424) is hosting Ben and Holly’s Little Kingdom, and the ever-popular Room on the Broom, adapted from the best-selling book, will be brought to the stage there later this month. Look up in the interval to see the twinkling stars in the roof.
There are also plenty of activities for older children. Between 5 and 7 August budding snappers in their early teens can join beginners’ photography and photojournalism workshops run by The Culture Club. For more information email photography@cultureclublondon.