May is Britain’s joint-most popular month.(1) With so many fun things to do in London with kids opening up, it’s easy to see why families love it so much.
From bank holidays to the school break and everything in between, here are some of the best upcoming family events.
In a hurry? Here’s a quick overview of family activities in London this May
🎼 Best free kids’ event: Play along (virtually) with one of London’s best orchestras at the Southbank Centre during the May half-term. Chelsea in Bloom and Belgravia in Bloom also offer plenty of ‘wow’ moments.
🎤 Best show for kids: At Cineworld’s 4DX screenings, you can not only see the new Star Wars film but feel it from 22 May.
🐴 Best thing to do with toddlers in London this month: Pie-Rat Island (15-16 May) is a one-hour theatre show for toddlers where the audience gets to join in.
🐿️ Best nature-based activity for kids in London: Discovery Days are back at Hyde Park from 26 May, this time with special ‘time travel’ sessions.
Best things to do in London with kids this May 2026
Every week, we dig through hundreds of kid-friendly London events, so you can spend less time scrolling and more time doing. These 26 are our May favourites.
Minigolf by Craig & Karl
Canary Wharf’s free minigolf course returns to Montgomery Square for the summer. The nine holes have been designed by art duo Craig & Karl in their signature pop-art style, with neon ramps, a chequered bridge and polka-dotted obstacles in clashing colours.
Clubs and balls are provided on site. Play is first come, first served, so you may have to queue at peak times.
Our newsletter recently rounded up the best mini golf experiences across London. Soon we’ll be featuring a bunch of fun, unique May half-term activities for kids. To make sure you don’t miss it, sign up here.
Event details
Dates: Friday 1 May to Sunday 27 September 2026
Ages: All ages
Where: Montgomery Square, E14
Price: Free
Ministry of Science LIVE
This is a touring science show where experiments happen live on stage. Kids get to see fire tornadoes, 20ft liquid nitrogen clouds, hydrogen bottle rockets and a hovercraft built from scratch.
Two performances on the day, at 12.30pm and 4pm.
Event details
Date: Sunday 3 May 2026
Ages: 6 years+
Where: Richmond Theatre, TW9
Price: Tickets from £15.55
Big Birthday Bash at London Zoo
The Zoological Society of London turns 200 this year, and London Zoo will celebrate over the early May bank holiday weekend. The zoo will be given a street party makeover, with Hook a Flamingo and Animal Tail Tag just two of the classic games to get a zoo twist. There will also be stage shows, arts and crafts and a BBQ area with birthday cake.
It’s included in standard admission, so you still get keeper talks, walk-through habitats and the rest of the zoo alongside the party.
Event details
Dates: Saturday 2 to Monday 4 May 2026
Ages: All ages
Where: London Zoo, NW1
Price: Included in zoo admission (from £33.60 adults)
Mini Genius Lab: Cool Science Experiments for Kids
Mini Genius Lab is a 60-minute hands-on science workshop near London Bridge, led by a ‘mad scientist’. Kids make their own slime to take home, blow giant soap bubbles and watch dry ice fog and fizz across the room.
Sessions are best for ages 6 and up, though slightly younger kids can join with a parent’s help.
Event details
Dates: Friday 8 – Sunday 10 May 2026
Ages: 6 years+ (under-2s free)
Where: Glaziers Hall, SE1
Price: Adult-child bundles from £39
Affordable Art Fair Hampstead Family Morning
The Affordable Art Fair returns to Hampstead Heath in May with over 100 galleries showing thousands of original artworks priced from £100. On Saturday and Sunday, it opens early for dedicated family mornings.
These are designed to gently introduce little ones to contemporary art: quieter than peak hours, and with engaging kids’ activities.
Event details
Dates: Family mornings Saturday 9 to Sunday 10 May 2026
Ages: All ages
Where: Hampstead Heath, NW3
Price: Family morning tickets from £23.32
Fantastic Fungi Festival
An entire festival dedicated to fungi is a rare thing, especially one aimed at families.
Zombie Ant Fungus Live is the headline act here: a 30-minute blend of science, theatre and live music, exploring a parasitic fungus that takes over ants’ bodies.
Afterwards, scientists will run hands-on demos and tabletop activities across the Ri.
Event details
Date: Saturday 9 May 2026
Ages: 6 years+
Where: The Royal Institution, W1S
Price: £17.06
Surrey Docks Farm Spring Fair
Surrey Docks Farm is a working city farm on the Thames, and this May it celebrates turning 51 with its annual Spring Fair. The day features sheep shearing demos, wool spinning and wood-fired pizzas.
Entry is free. But for £3, kids can head into the petting area to cuddle rabbits and guinea pigs, and meet the bottle-fed lambs.
Event details
Date: Saturday 9 May 2026
Ages: All ages
Where: Surrey Docks Farm, SE16
Price: Free
Pie-Rat Island
Ratty and her crew are setting sail on the high seas, but they need a little help from the audience.
This one-hour theatre adventure for toddlers involves puppetry, original music and play-along storytelling. It’s on in mid-May at Limehouse’s Half Moon, a theatre that’s been making work for kids since 1979. Each performance is followed by a stay-and-play session.
Event details
Dates: Friday 15 to Saturday 16 May 2026
Ages: 2 to 6 years
Where: Half Moon Theatre, E1
Price: Tickets from £9
Family Shakespeare: Pyramus & Thisbe
The Rude Mechanicals have to perform a play at the Duke’s wedding, but they haven’t finished writing it.
No two performances of this interactive 45-minute show from Hullabaloo are the same. Kids are invited to fill in the blanks with songs, puppets and whatever else they can dream up.
Tickets are pay-what-you-can, with three price points to choose from.
Event details
Date: Saturday 16 May 2026
Ages: 4 years+
Where: The Cockpit, NW8
Price: Pay what you can (£13, £15 or £18)
Vauxhall May Fair
Vauxhall City Farm’s May Fair is a full-on weekend takeover. Tyers Street will close to traffic, as visitors flock for live music from Banjo Chicken Man and Mini Mozart, sheep shearing demos, wool spinners and farm games.
Entry is free, as are most activities. But you’ll need £5 for the cuddle corner or for unlimited games-arena access.
Event details
Dates: Saturday 16 to Sunday 17 May 2026
Ages: All ages
Where: Vauxhall City Farm, SE11
Price: Free
Festival of the Boy
A first-of-its-kind festival for boys, this Walthamstow event invites 7- to 11-year-olds to meet pilots, try new sports, embark on wilderness adventures and spend time with authors and artists.
Festival of the Boy is hosted at Big Penny Social, in partnership with Male Allies UK. Pay-what-you-can tickets are available on request.
Event details
Date: Sunday 17 May 2026
Ages: Aimed at 7 to 11 years
Where: Big Penny Social, E17
Price: Tickets from £5.20
Chelsea + Belgravia in Bloom
For one week each May, two of London’s fanciest neighbourhoods will celebrate the Chelsea Flower Show with floral makeovers.
Chelsea in Bloom will feature a UFO on Pavilion Road and a lunar landscape at Duke of York Square. A short walk away, Belgravia in Bloom will be going for storybook charm. Its shopfronts, squares and street corners will become enchanted gardens or other fairy tale-inspired settings.
Both are completely free and within walking distance of each other, so you can cover the city’s biggest free flower show in one afternoon.
Event details
Dates: Monday 18 to Sunday 24 May 2026
Ages: All ages
Where: Chelsea (SW3) and Belgravia (SW1)
Price: Free
Jurassic Oceans: Monsters of the Deep
Kids get to handle millions-of-years-old fossils at the Natural History Museum’s new exhibition. Among these is the tooth of the mighty mosasaur, a creature known as the T. rex of the sea (instantly recognisable if you’ve seen Jurassic World). There will also be full-size skeletons to measure yourself against.
Event details
Dates: From Friday 22 May 2026
Ages: 8 years+
Where: Natural History Museum, SW7
Price: Adult off-peak tickets from £15
DroneArt
DroneArt is back at Kempton Park Racecourse this May after a sold-out first London run. It’s best described as a cross between a classical music concert and a fireworks show. While a string quartet plays Vivaldi and Tchaikovsky on the ground, hundreds of drones draw shapes like swans, birds and flowers in the night sky.
The whole spectacle lasts 65 minutes. Under-3s go free, but the show starts at 9.30pm, well past their bedtime.
Event details
Dates: Friday 22 to Saturday 23 May 2026
Ages: All ages (under-3s free)
Where: Kempton Park Racecourse, TW16
Price: From £25.90
Charlie Mackesy: An Evening of Drawing, Stories and Music
Charlie Mackesy is the author and illustrator of The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse, the bestseller adapted into an Oscar-winning animated short. For one night this May at the Royal Albert Hall, he’ll draw live on stage and share stories.
A pianist and string quartet will perform pieces from Isobel Waller-Bridge’s Oscar-winning film score alongside him. You’re also invited to bring dry drawing materials and sketch along.
Event details
Date: Friday 22 May 2026
Ages: 5 years+
Where: Royal Albert Hall, SW7
Price: Tickets from £29.50
MCM Comic Con
MCM Comic Con is the UK’s biggest pop culture convention, drawing over 100,000 fans of anime, gaming and sci-fi to the Excel each May. Visitors come to try new video games and meet voice actors. May’s confirmed guests include author Brandon Sanderson, along with actors Nathan Fillion and Alan Tudyk.
For many, though, the main appeal is getting to dress up. Kids can join the Cosplay Masquerades on the main stage. There’s also a Pop Asia area dedicated to anime, manga and K-pop.
Event details
Dates: Friday 22 to Sunday 24 May 2026
Ages: All ages
Where: ExceL London, E16
Price: Kids £7, general entry from £27, weekend pass £97
Michael Rosen’s Birthday
The author of We’re Going on a Bear Hunt turns 80 in May, and the Royal Festival Hall is throwing him a party. Joined by special guests, Michael Rosen will spend the day in the Clore Ballroom reading poems and telling stories.
The whole thing runs for 4.5 hours and is free, with no ticket required.
Event details
Date: Saturday 23 May 2026
Ages: 5 years+
Where: Southbank Centre, SE1
Price: Free
Barbican Family Film Club: James and the Giant Peach
The 1996 stop-motion adaptation of Roald Dahl’s James and the Giant Peach turns 30 this year. To celebrate, the Barbican is bringing it back to the big screen as part of its Family Film Club.
Event details
Date: Saturday 23 May 2026, 11am
Ages: 6 years+
Where: Barbican Cinema 2, EC2Y
Price: £2.50 kids, £5 adults
The Big Bahooey at Hampton Court Palace
“Bahooey” means utter silliness, a fair summary of what Hampton Court Palace has planned for the late May bank holiday weekend.
Cirque Bijou will take over the East Front lawns with aerial acts, street theatre and a silent disco. There will also be circus workshops where kids can try juggling, plate spinning and wire walking with professionals. The whole thing runs across three days and is included in standard palace admission.
Event details
Dates: Saturday 23 to Monday 25 May 2026
Ages: All ages
Where: Hampton Court Palace, KT8
Price: Included in palace admission (kids’ tickets from £14.50)
Greenwich Dog Show 2026
The Greenwich Dog Show takes over the grounds of the Old Royal Naval College toward the end of May. Ahead of the Best in Show finale at 5pm, there’s a full day of competitions, street food and crafts to enjoy. There’s also a Best Baroque category this year to mark the Painted Hall’s 300th anniversary.
Families can enter their dogs in categories like Waggiest Tail, Cutest Pup and Best Trick. Places are limited to 30 per class. Tickets are free but must be booked in advance.
Event details
Date: Sunday 24 May 2026
Ages: All ages
Where: Old Royal Naval College, SE10
Price: Free (pre-booking required)
See the new Star Wars film in 4DX
The first Star Wars film in seven years opens on 22 May. The Mandalorian and Grogu follows bounty hunter Din Djarin and his little green friend onto the big screen for the first time.
For kids who want to feel the action as they watch it, Cineworld’s 4DX screenings feature moving seats, wind, water spray and strobe lighting.
Event details
Date: From Friday 22 May 2026
Ages: 4 years+
Where: Cineworld cinemas across London (including Leicester Square)
Price: Varies by location and showtime
King Arthur and the Holy Fail
The Three Inch Fools are a touring theatre company known for funny, music-filled outdoor shows at heritage sites around the UK. Their latest, a slapstick retelling of the King Arthur legend, is performed by five actors with armfuls of instruments in the Queen Mary Courtyard at the Old Royal Naval College.
It’s a bring-your-own-chair affair, with picnics welcome and a bar on site. The show runs about two hours, including an interval.
Event details
Date: Wednesday 27 May 2026
Ages: All ages
Where: Old Royal Naval College, SE10
Price: Kids’ tickets from £12
Discovery Days: Time Travellers
The Royal Parks’ Discovery Days return to Hyde Park over half term, this time with a history theme. Kids will make plant prints with a mallet, design a park of the future and meet a costumed Queen Victoria.
Special storytelling sessions run at 12, 1 and 2pm. The rest is drop-in, with most families spending one to two hours. It’s free, but pre-register online to receive a reminder email beforehand.
Event details
Dates: Tuesday 26 to Thursday 28 May 2026
Ages: Great for 3 to 11 years
Where: Hyde Park Learning Centre, W2
Price: Free
Play Along: Virtual Orchestra
The Philharmonia Orchestra is considered one of London’s ‘big four’. Youngsters can join them in a performance of Rossini’s William Tell Overture through this VR experience at the Southbank Centre.
After putting on the headset, they’ll pick a percussion instrument, follow a short tutorial, then play along with the musicians who appear around them.
It’s a free drop-in designed for all families, whatever their musical background.
Event details
Dates: Wednesday 27 and Thursday 28 May 2026
Ages: All ages
Where: Southbank Centre, SE1
Price: Free
Style and Sketch at Buckingham Palace
Toward the end of May half-term, Buckingham Palace will be running a fashion design workshop for families.
This activity coincides with their Queen Elizabeth II: Her Life in Style exhibition. Kids get to sketch and design outfits inspired by the Queen’s wardrobe, everything from her 1947 wedding dress to her signature colourful coats.
Three sessions run across the day, each lasting 90 minutes. The workshop is free with a standard gallery ticket.
Event details
Date: Friday 29 May 2026
Ages: All ages
Where: Buckingham Palace, SW1A
Price: Included with gallery admission (£11 for kids)
How to save time and money, without missing out on magical family experiences
May’s school break is a great time to make wonderful family memories, but it can also be a lot of work.
Sorting through what is worth your time and money is half the battle. Loopla’s weekly newsletter for London parents does the legwork for you. You can also check out our kids’ holiday camps in London while you are here.
Every week, our 30,000 subscribers get:
- Family-friendly deals and discounts
- Details for around 10 free family events
- A heads-up on popular events we think might sell out fast