45 FREE Family Days Out In London

Great FREE family days out in London!

 

Like many mums I love a bargain and I love a family day out even more, so what is there not to like about a free day out. We visit our beautiful capital regularly and here are some of the amazing FREE places I have discovered....

 

Parks and Open Spaces

London is full of beautiful parks my favourite is CORAMS FIELD, which is seven acres of playgrounds & park, highlights include a city farm, brilliant climbing frames, zip wire and café. Adults can only enter with a child. I highly recommend it, a wonderful day out.

There are many Royal Parks in London, HYDE PARK, KENSINGTON GARDENS, RICHMOND PARK, BUSHY PARK, ST.JAMES'S PARK, GREEN PARK,  REGENTS PARK and GREENWICH PARK. There is lots to do and see at each, whether you want to see the pelicans at St. James's Park or visit the Princess Diana Playground in Kensington Gardens, there is something for everyone.

A very unique and fun playground is TUMBLING BAY  at the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park.

A must for dinosaur fans is CRYSTAL PALACE PARK, with amazing iconic dinosaur statues built in Victorian times. 

 

Museums

A wonderful hidden gem I found is the BANK OF ENGLAND MUSEUM, educational and fun, where you can test you strength attempting to lift a gold bar.

THE NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM, with 36 free galleries full of amazing exhibits, including most kids favourite the dinosaur skeletons.

A great place to visit is THE SCIENCE MUSEUM, which has an excellent hands on interactive area.

For all those interested in the war, both the RAF MUSEUM and IMPERIAL WAR MUSEUM, both are great if you have a little aeroplane fan.

One of our favourite place to visit is V&A MUSEUM OF CHILDHOOD, this museum of toys is a brilliant day out. My Tweedles all love it, there's lots of little interactive areas and activities.

Learn all about the Thames and much more at MUSEUM OF LONDON DOCKLANDS

A unique place to visit is the HORNIMAN MUSEUM

At the GEFFRYE MUSEUM, you can explore how homes have changed over the past 400 years.

To learn all about the capital itself visit the MUSEUM OF LONDON

If art and design is your families interest then visit the V&A MUSEUM

At the BRITISH MUSEUM Egyptian Mummies are among the things to see from around the world.

For Hetty Feather fans visit the FOUNDLING MUSEUM

At Greenwich, you can visit the NATIONAL MARITIME MUSEUM, THE QUEENS HOUSE and THE ROYAL OBSERVATORY.

  

Farms

Always a family favourite there are a lot of city farms in and around London.

HACKNEY CITY FARM

VAUXHALL CITY FARM

MUDCHUTE PARK & FARM

STEPNEY CITY FARM

KENTISH TOWN CITY FARM

 

Art Galleries

 Monet, Cezanne, Picasso, Da Vinci, Botticelli, Constable, Turner, see amazing artwork in London for FREE!

Visit the NATIONAL GALLERY to see masterpieces including Vincent Van Gogh's Sunflowers.

TATE BRITAIN houses amongst many other things the shortlisted Turner Prize nominations.

For the more unusual and up to date art visit the TATE MODERN

NATIONAL PORTRAIT GALLERY has more than 200,000 portraits from 16th century until present day.

 

Other Interesting Places

Located in Leicester Square, M&M WORLD is a great place to visit.

For all the Harry Potter fans out there visit PLATFORM 9 3/4 at Kings Cross Train Station for a unique photo experience.

HAMLEYS the world famous toyshop is a wonderful place, even if you are just window shopping. My Tweedles love the 'toy testing' areas.

Film Premieres at Leicester Square ODEON CINEMA, are a magical experience. Great for autograph hunters & celeb spotters.

Hyde Parks famous SPEAKERS CORNER is always an education and extremely entertaining.

Free tickets available for filming of TV shows is a brilliant day or evening out. There is a large variety available including entertainment shows like The X factor, Britain's Got Talent, game shows such as The Chase and The Cube, plus a music, sport and comedy. I use a few different companies to book tickets, the best are BBC, SRO AUDIENCES, HATTRICK PRODUCTIONS, and APPLAUSE STORE

A great experience is watching the CHANGING OF THE GUARDS at Buckingham Palace.

The place my Tweedles ask to go back to again and again, is Covent Garden to watch the STREET ENTERTAINMENT.

Situated next to the Thames, THE SCOOP, is a sunken amphitheatre that hosts free theatre, opera, music and dance.

Last but not least, site seeing in London doesn't have to cost a penny. I love discovering London by foot. Its great to plan out some routes or just wander & see what we can find, believe me you always come across something you didn't know was there. The capital has so much to offer.... Big Ben, Houses of Parliament, Buckingham Palace, London Eye, Oxo Tower (which is my personal favourite building), The Shard, The Gherkin, The Tower of London, London Bridge, St. Pauls Cathedral, The O2, Nelsons Column, Shakespeare's Globe, Millennium Bridge, The Monument, Marble Arch, BBC Centre, Royal Albert Hall, City Hall, the list is endless. All of these are iconic and inspirational, my children love site seeing, I'm sure yours will too. There are so many opportunities to make this into a treasure hunt game, who can take best landmark photo competition,  etc, depending on your children's ages and interests as well.  

 

 

 If you are planning on visiting any of these great London attractions, please check out their websites as most of them have FREE activities and events running at different times, lots aimed at families. So look up what's on before you visit so you don't miss out on something exciting.

 

 

2015 Family Days Out.

Days out dates for your 2015 diary

 

This year my family have already compiled an extremely long list of places they want to visit in 2015. Here are some highlights from it that you may wish to note in your diaries.....

 

 

Imagine Children's Festival

This takes place at the Southbank Centre in London from 9th until 22nd February. There are so many activities and events, including many free ones. I have never been here before, but did see some of the Southbank performers at last years Lollibop Festival and they were extremely captivating. There are so many events taking place I could easily keep all of my children entertained here everyday. There seems to be a great age range and an excellent variety. My particular favourites are, Charlie & Lola Best Bestest Play, Russell Brand reading from his children's book, Topsy & Tim family workshop, Flamingo croquet, Pirate School and The Big Fish Little Fish Family Rave. It really is worth looking through the events, I'm sure you will find a great event your child will love.

Imagine Festival Website

 

  

Edible Garden Show

This is at Alexandra Palace, London on 20-22 March. Under 16s are free, Adults are £16 online or £20 on the door. Highlights include Mr. Bloom (my favourite!) I have never been to this before, but keep seeing it advertised everywhere. It looks like a great day out & there appears to be lots of activities for children.

The Edible Garden Show Website

 

 

 

MCM London Comic Con

This is a must for any Comic or Superhero fan. I took my Tweedles here last year and it was so much better than I expected. The costumes were brilliant, I was amazed, the Tweedles even more so. Before we left the Tweedles were already asking what they can dress up as next year. My Special was over the moon to meet some of his favourite actors including Andrew Lee Potts from Primeval. This takes place nationwide (including- Manchester, Midlands, Birmingham, London, Ireland) We went to Excel in London, it is there again this year on the 22-24th May. There are various tickets, but a standard adult one is £15 and kids under 10 go free (up to 2 per adult) Check out the website for more info.

MCM Comic Con Website

 

  

 

Open Farm Sunday

I was told about this by a friend who highly recommended it. This is a nationwide event and takes place this year on Sunday 7th June. Hundreds of farms across the country open their farm to the public. You can try a variety of things including pond dipping, tractor rides, nature trails. It looks like a wonderful day.

Open Farm Sunday Website

 

  

 

Kids Week

Kids Week started as a week and now takes place for the whole month of August. Top West End theatre tickets are available, with a free child ticket when purchasing a full price ticket. You can also buy up to two extra child tickets for half price. I took two of my Tweedles last year to see Hetty Feather, it was amazing and our first West End show. Prices weren't as bad as you may think, I got a ticket for £20, then one child free & one for £10. So for 3 people to go to the theatre in London, £30 is a bargain. I would really recommend it. Tickets aren't available yet, I will let you know when they are. This year we are hoping to go to Charlie & The Chocolate Factory and Matilda. There are also various kids activities available.

Kids Week Website

  

 

 

Lollibop Festival

This is at Hatfield House, Hertfordshire. It is a 3 day festival, featuring many childrens favourites. We went two of the three days last year. We saw Justin Fletcher, Mr. Maker, Mr. Bloom (yay!), Michaela Strachan, Swashbuckles, Sam & Mark, Chris & Pui and many more. The shows were amazing & there were so many activities we didn't even get around all of them. The days we spent at this festival were by far the best days out I have ever taken my kids on. The entertainment & dates are yet to be announced for 2015, I will let you know when they are. Last year it was 15th-17th August, so this years should be similar. I'm keeping that weekend free until dates are announced.

Lollibop Website

 

 

Winter Wonderland, Hyde Park

Yes I know it's only January but this is definitely on my list. We were going to go at christmas, but as one of my daughters was unwell we never made it. It looks magical there & I have heard so many good things about it. It opens at the end of November & closes at the start of January.

Winter Wonderland Website

 

 

I hope this has given you some great ideas, does anyone have any other good diary dates for 2015? 

 



COMPETITION!! Win Disney Princess Perfume Gift set

So here is my first giveaway!!!!!

To celebrate the launch of my blog I have decided to host a little competition. 

You could win this for your little Princess..... 

 

 

 Disney Perfume, Lip Gloss & Bracelet, in a lovely carry bag.  

 All you have to do is enter your email address to follow me by email (top right of screen) and leave a comment below.

For an extra entry please like my Facebook page & comment on the competition post.

Me and my Tweedles Facebook

 

 

Good luck everybody!

  

Closing date is midnight 28th February 2015. UK only.

 

 

 



Paradise Wildlife Park, Broxbourne

On Saturday we had our first family day trip of 2015......

We have visited Paradise Wildlife Park many times before, it's a family favourite. There is a good variety of animals and lots to keep the kids entertained for the whole day.

Going out-of-season, as we did, is brilliant. The whole park is virtually empty (and tickets are cheaper than in summer).

 

 

The Animals

 

 There is a great mixture of over 400 animals, small and large. Our particular favourites are the zebras, penguins, meerkats & red pandas.

 

There is also a lovely little farm area. Where you can get up close to the animals, with chickens wandering around. There is also 'feed' available to buy for £1 for the goats, sheep and pigs.

 

 

Our favourite part of the day

Despite visiting the zoo so many times before, this time was our first go at feeding the Lorikeets. This was the most amazing experience for all of us. I really can't recommend it enough. It is a wonderful adventure to share with your family. The Tweedles were all so happy and excited going into the enclosure. It only costs £1 to purchase the little pot of nectar. There are two opportunities to do this each day at 11.30am & 3pm. The Lorikeets were absolutely beautiful and so friendly. They land on you, any where they can. Mainly your arms and head. My Princess (9) is slightly squeamish luckily she had a hat on so was un-phased by them being on her head. (I would definitely recommend taking a hat for your children as they do lick your hair, but don't worry they don't bite) The keeper is also with you throughout the whole experience, so if you feel uncomfortable, you just ask her to remove the Lorikeet from you. I am a little bit weary of birds flying around me, but I loved it. It was so calm & the birds were so gentle on us. It is also a great photo opportunity, I have some wonderful snaps of the Lorikeets on all the Tweedles heads. Definitely try this if you visit.

 

Shows & attractions

There are various shows running throughout the day. These take place undercover in the Jungle Theatre. They are educational and fun. My kids like them so much that even though they have seen some of them before, they always ask to see them again. There is also a wonderful Birds of Paradise Show in the arena, this is great, you see the birds fairly close up & in flight. There are also various meet the keepers & feeding times. Mine particularly like to see the feeding of the big cats, which Paradise has lots of, Lions, Tigers, Leopards, White Tigers & Snow Leopards. Feeding of the Red Pandas is also good to watch, as they are often quite hard to spot at other times.  

 

Other things to do

Paradise Wildlife Park is so much more than a zoo. There is loads more to keep the children entertained. Some of our favourites are-

There is the most wonderful play area with a pirate ship, tree house, 'big shoe' and even a wooden obstacle course. My daughters are a big fan of the bouncy castle and helter-skelter. There are loads of hidden areas too, on the way to the Birds of Paradise area, there are some wonderful little playhouses, a full sized fire engine and a old fashioned beautiful Romani Wagon. There is also a lovely area with a large sandpit, giant Lego construction area & loads of ride on toys. There is a great tractor tour around the park. My youngest two love going on that.  There is also a full size train to play on and pretend to drive. In the summer time there is a lovely outdoor paddling pool (so bring a towel & swimming things if its sunny). For those interested in Speedway there is a museum, it is small, but good to pop into as a little extra thing to do. At the end of the day we usually go into the indoor soft play area. The kids use up what is left of their energy whilst I have a relaxing hot chocolate. All of these fun things are included in the entry price! Its amazing how much there is to do.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Things you need to know before visiting....

 

Tickets

Children under two are free.

You can change your Tesco Clubcard vouchers for 'days out' vouchers, this is what I usually do, great for a free day out (anyone without a clubcard, find out about it HERE)

Going out-of-season saves a fortune if buying your tickets online, so if you aren't using clubcard vouchers I would definitely go online (HERE), its a waste to pay full price on the gate.

 

Getting there

 If you are using public transport, there is a minibus service from Broxbourne train station. Simply ask in the ticket office of the station. There is a small charge of £1 per person.

If you are driving it is a few minutes from Junction 25 of the M25, there is plenty of parking spaces.

 

Eating

There are a variety of kiosks around the park selling ice creams, hotdogs, drinks, etc. We usually take a picnic in summer as there are lots of picnic tables and areas to eat. In winter we usually go into the Safari Sam's Diner, a children's meal is about £5 and there are options of pizza, chicken nuggets & spaghetti bolognaise, served with chips & a Capri Sun. Its more expensive than I would usually pay for a meal out, hence the fact of usually taking a picnic. The service is good though & the place is very clean & tidy.

 

Access

The whole zoo is pretty easy to get around with a pushchair or wheelchair. There is even a special play area suitable for children with disabilities. Some of the big cats have viewing areas which are accessible by stairs, however all these enclosures are also easily viewed at ground level.

 

Facilities

You are never far from a toilet whilst at the zoo, which is particularly helpful when you are with a toddler. I have always found the toilets extremely clean.

 

It is a great day out. The whole family really enjoys every time we go. I would highly recommend visiting if you haven't before.

Check out their website for more information-

Paradise Wildlife Park

 Please feel free to ask me any questions about our experiences at Paradise Wildlife Park.

 

 

Bargain Hunting in the sales

Today Boots started a 70% off sale.......

Luckily last night I spotted a post online that Boots were reducing all their sale items to 70% off. So of course as soon as I dropped the kids to school, I went off bargain hunting.

It was quite chaotic in the store, but no where near 'Black Friday' standards. The gift sets they sell are lovely and the reduced prices are amazing, so well worth a little extra queuing.

Of course with 5 kids to buy birthday presents for, my Mums birthday coming up, my friends birthday today, then of course its not long until Mothers Day, the list is endless. I also hate the panic of last minute shopping and I avoid paying full price for anything. So this year, I am more organised & quite enjoying the thrill of bagging a bargain......

 

So this little lot above came to...... £38.10 it originally costs £127 that's a massive £88.90 saving!

Included are- Hello Kitty, Little Miss Naughty, Minnie Mouse, Moshi Monster & Superman Perfume Sets all were £10 now £3 each. All include a bottle of perfume & other items such as shower gel or soap. I was most impressed with the Despicable Me set, my 4 year old Snowflake is a big Minion fan, but the majority of thing available are quite boyish. This set is very girly, containing a perfume & lip gloss, she will love it, reduced from £7 to £2.10. I also got a 3 pack of FCUK deodorant sprays, these were £10 now £3. My mum like Laimant perfume that too was reduced from £10 to £3 for a gift set. My 14 year old Baby uses Ted Baker deodorant spray, this in a set with shower gel was reduced from £8 to £2.40, so I picked up a couple of these. My mum is also a Royal Jelly fan, I got her a lovely large gift set, a bargain at £3.60, previously £12. She too likes Sanctuary products, this containing £12 worth of products in a beautiful reusable tin, was £10 now £3.

 

 

I am particularly impressed with the Paul Frank items which should have together cost £20 but are now £6. My 9 year old Princess is a big Paul Frank fan.  

 

I also bought this Katy Perry perfume set for my friend whose birthday is today. She is a big perfume fan and owns nearly every perfume I can think of. Despite not being a Katy Perry fan this perfume has a very unique shape and a beautiful smell, so hopefully she will love it. It was £23.50, now £7.05.

 

 

Its well worth setting a cupboard aside for 'birthday bargains', you really do end up saving a fortune in the long run.  It's great when your kids have a birthday party to go to, or teachers gifts at the end of the year, or even when you forget  someone's birthday. For my own children I have a set budget for presents, so by getting items in the sale, they obviously end up with a lot more than if I had paid full price.

 

From now on, whenever I spot a bargain or know a sale is coming up I will post it on my blog for my readers to get in on the action too.

 

This 70% Boots sale tends to be roughly the same time each January, it is online too at....

 

Boots Online

 

If you are buying online remember its free to 'click & collect', also remember to use your advantage card to earn extra points. I save my points over the year and use them for a bit of free Christmas shopping, but there are loads of ways to spend them. If you don't have one, sign up here, it's saved me a fortune over the years....

 

 Boots Advantage Card

 

Happy bargain hunting and keep an eye on future posts for more good offers I find.

And we have lift off.....

Well welcome to Me and My Tweedles!

I am very proud to be a mum of five, my Tweedles. I have two sons (14 & 12) and three daughters (9, 4 & 3).

This blog is about my life as a mum, our adventures together, the tears, the tantrums, the fun & the laughter.

 I'm always reading blogs and a few months ago I thought about creating my own. I have researched endless pages of 'how to start a blog' but am kind of going into this all a bit unsure. So bear with me, I'm a quick learner.

Firstly I will introduce us all, starting with the smallest member of the family-

 

TINY, my youngest, she is a little whirlwind, full of mischief & never far from her dollies. At 3 years old she is a handful and needs constant entertainment, but she is definitely worth all the hard work, she is a super cutie.

Next is my other mischievous one, my SNOWFLAKE, she is 4 and talks for England. She loves Spiderman & all things Marvel. She is wise beyond her years and never misses a trick.

My eldest daughter, my PRINCESS, is the complete opposite of her little sisters. At 9 she is the quietest member of the family and loves doing arts and crafts.

My youngest son, my SPECIAL is 12. He too is quite arty like his younger sister and loves to read, he also loves a bit of celeb spotting.

My eldest, my BABY, is a teenager at 14. He is the sportiest of the Tweedles, he loves playing and watching a variety of sports. Both my boys also love their games consoles.

 

We enjoy regular family days out & love experiencing new places and going on adventures. I spend hours searching for unique or unusual places to visit and have found some hidden gems. We live just North of London, in Hertfordshire, and love travelling into the capital. I also like to try various activities at home with the Tweedles. All things we do tend to be on a budget and I love hunting for a bargain. I hope you enjoy reading about our adventures.