These are the 10 absolute best things for families to do in London this summer

Or, if 10 outings doesn’t sound like nearly enough (there are 49 days to fill, after all), check out my Big Summer Roundup packed with 80+ activities.

1. The Art of Mini Golf at Battersea Arts Centre
📅 Until 26th July
👧 Not recommended for under-9s, entry at parent/carer’s discretion
🚂 Clapham Junction
💵 From £9.50 PWYC
Why it’s a must: Did you know that mini golf was invented in the 1860s to bypass Victorian rules against 'unladylike' full swings, and later popularised in the 1920s to entertain wives bored by their golfing husbands? Drawing on the game’s subversive history, this playable art installation was designed entirely by women artists (perhaps most notably Miranda-freaking-July!) and features nine fun-filled holes that invite you to play golf like a loon - think putting using an inflatable animal table, hitting the ball through a movie screen and loads more japes.

2. The Ice Cream Project by Anya Hindmarch
📅 Until 16th August
👧 All ages
🚂 Knightsbridge
💵 From £4.50 a scoop
Why it’s a must: Since you’re already going to have to take out a mortgage to pay for all the ice cream your kids will consume this summer, you might as well splash out on a scoop (or tub) from this annual Chelsea popup by handbag designer Anya Hindmarch*. Set in the heart of Hindmarch’s Anya Village, the Ice Cream Project is now in its fifth summer of offering weird-sounding but actually very delicious ice creams inspired by classic British grocery brands. Sadly the Heinz Baked Bean edition isn’t available this year, but there are still plenty of revolting-sounding flavours to try: OXO stock cubes, anyone?
*tbf, prices are fairly standard for London, but should you feel like really splashing out, you can enjoy(?) all 15 flavours as part of Anya’s Cafe’s Blind Tasting Tea.

3. Whatever the Weather at Unicorn Theatre
📅 Until 16th August
👧 For 0-7s
🚂 London Bridge
💵 From £9.50
Why it’s a must: Love the idea of kids’ theatre but have a child who’s incapable of sitting through the opening credits of Bluey, let alone a theatrical performance? Whatever the Weather was made for them. Created by Unicorn Theatre with Theatre Hullabaloo, this gorgeous immersive playscape promises all the drama of a more traditional show, with none of the expectation. Instead, families are invited to explore a hands-on set as they see fit; touching, discovering and imagining to the sound of a gentle, pre-recorded soundtrack.

4. Fairy Tales at the British Library
📅 Until 23rd August
👧 For 3-10s
🚂 King’s Cross St/ Pancras
💵 Adults and 5-16s from £11.50, 1-4s £5.75, under-1s go free
Why it’s a must: From the set designers that brought you the V&A’s Alice: Curiouser & Curiouser (2021) comes this rather spectacular immersive journey through some of literature’s most beloved fairytales. Clamber onto the Princess and the Pea’s tower of mattresses - then slide down it!; play in the gingerbread cottage from Hansel and Gretel; and tell the Genie of the Lamp your wish. Since this is the BM, the hands-on bits are accompanied by a large selection of antique books and original storybook illustrations, all of which you most definitely cannot touch. Still, there’s a reading room filled with modern picture books that you can sit and read to your heart’s content. Just make sure you leave before you turn into a pumpkin.

5. Smithsonian Starstruck at the Science Museum
📅 Until 30th August
👧 For ages 10+
🚂 South Kensington
💵 From £14.40 per person
Why it’s a must: If your child’s ever expressed a desire to blast off into outer space, this AR-heavy outing might just be the next best thing. Created in collaboration with the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, this virtual reality adventure will see you climbing aboard powerful telescopes, witnessnessing a spectacular supernova and venturing to the edge of a supermassive black hole. Suck on that, Katy Perry.

6. Big Penny Beach Club at Big Penny Social
📅 Until 30th August
👧 All ages
🚂 Blackhorse Road
💵 £5 per person
Why it’s a must: Can’t get to the beach? Go to Walthamstow instead! Okay, so it might be 30 miles from the sea, but sand is in ample supply at this pop-up car-park beach, and there’s plenty else here to make up for the absence of waves. Hire your own cabana, or just make the most of the 12 Hackney Gelato flavours, fish & chips, frozen cocktails and more. Don’t forget your bucket and spade - and if you’re still keen to cool off after, head straight to the nearby Fellowship Square play fountains.

7. Uniqlo Tate Play: Lina Lapelytė, Serendipity Island
📅 Daily from 25th July to 31st August
👧 All ages
🚂 Blackfriars, Southwark
💵 Free
Why it’s a must: If you ever went to Ei Arakawa's Mega Please Draw Freely, where participants were encouraged to scribble all over the Turbine Hall floor; or Oscar Murillo's The Flooded Garden, where its walls were covered with visitor-painted canvases; or even Yayoi Kusama's The Obliteration Room, where a full-sized, completely white apartment was installed in the same space before being covered with coloured spots over the course of its run, you will know exactly why Uniqlo Tate Play’s summer installations are non-negotiable. Lina Lapelytė is also responsible for the amazing We Make Years Out of Hours installation that’s currently on show in Hamburger Bahnhof’s historic hall.

8. Henry Moore: Monumental Nature at Kew Gardens
📅 Until 31st January 2027
👧 All ages
🚂 Kew Gardens
💵 Included in paid entry: adults from £21.85, 4-15s from £1.75, 0-3s go free
Why it’s a must: Open-air exhibitions have long been my favourite way to enjoy art without the fear that my children might destroy a priceless masterpiece. Thankfully Moore’s monumental sculptures are all pretty indescructible, and there are 30 of them arranged across Kew’s heavenly 326 acres. Explore 10 of them with the free family trail for 5-12s, or simply pitch up next to your favourite with a picnic. Kew is also running its Tom Gates EPIC Adventure trail throughout the summer, so there’ll be plenty to entertain them should the abstract art fail to do so.

9. Luna Loves London at Discover Children’s Story Centre
📅 Daily from 25th July
👧 For 0-8s
🚂 Stratford
💵 £5.50 per person plus general entry to Discover (£11 per person, under-1s go free)
Why it’s a must: Every year or so, Discover teams up with an acclaimed author/illustrator to create a new immersive Story World in its basement. This year Joseph Coelho and Fiona Lumbers’ Luna Loves… series is getting the Discover treatment, with a playable mini-London as seen through Luna’s eyes set to be unveiled at the end of July. There’ll be a library (after all, Luna loves library day), a community garden complete with slide, plus an art gallery where you can touch and even crawl through the art. Entry includes admission to the whole centre, which has recently undergone a multi-million pound renovation and now features an improved bookshop, a revamped ground-floor café and a new Baby and Toddler Sensory Space.

10. Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Playground
📅 Opening date TBC but likely from late-July
👧 All ages
🚂 Queensway, Lancaster Gate
💵 Free
Why it’s a must: Everyone knows that this is the best playground in London, and now it’s gone and got a £3m glowup after 25 years and more than 25 million pint-sized visitors. Not a huge amount is known about the reno, other than that they’re keeping the Peter Pan theme, rebuilding the clamberable gallion centrepiece and replacing the very dated walkway climbing structure with a more imaginative ‘treehouse’ (pictured). When you’ve had enough of that, head to the Serpentine Gallery to check out this year’s pavilion, cool your feet in the kid-friendly Diana Memorial Fountain, or hire a pedalo and pootle around the lake.