Kind of activity: Boat Race

Where: Surrey Docks Watersports Centre • Rope St • London SE16 7SX 

When: Sunday 20 May • 10.30am-5pm 

Age: 12 +

Price: Donations welcome for entry to family day; Dragon boat ticket £50 

How to go there: Public or private transport

Contact: Tel: 020 7422 0630 

More info:  Dragon Boat Race 

A BOAT RACE TO SUPPORT CHILDREN WITH HEART DISEASE

The Children´s Heart Federation Charity Dragon Boat Race is a boat competition in the Thames which will be closing Children´s Heart week 2012. The event is aimed at raising money to support children with heart disease and their families in the UK or Ireland. How does the thing work? It is easy: To take part, you just have to form your crew with family members or people from your workplace and fill up the register (there are three possible choices: Individual, Heart Family and Corporate Package). Then on May 20 you just start "sailing" (rowing) and competing! Aside from this exciting Dragon Boat competition on the Thames, there will be free cultural activities, performances and exotic food stalls. 

You will like it if you like...: Boats, boat races, charities, the Thames

Kind of activity: Barbecue

Where: The Gunnersbury Pub • 590 Chiswick High Road • London W4 5RP 

When: Saturday 19 May • 4pm-late

Age: All ages

Price: £15

How to go there: Public or private transport 

Contact: Our Kids Charity 
More info: A Bosnian Charity Barbecue 

A CHARITY BARBECUE TO HELP KIDS IN A BOSNIAN ORPHANAGE 

This is a Bosnian Barbecue, organized by Our Kids, a charity whose goal is to raise money for ‘Egipatsko Selo’ an orphanage in Mostar, Bosnia. The orphanage is home to kids having lost their parents or whose parents can no longer look after them. Essential resources are provided and Kids activities are organized. In exchange for your solidarity, in this Bosnian party you will have plenty of food (in particular traditional Bosnian food), there will be rafles and prizes and even live music. The ticket is only £15, and that money will go directly to the orphanage for its needs, so all the food and prizes offered at the Barbecue are really free of charge. 

You will like it if you like...: Parties, barbecues, food, music

Kind of activity: Bug Hunt

Where: Keats House • 10 Keats Grove • London NW3 2RR 

When: Friday May 18 • 5-7pm 

Age: 6-10

Price: Under-16s free

How to go there: Public or private transport 

Contact: Keats House • Tel: 020 7332 3868 

More info: Keats House

A FUNNY BUG HUNT FOR THE KIDS AT THE JOHN KEATS HOUSE MUSEUM!

This peculiar event will take place at the Keats House: a space dedicated to the poetry of John Keats and to poetry in general. This Keats house has links with other museums, artists, writers and schools; it also runs regular poetry groups. Well: It will be in this smart and artistic place that the kids´bug hunt will take place. A bug hunt? Yes, The House has some, say, “special inhabitants”, aside from regular museum visitors and other people: The kids will have to look for…well, bugs. In the cellar, for instance, and determine whether they are good or bad bugs! Along with their bug-hunting, they will be instructed on conservation work and museums. This will be a session of crafts & games and...bugs. 
 

You will like it if you like...: Museums, hunts, bugs!

Kind of activity: Festival 

Where: Brick Lane • London E1 6SA 

When: Sunday 20 May • Noon-7pm

Age: All ages

Price: Free

How to go there: Public or private transport • Map 

Contact: Boishakhi Mela Site
More info: Boishakhi Mela

AN IMMERSION IN THE COLORFUL BANGLADESHI CULTURE 

Boishaki Mela is a colorful Festival in Tower Hamlets, celebrating Bangladeshi New Year (yes, in May): this will be a total immersion in all things Bangladeshi: festivities, music & dancing or traditional food from the country. The day will start off with a procession of school children and performing arts groups. Throughout the day, and along the streets of Bethnal Green, there will be music and live bands, a funfair, and markets and food stalls. This year´s edition will have more performances and artists than previous years. Come to Tower Hamlets and get ready for discovering the creativity and magic of Bangladeshi culture. 
 

You will like it if you like...: Bangladeshi culture and things, street festivals, music, dancing

Kind of activity: Flower Festival

Where: Chelsea tour map 

When: May 21-26 • Daily 10am-5pm 

Age: All ages

Price: Free

How to go there: Public or private transport

Contact: Chelsea in Bloom site

More info:  Chelsea in Bloom 

WALKING IN CHELSEA AMONG BEAUTIFUL FLOWER SHOWS AND DESIGNS!

Do you like Chelsea? Do you like walking along its elegant streets, shopping around or enjoying the beauty of its residential buildings? Do you love the shops and restaurants? And do you like flowers and Spring? If so, here is the best combination of Chelsea plus flowers you can enjoy in the year. Or more exactly, rather than flowers, it is lovely flower art that you will have. "Flower-themed" creative art. Chelsea in bloom: The Chelsea streets will be decorated with surprising flower “works of art” and shows. This year´s edition will be themed around the Queen´s Diamond Jubilee and the goal´s competition will be the floral crown, of course! 
 

You will like it if you like...: Flowers, flower-themed design, Chelsea

Kind of activity: Exhibition

Where: Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology • University College London, Malet Place • London WC1E6BT & National Army Museum • Royal Hospital Rd • London SW34HT

When: May 19 • 7-9pm (Petrie M.); May 18-19 • 6-9pm (National Army M.)

Age: All ages

Price:  Free (Petrie); £5 per child (National Army M.)

How to go there: Public or private transport

Contact: Tel: 020 7679 2884 (Petrie) • Tel: 020 7730 0717 (National Army Museum)  

More info: Petrie Museum • National Army Museum 

MUSEUMS AT NIGHT: TWO SUGGESTIONS FOR THE WEEKEND

Here are two suggestions within the “Museums at Night Experience”. First one: an evening visit to the Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology, one of the most important ones in the world among those dedicated to Egyptian and Sudanese art, housing something like 80.000 items. There will be a funny film screening: Carry on Leo, 1964, of the popular Carry On series. On this occasion, two Britons are sold as Roman Slaves and sent over to Egypt after one stay in Rome. You will find history, comedy and panto in this iconic “pop” movie from the sixties. And the second suggestion: an evening at the National Army Museum, offering some after-dark activities: a family tour & a quest, a storytelling session and object-handling. 
 

You will like it if you like...: Museums, exhibitions, history, movies, family quests

Kind of activity: Exhibition

Where: V&A Museum of Childhood • Cambridge Heath Rd • London E2 9PA

When: 19 May-28 Oct • 10am-5.45pm daily

Age: All ages

Price: Free

How to go there: Public or private transport

Contact: Tel: 020 8983 5200 / 020 8983 5235 (info)

More info: M&A Museum of Childhood

AN EXHIBITION OF OLYMPIC GAMES MASCOTS FROM LAST 44 YEARS!

Do you know Wenlock and Mandeville, London 2012´s official Mascots? We bet you do. Do you like them by the way? How would you have designed them? Any ideas? Are you intrigued by this lovable universe of Olympic mascots? You know that each Country, City and Games have had their official Mascots! To make them, some designers have found inspiration in their national symbols or traditions; others have just been creative enough to design something truly new and original. The result is a big number of Olympic Mascots through the years, each trying to represent a city´s identity. So many of them that we can make an exhibition: At the Museum of Childhood, you will enjoy a nice display of 50 mascots from the last 44 Summer Olympic Games.

You will like it if you like...: Olympic games & mascots, designs

Kind of activity: Kids Party

Where: The Sports Field • Holland Park, Ilchester Place • London W8 6LU 

When: Tuesday 22 May •11am-1pm 
Age: Under 5s

Price: Big Toddle £1 

How to go there: Public or private transport 

Contact: Tel: 020 7361 3003 

More info: Little Dish Spring Party 

A KIDS´PARTY AT HOLLAND PARK WITH A SUPERHEROE-WALK 

This is a party for the younger ones at Holland Park on Tuesday 22, with music and singing, storytelling sessions and arts & crafts. There will also be games, a treasure hunt and a picnic (free for the kids).  At noon, the little ones will take part in a Superhero-themed walk: The Big Toddle. It will cost you just one pound, and its aim is raising funds for helping disadvantaged under 5 year-old kids in Britain. As the theme´s walk is Superheroes, make sure your kids will wear their masks and capes! A good chance to feel and act like a cartoon character! The activity is aimed at the under 5s. 
 

You will like it if you like...: Kids parties, picnics, games, storytelling

Kind of activity: Exhibiton

Where: Museum of London • 150 London Wall • London EC2Y 5HN 

When: Sunday 20 May • 1pm, 2pm, 3pm

Age: 5 +

Price: Free

How to go there: Public or private transport

Contact: Museum of London • Tel: 020 7001 9844 

More info: Museum of London

A VICTORIAN SELLER VISITS US TO TALK ABOUT HIS LIFE & TIMES

The Museum of London is a great space in the city about the history of London and its peoples, since prehistoric times to the present day. On Sunday 20, you will have a very lively event, which will help your understanding of London´s past! Well, a Victorian seller travels to the present! He will talk about his life in Victorian London, how he manages to sell his goods, what kind of stuff he sells (medicines, ointments, syrups, pills, oils, sugar, spice), and the journeys he makes for business to places other than London, like Morocco and North Africa for example! Meet the Victorian Seller at the Museum of London, and you will know a few things first hand from the time that London was first among world cities!
 

You will like it if you like...: London history, Characters from history

Kind of activity: 1940s Exhibition

Where: Tenterden Town Station • Station Rd, Kent • Tenterden TN30 6HE 

When: May 19-20 Sat-Sun • See website for timetable 

Age: All ages

Price: £15; seniors £14;  3-15 year-olds £10;  family £42 

How to go there: Public or private transport 

Contact: Tel: 01580 76155

More info: Kent & East Sussex Railway

A RAILWAY JOURNEY TO THE 1940S BETWEEN TENTERDEN AND BODIAM

Would you like to spend a full weekend in the 1940s? Now you can! Just visit the Kent & East Sussex Railway and travel between the Tenterden and Bodiam stations as many times as you like with just one "1940s" ticket. Along the railway line, you will really experience traveling back in time to the forties: You will be able to see plane demonstrations, performances, military vehicles and cars from the 1940s or market stalls from the time. And of course, you will also enjoy popular war time music. At Bodiam, singer Tony Rice will be singing some 40s favorites; At Tenterden, nostalgic 1940s soprano Fiona Harrison will be offering some of the most famous tunes from the decade, within her show “we will meet again”. 
 

You will like it if you like...: History, trains, 1940s memorabilia, music, performances