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Hey Kids! Let's...
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| Royal Parks photo |
Go the the park
The search for Peter Pan’s pirates draws long lines of London children to Kensington Gardens where a popular playground
evokes the memory of two of Kensington’s most famous residents: the unlikely pair of Princess Diana and Peter Pan. The
Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Playground features a pirate ship, a water play area and teepees, along with conventional
swings and slides.
The two acre site is dominated by a fully-rigged pirate ship seemingly grounded on a beach. Children can climb a hidden passage
between the galleon’s three decks and even try to re-float the ship by moving sand out of the ballast. The park’s
beach cove (watch out for the crocodiles!) is a water play area where kids can search for the imprints of fossils and even
a mermaid’s tail.
When visiting children tire of the pirate ship and cove, they can move on to the treehouse camp and call each other using
the park’s “tree-phones.” Then it’s on to the Native American teepees, or maybe a stop in the Movement
and Musical Garden to make music, or at least joyful noise.
Click here to see Kensington Gardens on Googlemaps UK.
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| © David S. White |
Go for a cruise (actually more of a "spin") on the London Eye
It’s hard to miss this giant Ferris wheel just across the river from Big Ben and Parliament. The London Eye’s
operators insist that their commercial venture is an observation wheel, not a Ferris wheel, but that is a distinction most
visitors miss.
Terminology aside, the London Eye is a fantastic vantage point from which to view downtown London. Visitors ride in large
observation pods that slowly rotate around the 450 foot-tall wheel. The combination of the slow motion and the enclosed pods
makes for a tame ride. Visibility ranges up to 25 miles, so on a clear day you can’t see forever, but you might see
as far as the town of Windsor. Riding the London Eye at sunset on a clear-to-partly cloudy day is an unforgettable London
experience.
Click here to go to the London Eye website.
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| © Visit London |
Go to the theater
Theater thrives in modern London so it is hard to imagine a time in history when playwrights and actors struggled against
religious and government suppression. But one reason that the famous Globe Theatre was located on the south bank of the Thames
was to escape the unfriendly atmosphere in the City of London. After an unsympathetic landlord raised the land rent, the theater
company moved the Globe, piece by piece, from its City location to Southwark.
In 1613, the original Globe Theatre burned to the ground supposedly the result of a cannon shot during a performance of the
play Henry VIII. A new theater was built on the site, but it only lasted until 1642 when those fun-loving Puritans forced
it to close. The Globe was torn down in 1644 and the site was virtually forgotten. It was not until the 1980s that the foundation
of the theater was discovered. Unfortunately, the remains of the Globe are buried below a newer (but still historic) building
that was constructed on the site.
Click here to go to the Globe's website.
Watch the changing of the guard
First, you should know that there are two separate guard ceremonies: the palace guard at Buckingham and the mounted guard
down the Mall at Whitehall.
Of the two, the mounted horse guards ceremony is a lot more accessible. The site of the ceremony, a large open plaza called
Horse Guards Parade, provides room to spread out and get a good view of the event. At one time the palace of Whitehall stood
in this part of London. Horse Guards Parade was the tiltyard of the palace where jousting tournaments were held.
The guards are mounted troopers of the Household Cavalry, also known as the Sovereign’s Life Guard. Hearing this name,
children may ask: “If these guys are lifeguards, then where’s the swimming pool?” There is no swimming pool,
but if your kids love horses, this is the guard ceremony to see. The mounted Horse Guards are resplendent with their swords
and shining silver breastplate armor and, of course, the beautifully groomed horses. Afterward, your children can even pet
the two horses standing guard on the Whitehall Street side of Horse Guards Parade. This makes an excellent kid photo op, but
watch where you step!
We've answered tons of questions about the London's changing the guard ceremonies. So if you have one,
email us.
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| VisitBritain photo |
Go down the river...to Greenwich
Here’s a pop quiz for kids who have studied geography: What is the latitude and longitude of London? Give up? At about
52 degrees north latitude London is roughly in line with Calgary, Canada—a lot farther north than you might expect.
The second part of the answer is more significant. London’s longitude is nearly zero degrees since the city sits only
a few miles west of the Prime Meridian—the longitudinal line dividing the Earth into eastern and western hemispheres.
The suburban London town of Greenwich is the historical home to the Prime Meridian.
Because time is such an important player here, it is hard to visit Greenwich and not keep constantly looking at your watch.
Greenwich Mean Time is a standard used by scientists, navigators, militaries, and travelers throughout the world.
Taking the boat down the Thames to Greenwich is pretty neat even if your kids don’t give a hoot about longitude and
Greenwich Mean Time. (See the Go Cruisin’ section for more information on boat trips.) But even the most uninterested
kids will have a lot of fun on a visit to the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, and they might even learn something.
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| © David S. White |
Go up the river...to Hampton Court
So how are you going to sell your children on a visit to another palace? Not to worry. In addition to history and architectural
splendor, Hampton Court also features Henry VIII’s original indoor tennis court, a fantastic garden maze, one of the
world’s largest grape vines, carriage rides on the grounds, and lots of outdoor space to explore.
We tend to think of Henry the Eighth as Henry the Huge, but in his earlier years he was fairly athletic and a great tennis
fan. In 1530 he had a tennis court built at Hampton Court Palace. Royal or “real” tennis is only vaguely like
the modern version because this original indoor game was played off the walls and ledges that surround part of the court.
Legend has it that Henry played tennis here while Anne Boleyn was executed at the Tower of London. In the modern game, one
assumes that most tennis playing kings would stop playing under these circumstances (or at least take a Gatorade break).
Click here to for Henry VIII's website.
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