The Museum of Childhood - Chinese New Year 2019

Last month marked Chinese New Year – The year of the Pig, and as my Grandad hailed from Hong Kong, we are always keen to encourage the girls to embrace their heritage, so my Mum and I took them to The Museum of Childhood in Bethnal Green.

As a celebration the museum had teamed up with Mothers Bridge of Love Charity and the Chinese Association of Tower Hamlets to put on a free celebratory day with lots of fun activities taking place throughout the day on the ground floor of the museum.

With mandatory Lion dancing, martial arts and tai chi performances as well as a number of arts and crafts activities available as well as the usual attractions of the museum, it made for a really great couple of hours out with the girls, on a particularly mild February Saturday.

The girls particularly enjoyed the arts and crafts area which included making their own red envelope for ‘lucky money’ and colouring in masks with lots of other children from the area. 

Chinese masks at The Museum of Childhood

There was a stall at the entrance to the museum selling various nik naks such as dragons on a stick and some slightly more expensive items – these cost £1 each so didn’t break the bank.

Bridget's £1 dragon from The Museum of Childhood

Bridget was enthralled by the various folk dancing shows and both the girls loved the dragon dancing too.

Unfortunately, as there was a massive queue to get in we missed out on the fan dance which was participatory for the children, so that was a shame, but it was lovely to see so many people engaged by the event. We queued for about 20-25 minutes.

If you haven’t visited the Museum of Childhood with your children, it is a must visit place in London for a variety of reasons.

Aside from the fact there are lots of things to do for the children, it will also be a walk down memory lane for you too. I absolutely adore the historical side to the museum and seeing not just toys, games and the like from my era of growing up in the eighties and nineties, but from my Mum and Dad’s in the sixties and even my Nan’s in the forties. It’s fascinating and the children stay engaged as it is all toy related. 

Bridget and Beatrice finding the Chinese toys at The Museum of Childhood

Who else remembers that Teapot House from the 1980's? (The Museum of Childhood)

And it's not just displays of old toys either, there are things like historical prams, highchairs and baby related products too, as well as children’s clothing through the ages, which ticked the box for my Mum and made her incredibly nostalgic. 

The girls loved the doll's houses and dressing up in historical attire although unfortunately the lady who was organising this, was so bombarded we didn't get the chance to find out from which era the outfits came from. 

Fancy dress at The Museum of Childhood

Beatrice has recently become interested in Sylvanian Families and they were a big hit at Christmas and her birthday so imagine her delight at seeing a range of them on display.

Beatrice admiring the Sylvanian Families at The Museum of Childhood

The arts and crafts area is a mainstay for the museum too, which is a good little interactive activity to keep the children occupied – I had to drag mine away, despite it being packed, as they can never get enough of colouring in and the like, even though they do it daily at home!

There is a Lego and Duplo play station for children too and the Pirate play area is just fab. As well as a variety of pirate’s hats and accessories to try out, there is also an excellent pirate ship, treasure chest to explore and a few learning Q&A type areas for slightly older children. Once again, I had to drag my children away. 

Pirate Bridget at The Museum of Childhood

Beatrice steering the pirate ship at The Museum of Childhood

My treasures finding treasure at The Museum of Childhood

Bridget on the pirate ship at The Museum of Childhood

We ended our Chinese New Year day out with dim sum in Gerrard Street, Chinatown and enjoyed some more dragon dancing as well as the fabulous and pretty lanterns that adorn the area every year for Chinese New Year. 

Me with the girls at Gerrard Street, Chinatown for Chinese New Year, 2019

My Mum with the girls at Gerrard Street, Chinatown

Bridget with the Lion dancer at Gerrard St, Chinatown

The Museum of Childhood is a great museum and one I’ve enjoyed since my own childhood. It’s perfect for a family day out on either a dry or a rainy day, and if you visit on a bright day and it doesn’t take up too many hours – you’re not far from wonderful Victoria Park which is, in my opinion one of the best parks in London for small children.

Entrance to the museum is free, but works on a donation basis, and they do a variety of groups for storytelling during the week and even at the weekend which are also free. This was our first visit with both of the girls; and I’ll be sure to return soon.

Family Fun at The Park

Sometimes it's the simple things, and on Sunday afternoon, Glen, Bridget and I spent a couple of hours at the local park which was super fun.

With only water for Bridget, who's now 19 months, and bread for the ducks to carry; it was a really relaxed, enjoyable afternoon and cost us absolutely nothing.

Bridget has a swing and a slide in our garden so you'd think the novelty of these on the playground might have run thin - not so. She was delighted to run between the various slides and climbing frames and insisted on either me or Glen joining her for a few of them, which had us laughing all the more - Mummy and Daddy bottoms are not made for infant playgrounds!

Slide fun

Just loves to climb

Too much fun on the swings

Again and again, Bridget climbed the frame
and came down the slide giggling the whole time. A joy for her and a joy for us to watch.

A few other children were enjoying the playground and one happened to be sporting a Peppa Pig t-shirt, which instantly made her a firm friend for Bridget.

After an hour at the playground we went in search of the ducks, with Bridget doing her hand motion and saying 'quack quack'. After recently visiting Old MacDonald's Farm and London Zoo in the petting area, Bridget was holding her hand out with the bread on it, hoping they might peck it off of her hand, which they obviously didn't - cue more laughs for me and Glen. 

Loving the daisies

We had a good old run around in the park too and pointed at different things along the way. The toddler age is an important one for learning and we try to teach her as much as we can whilst out and about - she knows what the likes of the sky, grass, trees and flowers are from our garden and books but it was nice for her to recognise them and show us. She picked a couple of daisies and was oohing away in awe.

She also absolutely loves all animals and excitedly chased birds all round the park and we tried to point out the different ones. We saw a few dogs too and a couple of squirrels so she was in her element.

We have a cherry blossom in our garden, but a very mature one at the park had some low hanging branches, which absolutely fascinated Bridget, and she loved shaking them and seeing the blossom scatter over herself and the ground. 

On Daddy's shoulder's

Loving the cherry blossom

Family fun

We love to get out and do things at the weekend, but I often hear people lamenting they 'can't afford' to have fun with their family. I disagree as there are thousands of free parks around the country and an off-the-cuff afternoon like ours just proves what fun can be had without spending a penny. You could pack a picnic in the summer and make a day of it and some parks even have lidos or splash pools to add more to the adventure.

Some of my favourite parks in Essex and East London:

1. Victoria Park - fond childhood memories of the huge slides, zip wire and splash pools
2. Bedford's Park - sprawling woods to explore close to our home, at a high vantage point offering views right across London, plus the added bonus of seeing some reindeer and other wildlife
3. Valentine's Park - fairly local to us and with a huge adventure playground and a boating lake