It\u2019s hard to keep up with everything; what\u2019s launched, what\u2019s new, what\u2019s become available, what’s now digital. Fear not, we\u2019ve done the hard work for you.\u00a0
We\u2019ve rounded up some of the best things to do this week, virtual events as well as actual real life events plus some online anytime activities too.\u00a0
Hear Michael Morpurgo talk about his new picture book adaption of War Horse or learn how to turn old T Shirts into handy bags.\u00a0 Catch up with Ben Fogle as he talks about his latest children’s book Mr Dog or find out how to make the iconic japanese dessert Dorayaki.\u00a0 Step into a world of creativity as Cressida Cowell headlines the Reading is Magic Festival or learn how to chalk print, explore the solar system or watch the Little Angel Theatre\u2019s new show and if you’re excited about Halloween already, find out where you can pick your own pumpkin – there’s lots to do, see and fun with.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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OUR VIRTUAL TOP PICKS<\/strong> Reading is Magic Festival, Sunday 27th September – 2nd October\u00a0<\/a> Find the full programme of events here<\/a> and check out the Festival Guide here<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Ben Fogle; Mr Dog, Sunday 27th September @11am\u00a0<\/a> Tickets are free but you\u2019ll need to book here<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n To find out more about the Henley Literary Festival, click here <\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n AFRORETRO: UpCycle Your Life and Bag a Tee, Sunday 27th September @ 10am\u00a0<\/a> OUR TOP PICKS OF THINGS TO DO<\/strong> Whether you want to carve a ghoulish face, make a delicious pie or decorate your house with unusual gourds so there\u2019s an ideal pumpkin for everyone. There\u2019s a total of 20 acres of pumpkins, producing around 150,000 pumpkins.\u00a0 ONLINE ANYTIME\u00a0<\/strong> If you looked up at the sky on a clear evening in the 1800s, you might just spot a hot air balloon rise up over Vauxhall. Georgian London was home to the famous Vauxhall Pleasure Gardens \u2013 a spectacular place for the upper and middle classes to see and be seen. Entertainment for the visitors included music, acrobatics and a ride in a hot air balloon! It\u2019s hard to keep up with everything; what\u2019s launched, what\u2019s new, what\u2019s become available, what’s now digital. Fear not, we\u2019ve done the hard work for you.\u00a0 We\u2019ve rounded up some of the best things to do this week, virtual events as well as actual real life events plus some online anytime activities too.\u00a0 Hear Michael … Continued<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":7856,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[2672,12,13,799,3201],"class_list":["post-7853","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-family","tag-kids","tag-littlebird","tag-things-to-do","tag-top-picks"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.littlebird.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7853","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.littlebird.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.littlebird.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.littlebird.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/16"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.littlebird.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7853"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.littlebird.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7853\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7857,"href":"https:\/\/www.littlebird.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7853\/revisions\/7857"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.littlebird.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7856"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.littlebird.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7853"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.littlebird.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7853"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.littlebird.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7853"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
Japan Matsuri Presents, Saturday 26th & Sunday 27th September<\/a>
Japan Matsuri Presents\u00a0 takes Japan online to bring the best in Japanese culture. Expect cooking masterclasses, headline musical acts, martial arts and dance over the weekend. Watch Kamishibai, a style of theatre where the story is told through illustrated boards, learn how to draw Manga, find out how to make the iconic japanese dessert Dorayaki, join the guided gallery tour of Japan House London\u2019s new exhibition Architecture for Dogs and catch viral sensation Tomioka Dance Club plus so much more.\u00a0
To find out what\u2019s going on when, click here<\/a>
Solar System Discovery, Saturday 26th & Sunday 27th September @ 11am, 12pm, 1pm & 2pm<\/a>
Join a Royal Observatory Greenwich\u2019s astronomer and embark on a tour of the Solar System, all from the comfort of your home in this live, online planetarium show.\u00a0
Starting from Earth, you\u2019ll travel through our celestial neighbourhood, visiting objects like planets, moons and asteroids, and ending with a fly-out to view our galaxy, the Milky Way.\u00a0
Aimed at ages 7+. Tickets are free but you\u2019ll need to book.\u00a0 To find out more, click here<\/a>
London Podcast Festival, running until Sunday 27th September\u00a0\u00a0<\/a>
The London Podcast Festival celebrates some of the biggest and brightest names on the podcasting scene perform live in front of a limited capacity. There\u2019s comedy, politics, music and art.\u00a0 All events will be live streamed to a global audience. Tickets from \u00a39.50\u00a0
To find out more about the festival, what’s on and when, and to learn about the art of podcasting, click here<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n
Get ready to step into a world of creativity. The Reading is Magic Festival is offering six days of free, inclusive and engaging digital events for everyone, everywhere. How to Train Your Dragon and The Wizards of Once creator Cressida Cowell is heading the line-up and the festival will be hosted by TV presenter, broadcaster and Strictly Come Dancing finalist, Karim Zeroual.\u00a0
Catch Chris Riddell, Dapo Adeola, Nathan Bryon, Jason Reynolds, Sue Hendra, Paul Linnet, Jasbinder Bilan, Kiran Millwood Hargrave, Sophy Henn, Steven Lenton, Steven Butler, Joseph Coelho, Pamela Butchart, and so many more.\u00a0
Aimed at ages 4 to 13 and beyond. Events last between 10 and 30 minutes and will be broadcast on a schools-friendly platform.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Part of the Henley Literary Festival (26th Sept. – 4th Oct), tune into broadcaster and adventurer Ben Fogle for this special event for kids and their grown- ups! Find out about his latest children\u2019s book, Mr Dog, inspired by his own real-life animal experiences. Oh deer! The fawn\u2019s forest home is in danger, but canine hero Mr Dog has a plan!\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n
Upcycle old unloved t-shirts and sweatshirts into handy bags with the artsdepot. Join Ugandan Sisters Anna and Lilly and learn all about upcycling and how you can stop your clothes ending up in landfills across the world.\u00a0
Don’t worry if you don’t already sew, Anna and Lilly will help you get creative and turn your unwanted clothing into handy bags.\u00a0
Each household only needs to purchase one ticket. Pay what you decide, Artsdepot suggests \u00a35, but it’s up to you.\u00a0
To find out more and book your ticket, click here<\/a>
Little Angel Theatre\u2019s Scoop\u2019s Space: Mr Gobble\u2019s Garden,\u00a0 Sunday 27th September @11am<\/a>
Mr Gobble is the grumpiest man you\u2019ll ever meet in your life, but his pride and joy is his garden. He tends to his herbs, fruit and sunflowers, and is growing an enormous Orchid to enter into a competition. But one day, a mischievous mole comes digging, and Mr Gobble has to learn an important lesson about kindness, sharing and friendship.
Watch the new show here<\/a> and if you haven\u2019t watched Moon River<\/em>, When\u2026<\/em> and What a Wonderful World<\/em>, they\u2019re only available until Wednesday 30th September so catch them before they\u2019re gone here<\/a>
The Little Angel Theatre is offering all their online shows for free, but if you\u2019re able to make a donation it would be much appreciated.
Sir Michael Morpurgo: Reflections of War and Fiction, Sunday 27th September @ 4.30pm\u00a0<\/a>
Part of the Chelsea History Festival (17th – 27th September) offering a mixture of online and in-person events, join Sir Michael Morpurgo as he discusses turning the subject of war into fiction and his new picture book adaption of War Horse.
You can join the event for free online here<\/a> and to find out more about the festival, click here\u00a0<\/a>
Live from Under the Thames, Sunday 27th September @6pm<\/a>
Part of the Totally Thames Festival that runs until 30th September, tune into a live streamed concert from the Brunel Museum by Modulus Quartet, who specialise in performing in unusual locations as they perform works from their new album. The live stream will be followed by a Q&A session with the performers and composers. Tickets are \u00a35. Find out more here\u00a0<\/a>
Totally Thames Festival runs until 30th September, to find out more, click here<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n
Tulley\u2019s Pumpkins, pick your own pumpkin, from Saturday 26th September\u00a0<\/a>
If you fancy picking your own pumpkin this Halloween, Tulleys\u2019 Farm opens this weekend.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Tickets vary between \u00a32 to \u00a35 depending when you go and you\u2019ll need to book a time slot and from Friday 9th October you can pick your own pumpkin at night!
To find out more and book your slot, click here\u00a0<\/a>
Horniman Museum & Gardens:\u00a0 Falling Birds<\/a>
Falling Birds is a brand new display at the Horniman Museum & Gardens by UK-based artist Helena Hunter, which illuminates the ongoing environmental crisis in relation to bird species. Larger-than-life X-ray photographs of extinct and endangered bird specimens from the Horniman\u2019s Natural History collection and poetic texts highlight extinction and the alarming decline in bird species around the world.\u00a0
While you\u2019re here, visit the Permian Monsters: Life Before the Dinosaurs. 252 million years ago life on Earth was dominated by extraordinary creatures \u2013-fearsome sabre-toothed predators, giant insects and bizarre-looking sharks.\u00a0
The Museum and Gardens are free, but you must book a ticket online in advance to visit. The family-friendly exhibition, Permian Monsters, is charged for, a family ticket \u00a318
Find out more here\u00a0<\/a>
Matthew Bourne\u2019s The Red Shoes, cinematic release, Wednesday 30th September\u00a0<\/a>
Matthew Bourne\u2019s The Red Shoes arrives in cinemas for the first time. Winner of two Olivier Awards, The Red Shoes is a tale of obsession, possession and one girl’s dream to be the greatest dancer in the world. Victoria Page lives to dance but her ambitions become a battleground between the two men who inspire her passion.\u00a0
Filmed live at Sadler\u2019s Wells in London especially for cinemas, Matthew Bourne\u2019s magical adaptation of the classic Powell and Pressburger film is set to the achingly romantic music of golden-age Hollywood composer Bernard Herrmann.\u00a0
To find out more and where it\u2019s showing, click here\u00a0<\/a>
Canary Wharf Children’s Art Trail, London<\/a>\u00a0
Canary Wharf has picked 12 sculptures they think will interest young minds, plus a handy map to show their locations.
The 12 artworks chosen are a small selection of over 70 permanently on display all over Canary Wharf, both outside and indoors. Download the trail here\u00a0 here<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n
Family How To: Chalk Printing<\/a>
Create with the Royal Academy’s Family How To series and find out how to Chalk Print. Like many artists throughout history \u2013 from Claude Monet to J.M.W Turner and James Turrell, the Royal Academy has been inspired by the effects, colours and patterns made by clouds in the sky. What does the sky look like where you are?
Try out two simple techniques and experiment with using chalk to make colourful abstract prints.\u00a0
Find out more here<\/a>
Make a Pleasure Gardens souvenir<\/a>
Museum of London Docklands asks, have you ever collected something to remember a day out and take it home as a souvenir? Why not create your own memory mobile, inspired by the fun of the Pleasure Gardens.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Find out how to make your own memory mobile here<\/a>
Digital Do Your Own Thing\u00a0<\/a>
Heart n Soul is a creative arts company and charity who believe in the talents of people with learning disabilities. Digital Do Your Own Thing is their creative arts project, now online, for young people with learning disabilities aged 10-25. Young people can take part in music, dance, radio, DJing, visual arts and digital arts.\u00a0
Find out more here<\/a> and to explore their creative downloadable packs, click here<\/a>\u00a0
Your weekly guide to noticing nature<\/a>
Spending time in nature not only boosts our connection to the natural world, it also helps our wellbeing. The National Trust have put together a weekly guide that aims to help us find time to connect with nature in our everyday lives. The guide full of easy ideas to get you started \u2013 from looking up at the trees to walking barefoot in the grass. Make nature part of your daily routine and download their guide here<\/a>
Brought to you by The LittleBird Family Pass –\u00a0 saving families money all year round. To find out how,\u00a0 click <\/strong>here<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>
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