Things to do with kids during the school summer holidays in London

What is it? The 99-year-old living legend that is Sir David Attenborough drops a new film at the Natural History Museum in the form of Our Story. The 50-minute ‘immersive’ documentary will be projected across the walls of the Jerwood Gallery, subsuming you in what we can only describe as raw nature he takes us on the story of humanity, from origins to the present. Blending wildlife footage with animation, it’s human-centric but has plenty of room for animals too. 

Where is it? Natural History Museum.

What is it? Projection-based performance space The Lightroom goes back to the Cretaceous with its latest show, which is a collaboration with Apple TV and its spectacular CGI dinosaur documentary series Prehistoric Planet. The 50-minute film is a mash-up of the highlights of the show’s two seasons, plus a few new and extended scenes. 

Where is it? Lightroom.

What is it? Last seen in London in 2022 – the last time a Jurassic World film came out – Jurassic World: The Experience is an immersive experience themed around the beloved movie franchise returning just in time for Jurassic World: Rebirth. Get a ferry to Isla Nublar, admire some dinosaurs, run off when it all inevitably goes wrong: you know the score

Where is it? NEON, Battersea Power Station.

What is it? A large scale outdoor attraction that did the rounds in 2021 under the name Jurassic Encounter. It it, audiences wander around – and occasionallty sit on – dozens of life-sized dinosaurs, some of them animatronic. 

Where is it? Beddington Park, Sutton.

What is it? When scientists get involved in the food we eat, it's often viewed as something to steer well clear of, with scary headlines about 'Frankenfoods' surrounding genetically modified ingredients or e-numbers in our sweets. But what if science is the only way of putting food on our plates in decades to come? This new free exhibition at the Science Museum looks at fascinating projects like Norway's ice-cold seed vault and the first beef steak to be grown outside a cow, as well as looking at community-led sustainability projects. And it invites you to get involved, with a multiplayer game where you can cook up your own future for food. Delicious!

Where is it? Science Museum.

Kew Gardens is a day out all in itself, but to really make your trip special, why not take in one of the three theatre shows the Australian Theatre Company is running there this summer? For tots there’s ‘The Dream Fairies’, ‘The Wind in the Willows’ for bigger kids, and at night ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ will wow families. Tickets include admission to Kew and for the kids’ shows the price difference between a regular Kew ticket is negligible.

Parents, you know the deal: there are limited number of kids’ films out every year and you’ll probably end up seeing them all. Here is the summer roster.

Despicable Me 4 – the latest installment in the Minions-featuring franchise is out already

Harold and the Purple Crayon - this long-gestating live action adaptation of a beloved American kids’ book drops August 1

Kensuke’s Kingdon – a young boy is shipwrecked in the animated Michael Morpurgo adaptation starring Sally Hawkins and Cillian Murphy. Out August 2.

Coraline (reissue) – this excellent stopmotion Neil Gaiman adaptation is back in cinemas for its fifteenth birthday from August 15.