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To non-parents, Easter is just a lovely extra-long weekend off work with a chocolate-slash-Jesus related added dimension. To parents and kids, it’s a two-week school holiday that needs to be planned for with military precision.
Or not! We’ve elsewhere rounded up the best Easter holidays kids’ events in London in 2026, with a focus on major new attractions or ones that it’s your last chance to see. Many of these are worth booking – or at least planning for – in advance.
But what if you don’t want to spend more money on your awful children? What if you refuse to plan? Or perhaps to be fairer, what if you’re in the market for some cheaper and more spontaneous activities mixed in over the 16 days of holiday? Well worry not: we’ve got you covered with our comprehensive-ish round up of the best free kids’ activities going on in London this Easter.
When are the Easter holidays in 2026?
This year the Easter holidays for London schools start on Monday March 30 and last until Friday April 10.
The best free things to do with kids in London in Easter holidays 2026
1. Step into a Fairy Tale at the British Library
Obviously it goes without saying that most of London’s major museums and art galleries are – as ever – free at Easter. On the whole you will have to pay for their fancier temporary exhibitions, but not at the good old British Library, where major new free show Fairy Tales opens just in time for Easter. It’s an immersive journey through the world of fairy tale that makes use of some of the more exciting and aesthetically pleasing works from its formidable collection, but genuinely feels like a ‘proper’ exhibition and not just a few bonus bits in a corner. Booking online is required but at time of writing there’s plenty of availability throughout the hols.
British Library, Mar 27 to Aug 23.
2. Watch Jesus get crucified (one for older kids)
Whatever your feelings on Christianity etcetera, there is absolutely no denying that the Wintershall Players’ annual Passion of Jesus is a spectacular bit of free theatre, complete with a cast of over 100 and a surprising number of pack animals. It does end with a guy getting crucified – not actually, but it is hardly coy about the depiction, so probably don’t go taking any sensitive or very young children (though people do). But it is a great London Easter tradition and in terms of sheer bang for the buck you’re not actually paying it’s hard to beat.
Trafalgar Square, Apr 3 (Good Friday), noon and 3.15pm.
3. Immerse yourself in Baby Shark at the Outernet
Okay, this could be a one way ticket to cutting whatever fragile threads of your sanity you may be clinging to by the end of the hols, but it would be remiss not to point out that the Outernet – aka that big garish immersive video thing at the top end of Charing Cross Road – will be playing Baby Shark’s Easter Splash, a special 20 minute Baby Shark film from the ubiquitous Pinkfong between 9am and noon during the hols. If you’re looking for a child friendly pitstop during a trip to town, this should hit the spot.
Outernet, Mar 30-Apr 10.
4. Mainline sweets at the Penge Easter Trail
Like its sibling the Penge Halloween Trail, the Penge Easter Trail is about as bountiful as a completely free event gets. Grab a map from the Goldsmith’s Arms between 4pm and 5.30pm on Easter Saturday and visit every participating business on Penge High Street, grabbing a sweet thing from each. Maybe more one for southeast Londoners, but with twenty-ish venues you really can hoover up an astonishing volume of sweets, and there are copious pub opportunities for the adults.
Starts at Goldsmith’s Arms, Apr 4, 4pm-5.30pm.
5. Two weeks of Easter activities in Victoria Park
East London’s most famous park is well known for the adult festivals it hosts in the summer, but over Easter it practically has its own festival for little ones, with a full fortnight of free, daily, mostly no booking required activities that stretch from sports and fishing (!) on Tuesday March 31 through to pond dipping on Friday April 10. There’s a break for the Easter weekend but otherwise there are one to two major activities a day. For a schedule, details of start points and the activities you do have to book for, you’re best heading to the Victoria Park Facebook page.
Victoria Park, Mar 31-Apr 10.
6. Sit on a space toilet at the Science Museum
Aside from being generally free, the Science Museum has a whole host of bonus events to tempt you in over the half-term holidays. The free, 20-minute live science demonstration The Space Show is alas pretty solidly booked for the hols (though go online and you can probably bag a slot in the weekends after). But there are plenty of fun space themed activities that you don’t have to book for, including Space Toilet Tales, an opportunity to set on a replica space toilet and ask an expert any question that might come to mind about the practicalities of going to the bathroom in orbit.
Science Museum, Mar 28-Apr 12.
7. Solve all of our planet’s problems via the medium of Lego at the Natural History Museum
Clearly Easter at the NHM is a pretty similar idea to the above entry: massive world-class free museum, also has bonus free activities over the hols as part of its Family Festival. Activities run the gamut from nature talks to ‘meet the scientist’ sessions to a T-rex puppet show that you do actually have to book and pay for. But the best bit of free fun is probably the Lego Biodiversity Super Builders in the Investigate Centre, where you’ll learn about the challenges facing the natural world and come up with solutions via the medium of Lego bricks. It’s first come first-served, which means you should be able to get in if you don’t mind a queue.
Natural History Museum, Mar 28-Apr 12.
8. Free Easter egg hunts at paid-for attractions
I’ve left this until last because I don’t want you to think I can’t deliver actual free stuff, but it’s worth stressing that during the Easter many, many major London attractions – from London Zoo to Hampton Court to pretty much any National Trust property – will offer some sort of variant on an Easter egg hunt that will end in kids getting a delicious chocolate egg. It’s obviously not ‘free’ per se but there’s no denying that bonus chocolate is always going to go down well. Also I just really wanted to use that picture of [animal with an Easter egg].
The best things to do with children in London at Easter
Want to go beyond the above excellent free stuff to see and do in the capital over the Easter hols? There’s plenty more where that came from. Check out Time Out’s general guide to Easter holidays activities in London here, which features everything from playgrounds and theatre shows to exhibitions.
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