Children's Christmas Shows 2025 in London Theatres

What is it? The National Theatre sumptuous adaptation of Noel Streatfeild’s classic 1936 children’s novel Ballet Shoes returns for a second Christmas after blockbuster success last year.

Where is it? National Theatre, Olivier.

What is it? Paul Hilton will place Ebeneezer Scrooge in the Old Vic’s beloved Christmas Carol, which returns for its ninth and – due to a change of creative team at the theatre – presumably final year. For ages eight-plus.

Where is it? Old Vic.

What is it? Mischief Theatre – they of fringe megahit The Play That Goes Wrong – return with a fresh seasonal spin off. It’s not hard to guess what might happen in a Christmas Carol Goes Wrong: presumably the company’s am dram alter egos the Cornley Polytechnic Drama Society will screw up Dickens’s seasonal classic, with side-splitting results. For ages eight-plus.

Where is it? Shafesbury Theatre.

What is it? You don’t need to be an opera buff to appreciate Gilbert & Sullivan’s timeless comic operetta about romantic hijinx on the high seas as self-regarding Captain Corcoran’s efforts to marry his daughter Josephine off to the First Lord of the Admirality run drastically awry. This 2021 production by Cal McCrystal has been praised for its big laughs and good looks, and frankly the odds are you’ll know the basics of the story thanks to the Cape Feare episode of The Simpsons.

Where is it? London Coliseum.

What is it? Not festive per se but opening just in time for Christmas, it’s super-producer Sonia Friedman’s lavish new musical adaptation of the first Paddington film – the biggest new Brit show of the decade, probably. For ages six-plus.

Where is it? Savoy Theatre.

What is it? Transferring to the Southbank Centre for Christmas after a warmly reviewed run at Chichester, Top Hat is a stage adaptation of the 1935 Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers film about Jerry, a tapdancing Broadway star who finds his days as a bachelor are numbered when he crosses paths with model Dale while opening a new show in London. It’s nonsense, in other words, but Irving Berlin’s score is sensational – numbers include ‘Cheek to Cheek’, ‘Let’s Face the Music and Dance’, ‘Top Hat White Tie and Tails’ and ‘Puttin’ on the Ritz’ –  is to die for. 

Where is it? Queen Elizabeth Hall.

What is it? Pantomimes are, of course, family-friendly fun, but there too many of them to include here – click through to our dedicated panto page.