Extend your children's enjoyment of that theatre, museum or gallery trip with one of these London cultural guidebooks for kids.
The museum
Any book that opens with a page of stickers is alright by us.
Add to that a colourful layout, garden-based adventure map, board game, quizzes and guides to creating your own musical instruments and exotic marine animals — and you'll find this is so much more than just a museum guidebook.
The 50-page book is divided into five sections, including Being Human, Let's Make Music and Under the Water. There's loads to explore, just like at the fab south London museum itself. Each section closes with a nice short quiz too.
Complex information and ideas are presented in small, easily digested snippets, with plenty of gorgeous pictures.
Horniman Museum and Gardens Kids' Handbook, £6, available from the Horniman Museum Shop
The gallery
If talking about art is hard, it's possibly even harder to talk to kids about art.
This book considers the work of 10 British artists (from Turner and Lowry to Cornelia Parker and Damien Hirst), gives short descriptions of how they work and then offers ideas on how to create artworks in a similar way. Barbara Hepworth might inspire your little ones to sculpt with a bar of soap, while Gillian Wearing will have them spilling secrets in the name of art.
It's a slight book (30-odd pages), but the activities suggested are often jumping-off-points for ideas that'll end up bigger and bolder than the book itself, with the addition of some simple pound shop craft supplies.
Tate Kids British Art Activity Book, by Lambert and Jackson, £6.99
The theatre
This stunning 120-page hardback gives a comprehensive guide to theatre as a whole, with regular examples coming from London's National Theatre.
Eighteen chapters will take any young theatre fans through everything from Who's Who in the Theatre, to Wigs, Hair and Make-Up; and Special Effects.
Inside, you'll learn why it's unlucky to whistle on stage, how to do a witch's make-up, and which is the National Theatre's most-sold ice cream flavour.
Stunning photography and bright graphics illustrate the fact-packed pages, making this a comprehensive introduction to the exciting world of theatre craft.
National Theatre: All About Theatre, £14.99
