Things to do in London in January with kids

See WOW's digital art displays at Japan House

Take the kids to Japan House's digital arts exhibition featuring visual design studio WOW this month, which includes everything from Japanese wooden kokeshi dolls to a journey on Tokyo's Yamanote Line, exploring skyscrapers and the night sky along the way. The interactive exhibition gets kids stuck in, whether it's creating trees on a wall out of magnets to entice birds or projecting their own faces onto kokeshi dolls. The kids will love it, so will you, and it's all free.

Sip on a Sleeping Beauty themed tea at the Royal Opera House

The Royal Ballet's Sleeping Beauty is now a fantastic afternoon tea experience at the Royal Opera House, to delight ballet-loving kiddos and their parents. Inspired by the ballet - with glorious costumes on display - the tea includes seasonal delights like roast turkey sandwiches with cranberry relish and smoked salmon pinwheels. For dessert, kids can enjoy a Carabosse Chocolate Nemesis and Three Fairies Layered jelly, as well as an Enchanted Forest non-alcoholic cocktail of apple juice, kiwi syrup and lime and soda. The experience is £27 per child.

Go on a hot chocolate tasting tour of London

One of our mum friends had the most brilliant idea that we've copied: each week in the winter months, she takes her daughter to try a different hot chocolate around London. Not only is it an excuse to sample delicious hot chocolate from the likes of Dominique Ansel and Cutter & Squidge, it's also a chance to explore London a bit and discover something new. Our latest find is in Tooting: Harry's Chocolate Emporium is a chocolate and sweet shop that also serves up delectable white, milk and dark hot chocolate.

Explore one of the city's awesome eco-exhibitions

From the RA to the Horniman, there are plenty of eco-exhibitions around town - and many are closing in January 2020. Catch some of these with the kids while you can.

Prolong Christmas season for just a bit longer

While most outdoor rinks close by January 5, kids can skate at the Natural History Museum up until January 12, which gives you a whole extra week of Christmas wonder and merriment. Lace up your skates and enjoy.

Check out a fab January theatre show at Little Angel Theatre

Little Angel Theatre's festive season of productions continues through the month of January, with Me..., based on Emma Dodd's book about a baby penguin, catering to the under-5s. Older children will enjoy reliving Christmas season all over again with The Pixie and the Pudding, a tale from Scandinavian folklore about moving from the city to the country. It's got all of the ingredients required to delight kids: puppetry, original music and a touch of magic.

Photo: Ellie Kurttz

Raid the crafts cupboard at home

January is a meditative month for parents who are trying to recover from the festive period - and get organised for the year ahead. After the chaos of Christmas, we don't blame you for wanting to spend a weekend in. Let the kiddos turn all that torn Christmas wrapping paper into: presents for their toys, collage art so they can practice their cutting skills, a sled for their stuffed dog, anything their imagination dictates (or save it to sustainably wrap your gifts the next time around)... We recommend joining in the crafternoon - there's a reason colouring books for adults are bestsellers. It's therapeutic.

Help the kids do something charitable with Mori

Our goodwill towards others shouldn't end at Christmas - let's begin the new year as we mean to continue it by picking something charitable to do or an organisation to support, and stick with it. Little Village is a good place to start: they accept good-condition toys and clothes for children up to five to help other London families in need. Perfect for getting kiddos to start thinking about what they actually play with and need, and how a little sharing from them can make a huge difference to other children. Head to the new Mori shop in SW11 and drop any clothes off there - they'll deliver it all for you. Plus, if you're tempted to buy a new baby gift, the sustainable organic cotton and bamboo items look good and are made thoughtfully.

Check out Portraying Pregnancy at The Foundling Museum

One for the parents to enjoy: Portraying Pregnancy: From Holbein to Social Media, is a fascinating look at how women who were expecting have been depicted in art for the last 500 years. The exhibition includes objects, costumes, prints, paintings, photographs and more from artists through history and tackles social attitudes and tensions around pregnancy. Must-sees include Holbein's portrait of Thomas More's daughter, Cicely Heron, William Hogarth's The March of the Guards to Finchley and Chantal Joffe's self-portrait.

Credit: Marcus Gheeraerts II Portrait of a Woman in Red, 1620 © Tate and Hans Holbein II, Cecily Heron Royal Collection Trust © Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II 2019

Sleepover at the Science Museum

Astronights is back, and kids staying over at the Science Museum this winter get to explore the site's brand-new Wellcome Galleries, which showcase medical inventions and advances over the centuries. These events always sell out fast so if you can't book in for January, try your luck further into the new year. This might just be the best sleepover ever.

Enjoy Hogwarts in the Snow at Warner Bros. Studio

While you have until January 5 to do most Christmas stuff - from booking in a festive skating session to checking out a pantomime or kid-friendly ballet - Hogwarts stays in winter wonderland mode throughout the month of January. The Great Hall is transformed with Christmas trees, wreaths and garlands, so you can see what it's like to attend the Yule Ball for yourself.

Cirque du Soleil LUZIA, Royal Albert Hall

Baby, it's cold outside. So take them on a journey through Mexico with everyone's favourite circus troupe, Cirque du Soleil. Expect the usual-for-Cirque-du-Soleil mix of exciting acrobatics, contortionists and clowns, as well as the unexpected - a football dance, vocal performances - and visually stunning numbers, like the Running Woman, a lady dressed as a dramatic butterfly with floaty wings, evoking the life cycle.

Start the New Year off in a mindful way

Just like grown-ups need a reset with a new year, kids do too, and taking a mindful approach might be just the ticket. After the chaos of Christmas, slow down: sketch together, read together, encourage your child to start an emotion-led journal for days good or bad and sign them up to a kids' yoga class. Namaste.