Five Things To Do With Your Family This January

EVENTS CULTURE VULTURES

There’s an exciting year ahead across the UK. Why not take a little time out to cheer yourself up and plan your family’s cultural 2024?

Need a giggle? Head to Blackpool, where the ‘museum of fun’, Showtown opens in March. This all-singing, all-dancing megapolis of mirth tells the stories of comedians, dancers and the characters who turned the city into the capital of show business.

Game On is the largest interactive exhibition about the history and culture of video games. From Sonic the Hedgehog to Mario, explore gaming’s rich history by playing many of the key games produced over the last 50 years. As the exhibition has evolved and changed, over five million people of all ages have visited this interactive exhibition in 24 cities around the world. Find it at the National Museum of Scotland from June.

To celebrate 200 years of the National Gallery, the ‘NG200: National Treasures’ project will see twelve simultaneous exhibitions opening on the same day, 10 May 2024 , at twelve museums and galleries across the twelve regions of the four nations of the UK.

Each of the exhibitions will be centred around a National Treasure, which has been designed so that more than half the UK population will be within an hour’s journey of a National Gallery masterpiece. The celebrations will continue all year with a festival of art, creativity and imagination.

Bees: a Story of Survival is an interactive adventure at The World Museum, Liverpool, that explores the epic tale of these incredible creatures and their essential relationship with the natural world. In a unique partnership with the award-winning artist and sculptor Wolfgang Buttress, Bees: a Story of Survival is a beautiful harmony of art and science featuring cutting edge technology.

The Museum of Homelessness plans to open its doors to the public in Spring 2024. Housed in Manor House Lodge in Finsbury Park, London, the organisation is not only building a collection of histories of homelessness and poverty, but acting as a changemaker, carrying out investigations and campaigns.

Can you hear the stomp of approaching feet? Legion: Life in the Roman Army marches into the British Museum. This major exhibition will share the stories of real soldiers and will challenge some of the modern perceptions about what it meant to be a Roman soldier by showing the army was as much an engine of social change as a formidable war machine.

Hot on the high heels of the Barbie Movie comes Barbie: The Exhibition. The world’s most famous plastic doll steps into the spotlight at the Design Museum. We’re feeling in the pink already!

Also at the Design Museum (we’re going to be hanging out there a lot), The World of Tim Burton lifts the veil on one of the world’s best-loved filmmakers. Expect creeps, darkness, and a pinch of kitschy cute!

Tate Modern’s excellent Women in Revolt! exhibition showcases the work of feminist artists working between 1970 and 1990, and this May, it has a prequel! Now You See Us showcases women artists from 1520-1920.

The inaugural exhibition at the new Women’s Museum in East London is set to open on International Women’s Day 2024. The museum, developed by Barking and Dagenham Council, is described as “a socially engaged exhibition and community space, which will give platform to the experiences of women, girls and allies from the area and beyond.” A new artwork by Meera Shakri Osbourne, which will be the first in a series of commissions by contemporary artists for the inaugural exhibition ‘An Idea of a Life’ will be on show from Friday 8 March 2024.

DO DEAR DIARY

New Year is the traditional time to start a diary. There are many benefits for kids in keeping a journal – they don’t have to be a straight ‘what I did today’ format - try a nature journal, a gratitude journal – get some more alternative ideas here. Making your own book in which to write encourages you to keep up the discipline - we like this super-easy notebook with a lock idea to keep your innermost thoughts secret. Diaries don’t have to be analogue - some children find it easier to write their thoughts online - there are some ideas for ways to approach digital diary keeping here.

It’s a great chance to come together as a family and reflect on the year that has passed, as well as hopes and dreams for the year to come. We love the idea of an ‘interview’ or letter to help record achievements as well as wishes. We’re also fans of exploring other countries’ traditions – there’s a great list here. Try the grape-stuffing challenge from Spain, Russian wish-burning or perhaps deck the whole family out in red pants

Find more ideas for celebrating New Year as a family here, ways to kick-start the year here, and how to start a new year revolution here.

DO ORCHARD PARTIES
Ward off evil spirits, worms and maggots, and encourage the ‘good’ robin at a wassail. Traditionally held in orchards on Old Twelfth Night (January 17), events run all through January and might involve singing traditional songs, making lots of noise to scare off ghoulies, and hanging a cider-soaked piece of toast on a tree. Find a National Trust event near you here – we love the sound of a mummer’s play, morris dancing and procession at Devon’s Buckland Abbey and the wintry words and music evening at Botallack in Cornwall.

Find more parties across the UK here, including details of Croydon’s battle between the Holly King or Oak King, mask making and a serpent dance at the Royal Cornwall Museum and a whole day of processions, performances and song at the Weald and Downland Living Museum in West Sussex.

Alternatively, visit your nearest apple tree, and hold your own noisy, magical ceremony while drinking a traditional wassail cup. Try these recipes for traditional and alcohol-free versions (American apple cider is similar to our cloudy apple juice).

Traditionally,Twelfth Night was a night of feasting, games and giving gifts, all presided over by the Lord Of Misrule. The Lord was chosen by sweetmeat lottery – whoever found a bean in their slice of Twelfth Night Cake became the ruler for the night, organising the entertainment and setting ludicrous commands.

There’s a lovely piece here about the celebrations, complete with a recipe for a rich cake to make (if you can face more sweet stuff!) If you’re in London, don’t miss Sunday January 7th’s fun and free Lions Part celebrations on Bankside with the Holly Man, wassailing and King Bean and Queen Pea – one of our favourite yearly events.

DO AND MAKE BOX CLEVER
We still have a big stash of post-Christmas cardboard boxes. And getting them out can only result in one thing; fun. We adore this baby maze made from card and bulldog clips while this stair slide is great for older kids Find creative and magical ideas for cardboard houses here and lots more ideas here and here.

DO WOW AND FLUTTER

This month’s RSPB’s Big Garden Birdwatch is a low-key, inclusive way for even the smallest of children to connect with nature. It’s the world’s largest garden wildlife survey – between January 26 and 28, half a million people will spend an hour counting the winged creatures that come into their garden, balcony or park. This year, why not head to an event at a reserve near you. Download a pack and join in the fun.

WHAT WE’RE READING Don’t flake, don’t dump friends and don’t hold grudges: experts on what not to do in 2024 “This year, it’s time to give up fast fashion. I’ve been trying to wean myself off it for years, and while I’ve gotten better I still occasionally find myself popping into a high street store for some stupid little shoe I’ve convinced myself I need. The stuff is terrible by any metric, poor quality goods made under horrendous working conditions using methods that are bad for the environment, and the people who run them are always finding new ways to wriggle out of paying adequate tax. If you see me on the high street, gliding guiltily towards one of these shops, you have my full permission to give me a slap.” Read more here

WHAT WE’RE EATING Peppermint infused Vegan Hot Chocolate It’s that time of year again. Long, cold winter nights snuggled under your favourite blanket with your very favourite people. Maybe you’re watching a film or reading a book. Whatever you’re doing, hot chocolate is sure to feature in many of these scenes as that staple winter treat… Find the recipe here