We find out where the Queen buys her horse riding clothes, James Bonds brief case was bought, Indiana Jones hat and whip were bought and Prince Charles and Prince Philip buy their handmade shoes. When we pass another Duck (there are eight in the fleet or should I say float) we have to shout quack quack quack and wave, its rather like sitting in a Panto.  We pass the usual great tourist sites Big Ben, The Palace of Westminster, Buckingham Palace, Trafalgar Square, The foreign office and Number 10 Downing Street. We get another wave from the two soldiers standing guard outside Wellington Barracks about to begin another tour of duty. Undoubtedly the best part of the adventure is when the bus passes MI5 on land, skirts round MI6 and then after a quick change of driver the bus hurtles into the Thames yards away from MI6.

The Ducks were originally used in World War 11 as a means of transporting large numbers of troops to the continent although as Ruth pointed out they were not painted yellow then. There were 3000 built originally. Today there are Ducks all round the world. Finding out about The Ducks history adds to the feeling of adventure and combines to make this a very memorable and special trip.

If you do one adventure in London do the London duck tour – you and your children will come away smiling.

But what do you do when you get it back on the kitchen worktop?

Check out this this fab video made by mum Claire Burgess which shows you how to do it safely and the tools you will need.

We hope you and your children enjoy it. Happy carving!

Look out for future gardening videos from Claire she has recently joined the Great little adventure team as our very own children’s gardening expert. Claire is already a very successful presenter on the horticultural Channel.

Throughout the year their are several child-centric seasonal events such as hallowe’en and Dickensian Christmas actitivites by torchlight. Regular open days are also popular with families which include a range of craftsmen’s workshops where almost forgotten traditional crafts are brought to to life by wheelwrights, basketmakers and blacksmiths.

The children’s area is currently being refurbished but there are plenty of arts-based activities to keep young minds inspired. And when the children need refueling there is a cafe offering a locally sourced soft drinks and scrummy looking cakes and scones. 

One of the great things about HMS Belfast is its size it truly feels massive and I’m an adult! its a light large cruiser (613ft long)  which is the only second world war ship of its type still surviving today.  So what were our visits highlights- looking at the hammocks, dressing up as Captain and steering the ship, climbing and swinging through hatches and looking at the food preparation and medical areas. But perhaps the best of all was the gun turret experience, a new exhibition which recreates what its like to be in control and working in the operations room at the very heart of the ship. Visitors can now imagine exactly what this would have been like as the Operations Room, with a new simulated radar which plots other ship’s positions. The ops room is based on a 1961 Pony express exercise involving a whopping 60 warships, 20,000 naval personnel and 6,000 US, British and Australian troops based off North Borneo in the South China Sea. Its great fun with lots of hands on exhibits, switches and interactive boards for children to play on to drive the triple gun turrets.

It took us nearly 2 hours to get round and we did not even stop in the cafe or the shop.

As you would expect special events are run throughout the year looking into Autumn/Winter one is Kye which means grated cocoa drink a mug of hot chocolate whilst you listen to tales of sea adventures with your children. Another child friendly event is What lies below  (For something similar see our Mudlarking entry) essentially this is digging through some mud looking for coins etc. Great dirty fun for all different ages.

For obvious reasons Children under 16 must be accompanied by an adult. Any child under 15 is entitled to free admission.

Open daily
1 March – 31 October:
10.00 am – 6.00 pm (last admission 5.00 pm)
1 November – 28 February:
10.00 am – 5.00 pm (last admission 4.00 pm)
Closed 24, 25 and 26 December

Urban Freeflow (UF) were the first ever professional organisation set up to cater for Freerun and Parkour in 2003. Be prepared for your child to want to buy some clothing.

Foxes, woodpeckers and muntjac deer all occupy the walk.

According to Time Out 100 things to do in London there are three simple rules- no digging more than 3 inches, fill in any holes and report any find of value to The Museum of London.

The current skiff ferry ‘Peace Of Mind’ was built at Teddington in 1997. The museum in the Docklands displays the original skiff .

We would like to highlight the following review from the Hammerton,s website which screamed Great little adventures to us..

‘I would like to thank the kind skipper that we had today (10-08-2011) that helped both me and my friend with our babes in their buggies and our pre-schoolers down the steps, onto the ferry, out again, and did the same when we returned. What a lovely service, we really appreciated it!

As well as the courses the school does parties. The numbers are fairy restrictive you must have a minimum of 10 children and a maximum of 12.

KCS is a charity and has had taught over 20,000 children since 2000 when it all began.

With a great staff to student ratio your children will have bags of fun.