Welcome to the January edition of Cultured Kids, our first for 2021. Cultured Kids shares blog posts on culture for families, and everyone is welcome to join in.
Whilst I was personally very glad to see the back of 2020, we still of course have some way to go before we can wave goodbye to the pandemic. As I write this, England is in the midst of another national lockdown and schools are closed to all but keyworker and vulnerable children. Fortunately I have been furloughed for the first time but full time educator leaves little time for much else. Days out and travel couldn’t be further from our mind during this ‘Stay At Home’ order, when even buying a hot drink for your local walk can be contentious.
But culture can brighten even these dreary, monotonous days. Whether it’s dreaming of future trips, finding fun home-learning resources, streaming theatre to your living room, or getting lost in a great book, the arts help us escape our everyday. They articulate our hopes and fears. They also connect us with people and cultures past and present, all round the world.
In this spirit, I invite you to join in with this month’s Cultured Kids. Whether you’re a blogger looking to share one of your posts on culture, or just here to find some new ideas for cultural activities, all are welcome. All the joining instructions and linked blog posts are at the end of this post.
So what have the Museum Family been up to the last few months? October was packed full of museum reopenings. We trialled the new route at London Museum of Water and Steam and returned to Among the Trees at Hayward Gallery. Museum Girl asked ‘Where is Alice?’ at the flouro-pink feast in Octagon 300 at Orleans House. Museum Boy was transfixed with the ravens at the Tower of London. We had a private bubble tour of Roald Dahl Museum, found the Gruffalo at Wakehurst and stepped inside Narnia at the Story Museum in Oxford. I saw blue bum-prints at the Foundling Museum and heard screaming spinning heads at Bruce Nauman at Tate Modern. A dream came true when I got to work with Visit London on their ‘Because I’m a Londoner’ campaign, creating our dream one day London itinerary.
November saw a second English lockdown. For me it was culture that brightened this dark month, quite literally. Chila Kumari Singh Burman’s remembering a brave new world transforms Tate Britain’s front into an upbeat temple of bright lights and riotous colour. It more than rewarded the three mile post-work walk.
December gave a glimmer of hope as London scraped into Tier 2. Looking back it’s hard to believe London moved into Tier 3 and then a newly created Tier 4 within less than two weeks. But in that slither of time we somehow managed to visit the Connected by Light at Canary Wharf, London’s West End Christmas lights, the 1940s grotto at Bletchley Park, London Transport Museum, the magical lantern trail Glow Wild at Wakehurst, Emin / Munch at Royal Academy and Oliver Jeffers’ Wonder of Stories at Harrods.
And now we find ourselves back at home. During this third lockdown, I’m sharing virtual family activities from London’s museums over on my Instagram stories, as well as street art from our local walks.
Thanks so much everyone for joining in last month, we loved reading all your posts. Our favourites from last time were:
10 best things to do at Bushy Park, London by Chimp Trips
7 top tips Morocco with kids from Holidays by Hels
The Hunter Valley: Perfect from a gourmet getaway… and the kids from Holidaze and Hellidaze
What have you been up to? Come share how culture is keeping you connected in this month’s link up.
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