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Published: 22 July 2010
by JOSH LOEB

SCIENCE AND NATURE

ZSL London Zoo
A sleepover at the zoo is the stuff of childhood dreams – and now you can experience it for real. Eight to 11-year-olds will bed down with tarantulas, mantids, termites and golden lion tamarins (a South American monkey) at the sleepovers on August 21 and 22. The animals are safely behind glass. At a cost of £50 per participant, the experience isn’t cheap, but it includes talks, walks and animal-themed games perfect for budding zoologists. 
• Book early to avoid disappointment: 020 7449 6269. 
Those who don’t fancy spending a night at the zoo can still see their favourite animals there as well as getting up close to new arrivals, including Dirk the giant tortoise and his two lady friends, who it is hoped will form part of a breeding programme. 
• ZSL London Zoo, open daily. Adults £17.50, children £12.50, under-3s free. 020 7722 3333, Regent’s Park Tube. www.zsl.org

Horniman Museum 
Lewisham might seem a long stretch when there are so many great places to check out locally, but this little museum is a true gem and stands out for sheer variety. 
Established by Frederick John Horniman, a Victorian tea trader whose mission was to “bring the world to Forest Hill”, it contains an a aquarium, collections of preserved butterflies and moths, galleries displaying anthropological wonders and gardens with views out over the city. 
Numerous special events are taking place throughout the summer, including storytelling in the garden, mask-making and an art club where you can design your own imaginary aquatic organisms.  
• Horniman Museum, open daily. 10.30am-5.30pm. 100 London Road, Forest Hill, SE23. 020 8699 1872.

Wellcome Collection 
This museum displays a collection of medical artworks and examines the connections between medicine and art. The latest exhibition, Skin, is running until September and explores our most overlooked yet fascinating organ through photographs and interactive exhibits. The museum also houses an auditorium, events area, café and bookshop.
• Wellcome Collection, open Tuesday-Sunday. Free. 020 7611 2222, Euston Station, www.wellcomecollection.org 

Capital science
Get your thinking caps on for the 350th anniversary of the Royal Society. For the duration of the year, this famous institution will be staging a wide range of lectures, seminars and exhibitions that will challenge your scientific know-how. These include Science of the City – a tour of London led by experts who will demonstrate how science impacts on our modern lives. Talks on the science of shipping will be taking place in July and August. For the more competitive among us, there will be an educational quiz at the Natural History Museum in which participants will be able to test their knowledge of some of the most famous scientists and their theories. 
• Capital science: various dates and venues. For tours: 020 8882 2606; other numbers and full details available at www.royalsociety.org/ Capital-Science/

STAGE AND SCREEN

Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre
Theatre-lovers young and old will be catered for at the Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre this summer. Under the clear summer sky, a Shakespearean farce is transplanted into the swinging 1920s in The Comedy of Errors currently playing at the venue. Children, meanwhile, have the chance to get their teeth into the Bard at the Saturday and Sunday morning performances of Macbeth, where the Scottish play is being re-imagined for everyone aged six and over (expect audience participation and lots of visual treats). Later in the season Sondheim’s musical Into the Woods will be intertwined with the fairytales of the Brothers Grimm in a dark and sinister production for adults and young people aged 12+. 
• Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre, open daily. £10-£47. 0844 826 4242, Baker Street. www.openairtheatre.com

Camden Fringe 
Edinburgh, eat your heart out. More than 200 acts will perform at this year’s Camden Fringe and there are plenty of child-pleasers in the mix. From August 24-29 the New Diorama Theatre in Triton Street, off Euston Road, will host The Time Travelling Adventure of the Pirate Revlon Scarlet: The Search for Drake’s Gold – a sci-fi thriller about a pirate’s quest for lost treasure and the history of our great city. Showtime is at 3pm.
Other kids’ shows in the festival are OOK! And the Terrible Thing that Happened – an adventure story about a lost city, an ancient curse and a lake of crocodiles (August 10,11 and 12), and Dr Death and the Medi-Evil Medicine Show (August 14-19). Both are also at the New Diorama Theatre.
• Various times, shows every day from August 2-29. £7.50 per show. The Camden Fringe runs across various venues in the borough. 08444 77 1000 for tickets. See www.camdenfringe. org for a full programme. 
The New Diorama Theatre is at 15-16 Triton Street, Regent’s Place, NW1.

The Railway Children, Waterloo Station
Ever wondered what became of the old Eurostar terminal at Waterloo Station after the service moved to King’s Cross? Well, for the time being at least, it’s been transformed into the set for a theatrical version of 
E Nesbit’s classic 1906 novel The Railway Children. The audience can sit along one of the platforms in the terminal and watch a vintage 66-tonne locomotive roll to a halt, steam a-puffing.
The play tells of the adventures of three children who move to a house beside the railway in Yorkshire after their father is falsely accused of espionage and imprisoned. They make friends with the station porter and a range of local characters as they struggle to prove their father’s innocence. 
• The Railway Children, Waterloo Station, London, SE1. Mon, Wed, Thu, Fri & Sat 7.30pm; Thu & Sat 2.30pm; 
Sun 1pm & 5pm. £20.50-£45.50. 0871 297 0740. 

Children’s shows, BFI Southbank
Children can accompany their parents on a trip down memory lane at the British Film Institute on the Southbank this summer. In the venue’s Mediateque – a free library of films and TV shows – you can watch episodes of classic children’s shows from as early as the 1940s and as recently as the 1990s. These include episodes of Crackerjack (1958), Play School (1968), John Craven’s Newsround (1975), Multi-Coloured Swap Shop (1976), Break in the Sun (1981) and Grange Hill (1981).
Simply turn up on the day or book a viewing session in the Mediateque in advance. Check in at the desk inside and then log on to a viewing pod. 
There will be plenty of child-friendly entertainment on the BFI’s cinema screens, meanwhile, including a special preview of the first two episodes from the third series of popular BBC show Merlin as well as the new film Diary of a Wimpy Kid and the 1939 blockbuster The Wizard of Oz.
• BFI Southbank, Belvedere Road, Waterloo, SE1. Open Tuesday-Sunday: 12-8pm. 
Not open Monday (except bank holidays). www.bfi.org.uk