Help4Mums.com - Top 10 Winter Days Out

The big winter freeze is well and truly upon us, here are some great ideas for days out - indoors!

Tropical Forest

The Tropical Forest is an exhibition of rescued and endangered species that live in or near water - especially in rain forest areas. Here you will find piranhas and other exotic fish, snakes, crocodiles, and amphibians ranging from the huge marine toad to the poison arrow frog, housed in a tropical environment complete with waterfalls and lush vegetation.

Discover

Discover is a magical world where under-eights embark on a story trail, aided and abetted by fantastic characters whose role is to help kids dress up and invent their own stories. Book in advance.

London Transport Museum

This is a great hands-on museum for toddlers - really wears them out...

Pollocks Toy Museum

There's plenty of fun to be had at this quirky museum, which houses everything from a 4,000-year-old Egyptian toy mouse to nineteenth-century magic lanterns and, of course, a fantastic toy shop

Museum of Childhood

What you wouldn’t give for a toy box like this… Some of the exhibits date back to the sixteenth century, but there’s a treasure trove of memories here for every generation. Surprisingly, the younger ones weren’t at all bothered that the good stuff was behind glass: take your pick from Victorian puppets to Action Man and Barbie. There’s a play area and sand pit for tiny tots, and activities galore for school-age kids.

Gambado Play Centre

Huge indoor adventure play centre - giant play frame with over 110 activities, including climbing walls, dodgem cars, good old fashioned carousel ride, free weekly activities, should help you keep the kids entertained for hours. Parents can use the internet cafe while their kids play.

The Bolingbroke

Superb family friendly gastro pub in south west London. Staff are brilliant and the cosy bustling ambience is great for spending cold winter lunchtimes with your kids. Highly recommended but book early for weekend lunchtimes - they invariably 'sell out' Saturdays and Sundays.

Cafe 2 at Tate Modern

Combine culture with family eating. Café 2 is the recent winner of the Time Out Award for Best Family Restaurant.

Coffee & Crayons Cafe

Coffee & Crayons is a child-friendly cafe offering a great environment for adults and children. Parents can relax while the children are entertained with arts & crafts, books, toys and games in a supervised play/crèche area

Cupcake Spa

After all that fun but hard work - pampering for stressed out mums, best of all including a crèche.