Museum of London Docklands with kids

London’s history is intertwined with its river – even today, the Thames is the true heart of the city. So a trip to the London Museum Docklands with kids is the perfect way to discover this side of the capital.

And although we’ve visited the main London Museum (temporarily closed) quite a few times – for a taste of the Great Fire of London and Roman history among others – I’ve never made it to the Docklands site before, previously known as the Museum of London Docklands.

So after my lockdown decision to make the most of the capital once I got the chance, when I heard the latest temporary exhibition was on a recently discovered Bronze Age hoard, I prebooked our free tickets for the first available weekend.

Not far from Canary Wharf, set in a former warehouse in West India Dock, you can hop on the tube to get there – but what better way than arriving by water?

As it was our first visit to central London after lockdown, we decided to take the scenic route to Embankment pier, popping in to say hello to the pelicans in St James’s Park (who were happily swimming around the lake and posing on pelican island) then wandering through Parliament Square to the river.

You could hop on at Westminster pier or across the river at Waterloo, but we fitted in a short walk on the South Bank, crossing Westminster Bridge, sauntering past the London Eye and crossing the pedestrian footbridge back to Embankment before picking up our boat.

The Thames Clippers are now renamed Uber Boat, but otherwise remain pretty much the same: you can use contactless and Oyster cards to travel, or buy tickets via the app as we did, and the main RB1 route runs out to Canary Wharf, Greenwich and beyond.

There was plenty of room to spread out and enjoy the views from a window seat, even on a very sunny Saturday.

Having cruised past St Paul’s cathedral, the Gherkin and the Walkie Talkie building, along more of the South Bank, and to the Tower of London and Tower Bridge, we picked up speed for the last leg of the journey, passing old wharfs and warehouses to reach the glittering skyscrapers of Canary Wharf.

It’s hard to think that for centuries, this was one of the world’s major ports, that these docks would have been the centre of trade, with goods from around the world unloaded onto streets now filled with bars and restaurants.

But fortunately, that’s where the London Museum Docklands came in.

Telling the history of London’s docks from late Tudor times, when river traffic and trade proved too much for the wharves around the Tower of London, right through to the post-war period and its transformation to London’s financial heart, the museum is great at bringing the story to life for all ages.

Although some of the interactive elements were removed during our visit – no dressing up alas – there are screens where you only need to hover your finger above, rather than touching, and brightly marked signs among the usual information to get kids thinking.

This is one museum that I felt is better with older kids – at least for now. Aged eight, there was plenty to entertain my daughter (and the other families we saw during our visit) but still areas which were proved a bit too complicated compared to the main London Museum, which has been a favourite for years.

The Mudlarks gallery aimed at kids under eight , so that does give another option for younger visitors.

But starting with a mummified cat and rat (found during building work), alongside giant weights and barrels, a whale jawbone and an interactive quiz on how to get your ship safely around the world, all in the first gallery alone, my daughter’s attention was well and truly captured.

The other galleries, taking you step by step through the centuries, are another clever mix of recreations.

You can wander the streets of sailortown, for example, or look inside a wartime air raid shelter – along with displays packed with history, interactive screens and videos and exhibits.

One area is devoted to London’s slavery links, an important acknowledgement that enslaved Africans made up some of the cargo, as well as background on abolition and legacy.

Some parts were a bit hard-hitting for an eight-year-old but it’s a great place to start a conversation with kids, especially combined with some of the black history taught in schools and discussions about #blacklivesmatter.

Elsewhere, galleries cover everything from the Great Stink (a topic guaranteed to appeal to kids), the Great Dock Strike, everyday life and wartime threats – all by way of a hand-drawn fire engine, a shopfront full of animals, weird and wonderful wares for sale and the building of the Jubilee Line extension.

You could easily while away hours wandering through all the galleries – we spent two in total, and as ever with an eight-year-old, we weren’t lingering by the end.

Besides, treasure awaited us! The Havering hoard is actually four separate hoards, excavated near each other in 2018 in the London borough of Havering – right out to the east of Greater London, home to Romford, Hornchurch, Upminster and the Rainham Marshes where the Bronze Age finds were unearthed.

In total, there were 453 pieces which had lain buried for around 3,000 years and the exhibition sets out the four different theories as to why they were hidden away, as well as displays to put them in context.

Was it practicality, ritual or perhaps bronze was just outdated technology once iron came on the scene, so the old metal was effectively dumped?

Even more fun to imagine was that someone was hoarding three thousand years ago, making sure they had the monopoly on bronze and tucking it away to control supply.

There’s a short trail for kids but my daughter was more interested in the interactive parts – especially a video showing you how to make your own bronze axe head.

Given that I struggle to reliably keep a fire going, the idea of getting charcoal hot enough to melt metal and then pour it into moulds with a pair of wooden tongs made me glad not to be a prehistoric craftsman!

Don’t worry, my daughter said consolingly, he’s had more practice than you…

Another area has a recreation of a Bronze Age dwelling, with images to help you visualise everyday life – as well as scents, which we could still smell through our face masks (face coverings are required in the museum).

And there are other displays showing everything from a damaged skull to the puzzles faced by the archaeologists who tried to make sense of the piles of broken metal they discovered.

Then at the end, the gleaming bronze axe head itself. It astonishes me to think of someone painstakingly creating it three thousand years ago and the series of actions, accidents and coincidences which led to it being found and displayed for us today.

It makes you wonder what else still lies hidden beneath the streets of London, yet to be discovered.

For more free museums in London to visit with kids – and more of the best free things to do in London – check out my picks

Need to know: London Museum Docklands with kids

Entry to the London Museum Docklands is free, including the Havering Hoard exhibition (now finished), with timed tickets for entry.

There’s no need to prebook tickets for the museum itself, although prebooking is usually recommended for the exhibitions.

The museum is open every day – check here for the latest details. There’s also a cafe and toilets on site.

If you are visiting with younger kids, you’re asked to take buggies with you through the museum as there’s no buggy park. There are lifts to access the different floors, and baby changing facilities.

PIN FOR LATER: LONDON MUSEUM DOCKLANDS WITH KIDS

Images copyright MummyTravels

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