For me there are a couple of things that tell me Christmas has arrived in London, it’s not the annual embarrassment of the state of the Oxford and Regent Street lights, it’s not even the Christmas songs in the shops, for me it’s the arrival of the reindeer in Covent Garden and then the arrival of the Christmas tree in Trafalgar Square.

Well the Reindeer have arrived in the plaza and I’m sure it will be just as popular as it always is, which is why if you’re thinking of taking the kids along you should try and do it before the rush starts and go this Saturday or next Saturday because the reindeer are only available on Saturdays and only up to Christmas Eve.

If you go along the children will be able to have their picture taken by the reindeer and they’ll be able to touch them, which if they’ve never done anything like that will be a nice treat, it’s all free and worth going to.

Staying in Covent Garden I also wanted to tell you about the digital nativity scene that they have at the back of the plaza which sounds really unusual, problem is when I went along today they were having technical problems so it was closed which is a real shame because I wanted to let you guys know whether it was worth taking time out to see, so click their link instead and see what they say about it so you can see if it’s for you.

Finally I just wanted to also remind you about the World Press Photo exhibition at the Southbank Centre, it really is a must see event.

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If you’re not into football you could turn away now but if you do you’ll be missing out on a fantastic once in a lifetime event in Hyde Park called the UEFA Champions Festival, yes it’s football oriented, but there’s lots of fun things to do and see there.

If you go to the UEFA Champions League website they give you an idea of what’s on and what to expect with a couple of PDF’s that you can download with times of some events and what the sponsor events are.

But my advice is to head over to the official UEFA Facebook page because they have a better list of what’s going on each day and I’m sure they’ll keep it more up to date with announcements.

For instance even though the Festival opens on Saturday I don’t think that’s the best day to go, for starters you know it’s going to be crowded and getting a chance to get up close for a photo with the cup is going to mean long waits.

Also the events that they have on that day they will also have during the week long Festival, so I’d say give that a miss and go on Saturday the 28^th where there will also be a Champions five-a-side exhibition match between an England All-Stars team v Europe.

Or you could try the Monday, when it should be a lot quieter and you’ll be able to watch the films, get your cup photo and there’s even some sort of World Record attempt planned for the day, which for some reason they’re not mentioning anything about.

The whole things looks very good, is free and they have it on all day, for more details click UEFA Champions Festival or go to their Facebook page and if you want to check the weather our London weather link’s a good place to go.

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It’s not always easy to find something fun and different to do with the kids in London especially when the weather is nice and you want to be outdoors, when it’s raining or cold any of the museums will do the trick.

If you find yourself in that position this Sunday take a visit to the Covent Garden May Fayre because they have Punch & Judy puppet shows on all day, a Brass Band, Maypole dancing and clowns to keep everyone entertained.

This is the sort of thing you usually only see at the coast or some village so it’s something your kids probably haven’t seen before and could be a real treat for them.

The whole event takes place at St. Paul´s Church Garden, Bedford Street, which is about 5 minutes walk from Covent Garden tube station and kicks off at 10.30 with a procession led by the Brass Band to Covent Garden itself and then it’s back to the garden for the shows and other entertainment.

The event is free but I know from past Punch & Judy shows a donation is often asked for at the end of the show, I don’t know if they will be doing that here but chances are they will so take a good amount of change with you.

Here’s a link to the event website for a bit more information, Covent Garden May Fayre.

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You couldn’t ask for better weather for the St George’s Day celebrations tomorrow, there’s only one ever so slight problem, there’s not much going on in central London that I could really recommend, everyone’s mentioning about the Trafalgar Square celebration, but is it really that good, I don’t think so, so I’ll just give you the link.

I’m afraid if you want to celebrate St George’s Day properly with all the costumes and fun forget central London you should head out towards East London because that’s where it’s being done properly.

Leadenhall Market in the City are going really traditional and putting on Morris Dancers, providing traditional food and ale for sale and will have English folk music, there’re also organising a free guided walk called Dragons and Saints in the City starting in the market and ending at St Pauls.

Considering how small the market area is I think they are doing London proud by putting on such an effort and with the backdrop of the market it sounds like it will be a lot of fun and it’s all free.

However the best St George’s Day celebrations goes to the organisers at the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham who have a day of activities at Valence Park and in the grounds of Valence House, where they are organising medieval jousting and falconry displays and a dragon parade with an enactment of the dragon slaying by St George.

There’s also St George and the dragon storytelling, treasure hunts and lots more for families to take part in, all in all it’s just what you would have hoped Westminster Council could have organised in say Hyde Park or Regents Park.

Both of these events start at 11 and go on until 4 and are free and for a programme of the events at Valence Park click St George’s Day at Valence Park.

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The weather tomorrow is set to be sunny and if you’re off work with the kids I’ve got a great suggestion for you. It only happens once a year in April and the whole events over within 20 minutes. But it’s easily one of the most spectacular things you’ll see and do tomorrow.

I’m talking about the 41 Gun Salute in Hyde Park. Horses galloping across the Park with the gun carriages in tow and soldiers in full ceremonial dress, it’s a sight to see. Couple that with the marching band, the sun shining and you’ve a perfect treat for the kids to see.

Thankfully the people at The Royal Parks are a lot more organised and friendly than some blogger unfriendly organisations I’ve mentioned in the past.

As you know Hyde Park’s huge so I asked them where would be the best place to see the Salute.

Now they not only said where the Salute takes place, the Parade Ground and the best place to view it, the Board Walk. They also supplied a map to help me find it, which you can download by clicking Hyde Park map.

You’ll also see this is a brilliant map and well worth keeping for any other sunny days that you want to go out in London to Hyde Park. It makes it very easy for you to find things to do there.

Big thank you to the Royal Parks.

So to make it easy for you, the Parade ground is at the Speakers Corner end of the Park which is in the top right hand side of the map. The Board Walk is that red dotted line to the right of the Parade Ground.

The Salute starts at 12 noon is free to watch and is on tomorrow 21^st click Royal Parks for more details.

Thanks for your time.

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I‘m sure the Chinese New Year celebrations in London this Sunday will be as good as usual, although check out the weather because it’s not looking that great with winds and a bit of rain forecast.

If you are going don’t do what many people do and get there too late and miss the Lion and Dragon performance because this is one of the best parts of the day, below I’ve put a link to the official timetable of events, so you can get there in plenty of time.

Also just because the main entertainment events are in Trafalgar Square don’t just stay there, move around and soak up the atmosphere around Chinatown/Shaftesbury Avenue there are dance and music events going on there as well and although it will be busy, it’s not as packed as around Trafalgar Square.

Forget the Chinese restaurants, try the street food stalls

And as for food rather than go to one of the Chinese restaurants which will be packed try some of the snacks at the street food stalls, get into the spirit of it, the food will be well cooked, eat and move about, it’s the only way to really enjoy the day.

However one of the disappointments this year is that it doesn’t look like there will be a fireworks display at the end and also I have to say the lack of information about exactly what is on is something the organisers need to improve, because I’m sure it wasn’t like this last year.

All in all though I’d say definitely go, try some of the street food stalls, move around the different areas and you’ll have a great time, here’s the official Chinese New Year Timetable 2011.

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One of the things we keep failing to do and other blogs are just as guilty as us, is that we hardly ever mention things you can do with your kids if you’re visiting London or even if you work in London. Yes we’ve mentioned about the Barbican Family Film Club, but not much else.

For visitors to London with children I can only assume they all must have to end up doing the same touristy things which is hardly the best way to enjoy London. To put matters right here are a couple of things to do with the kids over the next few days.

At the BFI at the Southbank they are celebrating the Disney animated films throughout the year and it started today with Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs which surprisingly wasn’t all sold out, but the seats left aren’t that great.

The next film is Pinocchio with seats going fast and as for Dumbo and Bambi you’d better book now unless you don’t mind sitting on the sidelines. Click Disney at the Southbank for full details.

Somerset House is one of those venues people only really think of around Christmas because of the ice rink, but for families they have things on all year and quite incredibly they’re usually free. The weekly Saturday workshops are all about painting or creating things and this Saturday the Family Workshop has a painting theme and is for children aged between 6 and 12, it’s different and definitely worth trying. Click Somerset House Family Workshops.

The British Museum is currently running an ancient Egyptian exhibition and to coincide with that their family events are to do with Mummies and the afterlife. The events are on this Saturday and Sunday and again this is something completely different that your kids won’t get another chance to do and will make a change from all the other touristy things. The family events are all free and it’s best to get there early for the first session, click Family events at the British Museum for all the details.

If you know of any other things to do in London with kids or any blogs that cover family events like these, give them some link love in the comments below.

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