Easter at London Museum Docklands
© London Museum
Easter
8-17 April 2025 | 10am-5pm | Advanced booking recommended, from £16 | All ages
Explore the fascinating archaeology of the Thames with free family workshops this Easter holiday.
Mould a clay coin like those uncovered by the tides, learn all about the treasure and trash found in the Thames with a Victorian mudlark, and hold history in your hands by touching genuine artefacts discovered on the foreshore.
All fun and free! There’s a mix of bookable and drop-in events across the week – please check individual session listings for more detail on dates, timings and booking methods before you visit.
Tots at the Docks
26 Feb and 26 March 2025 | 10.30am – 2pm | Under 5s
Dive deep in the river, stack cargo, put on a puppet show or build the tallest tower! Tots at the docks is an unticketed, drop-in play session that usually takes place on the last Wednesday of the month between 10.30am – 2pm. On selected dates, we’ll be running additional (and free) special events for under-5s with a range of fantastic early years partners.
Upcoming events: Wed 27 Feb – Animals Wed 26 March – Buildings
Mudlarks family gallery
All year | 10am-4pm | Paid advanced booking from £3 | Under 8s
Mudlarks brings the docks to life through interactive play, which keeps little ones occupied and stimulates their development. Find out what the docks were used for and what life would’ve been like for sailors many years ago. There’s plenty for kids to get hands-on with. Drive a DLR train in the soft play area, move ships along the docks on the water table and help the workers move their cargo using wheelbarrows.
Exhibitions & displays:
Secrets of the Thames: Mudlarking London’s lost treasures
4 April 2025- 1 March 2026 | 10am-5pm | Advanced booking recommended, from £16 | All ages
Explore the hidden world of the mudlarks.
Twice a day, the River Thames dramatically recedes to expose a landscape unknown to most Londoners. Among the mud and the stones, the tides reveal remarkable objects from every era of London’s rich past.
The exhibition features over 350 mudlarked objects, from intimate personal items to historical relics, with many on display for the first time. Step into the shoes of a mudlark and explore the foreshore, uncover artefacts and learn how they identify and curate their personal collections.
The journey ends with a space for reflection on the mysteries of the moon and the tides that make mudlarking possible, leaving visitors with a powerful, contemplative memory of their time uncovering the secrets of the Thames.
Blending archaeology with contemporary art and digital experiences, Secrets of the Thames offers fresh perspectives on London and all its people – past and present.
What will you discover?
Exodus by Zak Ové at The Reflections Room
Until 25 May 2025 | 10am-5pm | FREE | All ages
Mixed-media installation Exodus explores migration through the present lens, highlighting the history and challenges of major population movements through time.
The installation echoes a gridlocked cityscape, where colourful toy cars, trucks and human figurines mingle with elephants, giraffes and other wildlife towering over a scene of traffic. It rests on two green, white and red Castrol oil drums that nod to multinational business and finance in the modern world. The work suggests a reflection on today’s discourse around migration.
Exodus is accompanied by a wall of historic maps that present a visual sense of data on international migration, agricultural trade and tourism between 1500 and 2005.
Holding Emotions
Until 9 Feb 2026 | 10am-5pm | FREE | All ages
The display gives an opportunity to connect with and confront complex emotions after visiting the London, Sugar & Slavery gallery. The gallery was created in 2007 and is one of the only permanent UK displays dedicated to the British trade in enslaved Africans.
The gallery might spark a sense of acknowledgement for some and curiosity for others. However, it also might trigger discomfort, anger and disappointment. Where do these feelings go?
Holding Emotions is a collaborative display created with the museum, young people from Taking Shape Association and Mind’s Race Equity Team.
To explore tools and activities to support you in processing your emotions, visit Mind.
Walks & tours:
Secrets of the warehouse tour
21 Feb- 20 March 2025 | 1.30-2.15pm | Tickets from £8 | All ages
Our building is one of the last remaining fragments of the old West India Docks. The warehouse was once a hive of activity and stored imports like sugar, rum and tea – eventually closing for business in the 1980s. You’ll have the opportunity to visit some areas not usually open to the public, to learn more about working lives of the dockers who once walked these floors.
Welcome to Docklands tour
22 Feb-29 March 2025 | 2-3.15pm | Tickets from £10 | All ages
This tour covers the history of London’s docks, the East End and the people who have lived and worked here for over two centuries.
Walking through the historic building that holds our museum, you’ll discover how unused marshland nearby was transformed into the towering Canary Wharf.
Your guide will take you through the grim details of working on the docks, the ins and outs of the “sailortowns” and the heroic efforts of those defending the docks during the war – and much more.
Roman London family walk
29 March 2025 | 10.30-11.30am | Ticketed from £8 | Families
Join our guide to visit the remains of the Roman city wall to find a lost fort and hidden amphitheatre – where brave gladiators and acrobats entertained the raucous crowds.
Discover Roman history on this 60-minute interactive walk for children of primary school age and their families.
Second World War family walk
22 March 2025 | 10.30-11.30am | Ticketed from £8 | Families
Join us on a guided walk through the City of London’s landmarks to explore how the Second World War impacted ordinary Londoners.
This 60-minute walk for primary school age children and their families, will uncover some of the lesser-known stories about the war along the way, like how it affected children, women and food.
Great Fire of London family walk
Saturdays 1-29 March 2025 | 10.30-11.30am | Ticketed from £8 | Families
Join us in the great outdoors on a family walk exploring the Great Fire of 1666. Was the baker of Pudding Lane to blame? And what did Samuel Pepys bury in his garden?
Find out on this 60-minute interactive walk for children of primary school age and their families.
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