Days Out With Children – London Activities that Cost Nothing: National Portrait Gallery Edition

Depending on what you enjoy doing as a family or what interests you want to support, there’s plenty of activities London offers that don’t cost an arm and a leg. School holidays are especially rich with organised activities, be it in a Royal Park, a museum or a gallery. One of our favourite ones are family days at the National Portrait Gallery because our children really enjoy arts and crafts. And what’s not to like, multiple activities and all setup by the wonderful staff at the gallery, which means we can just relax and let the creativity flow.

Getting There

With its location being just steps away from Trafalgar Square and a short walk from the Embankment, the National Portrait Gallery is easily reachable by public transport. Leicester Square (Northern Line, Piccadilly Line), Piccadilly Circus (Bakerloo and Piccadilly Lines) and Charing Cross (Northern and Bakerloo Lines as well as mainline trains) stations are all about a 5 minute walk away.

All Year Long

National Portrait Gallery is very family friendly. Not only is the visit free, you can pick up a trail map at the entrance and enjoy a structured activity as a family with no pre-planning needed. Activity trails :
Sculpture Sleuths aimed at children aged 5+, which encourages children to find 7 different sculptures, engage in writing and noticing details.
History Detectives (one of our favourite ones) aimed at children aged 5+. Looking for clues and answering questions in order to solve a puzzle while learning about historical figures is always a lot of fun for mini code breakers.
Pocket Portrait Gallery aimed at children aged 4+ is all about drawing. Draw with your eyes closed, draw without lifting the pencil or focus on a detail.
Movers and Shakers on the 2nd floor focuses on finding and looking at portraits of famous people, answering questions, drawing, observing and posing. Aimed at children aged 5+.
When you’ve finished the activity, head to the front desk to collect a reward. All the activities are downloadable on the family pages of the website.

Gallery also provides a sensory bag, especially appropriate for SEND families, which you need to sign out and return at the end of your visit. There are also relaxed morning sessions available, when sensory elements are reduced to a minimum. Booking is required for this free session.

There are activities all year round, outside of school holidays, that require booking, but are free. To find the latest head to the family visits page on the website, but Little Explorers happens regularly and is a session aimed at under 5s, which makes sense as it’s usually on in term time during the week on Wednesdays. It’s a series of workshops, stories and fun activities and booking opens 3 weeks ahead of the dates.

School Holidays

The school holiday activities is what my daughter cannot wait for. Usually on a Tuesday during half term, no booking required, but activities do fill up and are on a first come first serve basis. There’s always multiple options available, so if your preferred activity is full, chose a different one and then swap. We have always managed to take part in most or even all of them depending on what my children felt like. The next session is on Tuesday, 17th February 2026. This time it’s inspired by Lucian Freud and will encompass five different activities scattered across the gallery. Morning session starts at 11am and finishes at 1pm and the afternoon one starts at 4pm and finishes at 6pm. Activities are suitable for children over 3 years old.

Around the Gallery

There’s a cafe and two restaurants at the National Portrait Gallery, however, if you prefer exploring the area, there’s plenty of options to fit all budgets.

In the warmer and drier months, why not grab a picnic and head to Victoria Embankment Gardens where there’s plenty of benches or grass to sit on, enjoy a sandwich and watch people wander by. There’s a small playground for little feet to release some energy. The park is a good 5 minute walk towards the river. A 10 minute walk will leave you at St James’s Park, a much larger area, where you can also hire deck chairs. This park offers a few scattered cafe kiosks and a larger playground and it will most definitely allow children to run around observing squirrels and wildlife. If you want to explore more, head to the Blue Bridge for protected views stretching from Buckingham Palace all the way to the London Eye.

For a sit down meal, the options are endless. Leong’s Legend in China Town has delicious dumplings (try their special ones), Fallow on Haymarket does great chicken strips for children as well as delicious grown up food, Dishoom on Upper St Martin’s Lane is our go to for Indian because their breakfasts are amazing and I have never not ordered the black daal. For pizza, head to Covent Garden, there’s Franco Manca famous for its sourdough pizza, Pizza Pilgrims and Homeslice in the cozy Neal’s Yard, there’s burgers and even a street food hall on Earlham Street if you’re undecided and want to browse.

Do any of these activities sound like something you want to try? Let me know in the comments. And if you want to follow for more London adventures, let’s connect on Instagram.