Kids out

From Wet and Wild at the Science Museum (0171-938 8000), to Something Beastly at Hampton Court Palace (0181-781 9500, left), there's something to satisfy all ages and tastes during this week's half-term. The Imperial War Museum (0171-416 5000), invites young'uns to enter the top secret world of espionage - assume a false identity, grab a fake passport and send classified information by morse code, while the Museum of London goes further back in time for its celebration of Tudor London (0171-600 3699). An altogether more grisly event is at The Old Operating Theatre Museum and Herb Garrett (0171-955 4791), where today at 2.30pm, children can relive the dread of surgery before anaesthetics, when the patient's only relief from the ordeal was the speed of the surgeon's blade. Nasty. Meanwhile, Wimbledon's Polka Theatre (0181-543 4888) rises to the occasion, as ever, with a new version of Aesop's fable, The Hare and the Tortoise.

And if that doesn't give you enough to be going on with, why not call up kidsline on 0171-222 8070 for a comprehensive guide to what's on in the capital.