Children's theatre in London - the best shows for kids of all ages

Unless you’re hoping your kids grow up to have a career in blowing stuff up and electrocuting people, it’s probably worth stating from the off that ‘Brainiac Live!’ isn’t really an educational show – you’ll probably learn more about science from a Harry Potter novel.

The team behind the Little Angel’s recent West End transfer hit ‘The Smartest Giant in Town’ – that’s Barb Jungr and Samantha Lane – join forces again for another major adaptation of a picturebook by colossally beloved writer-illustrator duo Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler. 

The only London kids’ theatre that programmes work throughout the summer holidays (weird, right?), the Little Angel takes a slightly different tack this summer: rather than just staging a single show in each of its theatres, it’s instead opting for a month-long festival features numerous different short-run puppet-based plays over the course of August.

This cute-sounding puppet and projections-based show for kids aged three-to-eight tells the story of Lucian, a city rat who hangs out at Waterloo, dreaming of being a pigeon until one day he goes on a marvellous London adventure. Written by Chloe Stephens (who also directs) and Miles Mitchell, the show is about half an hour in length with each show followed by a 15-minute Q&A.

Punchdrunk Enrichment – aka immersive theatre legends Punchdrunk’s family spin-off – return with the first show in its brand new Wembley home Punchdrunk Enrichment Stores. ‘Enitan’s Game’ is aimed at six to 11 year olds, and follows Enitan and Ged, two friends who collect objects and stories – including the titular game invented by Enitan’s grandmother.

Birmingham Stage Company presents its entertaining, live stage adaptation of Terry Deary's lurid children's history books, which have even gained a cult, clandestine adult audience thanks to the fantastic sketch-based TV show. 

This new kids' musical centres on an anxious prince who can't stop worrying. He's got a kingdom to run but he can hardly get out of bed - until someone comes to his rescue. Ages six-to-11.

The new project from the team behind the Globe’s ‘Midsummer Night’s Dream’ spin-off ‘Midsummer Mechanicals’ is another play for kids loosley based on a work of Shakespeare, in this case ‘Macbeth’…

Stage adpatation for ages six to 12 of Kevin and Katie Tsang’s best-selling book about a scaredy cat child forced to confront some alarming situations. In Julie Tsang’s theatre version, a trip to the Science Museum gone terribly wrong leads to Sam having to prove his mettle as a space explorer.

Tall Stories’ stage version of Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler’s classic kids’ picturebook ‘The Gruffalo’ is now something of a classic itself…

A new stage adaptation of Irish playwright Oliver Jeffers’s bestseller about a little boy who dreams of having a star as a friend and sets out to catch one. sets out to catch a star. A puppet-based retelling from Galway-based company Branar, it’s aimed at ages three to five. 

A shy little mouse wishes he could become as brave as a lion – but ends up learning that even lions aren’t always brave. Puppet-powered stage adaptation of Rachel Bright and Jim Field kids’ book from Sarah Punshon, who also directs. For ages three-plus.

David Wood's stage adaptation of the book beloved by children for 40 years is a delight from start to finish…

The return of the stage adaoptation of ‘Zog and the Flying Doctors’, the sequel to Julian Donaldson and Scheffler’s much-loved ‘Zog’. Followinbg their meeting in the first book, the eponymous dragon and his pals are happily operating as a flying ambulance service – until a landing at the wrong palace leads to Princess Pearl being locked away for abandoning her royal duties in for the medical profession. 

If you’re looking for the definition of an embarrassment of riches, May 2024 in the London theatre calendar really does go above and beyond what could reasonably be expected of a single city to stage in a single month.