On Sunday at 12:00 celebrate Thomas the Tank Engine’s 65th and Hamleys 250th anniversary by helping make the longest ever Thomas train out of cake!

Everyone who attends the event at Hamleys Regent Street is asked to bake and bring a carriage and add it to the train. Children that take part will receive a Thomas the Tank goody for being Really Useful and will get to meet Fat Controller. Watch a video here to find out how to make your carriage, hosted by Jane Asher!

There will be loads of other free activities as well, including storytelling, screenings, workshops to make a Fat Controller and more, which continue throughout March.

There are two really fun, free kids events on this Sunday in London.

First, up the Pump House Gallery’s Dress to Excess Costume Making Workshop! The workshop is inspired by the Pump House’s current exhibition by Alex Pollard and Claire Stephenson. Kids can take along old and tired clothes to embellish and customise, or create theatrical and over the top outfits from scratch using bizarre materials.

The workshop will take place from 1:30 – 3:30 p.m. and are for children aged 3 and up. Children must be accompanied by an adult at all times.

To book a place on a workshop email:  pumphouse@wandsworth.gov.uk including the name and date of the workshop you are booking for, your full name, and names and ages of the children attending.

Also worth checking out on Sunday is the Heroes and Heroines Family Day at Sutton House. From 12:30 to 4:00 p.m, children can try on a suit of armour and learn about the historical heroes of Sutton House through art activities and games.

Bhs have a fun offer on: When you spend £20 or more on online in childrenswear, they’ll give you free tickets for children to see Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief!

The offer is open through 5th March and the voucher will be valid until the film has stopped playing at participating Cineworld cinemas.

You can also get free standard shipping on orders over £25.

Start shopping here!

Sugar cookies are amazingly easy and incredibly versatile. Usually we only make them at Christmastime but I got a bunch of heart-shaped cookie cutters in my kitchen-buying frenzy so we decided to make them in honour of Valentine’s Day.

Here is the recipe we used today, courtesy of BBC GoodFood:

Ingredients
200g unsalted butter, at room temperature
150g caster sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 egg
300g plain flour, sifted

Method
1. Cream the butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer, or use a large bowl with a hand-held electric beater. Beat in the vanilla and egg, then add the flour. Beat until smooth, remove from the bowl, halve and shape into discs. Wrap with clingfilm and chill for about 40 min until firm. Heat oven to 180/fan 160C/gas 4.
2. Dust the work top with flour and roll out one portion of dough to 3mm thick. Cut shapes with cutters.
3. Line 2 baking sheets with non-stick baking paper and lift the cookies onto it using a palette knife. Chill for 10 minutes and then bake for 10-12 minutes until just turning golden at the edges. Cool on a baking rack.

Now, this recipe says to use flour to dust your work top, but last year I discovered that you can use icing sugar instead. The cookies will be really sweet, but they are delicious this way.

Once you’re done whip up some icing with icing sugar, milk and food colouring and decorate as you like.

See the snap above for a sample of our best work today!

The Maslenitsa Russian Festival looks like a great bet for free fun with the little ones on Sunday!

‘Maslenitsa’ is a Russian folk celebration that takes place just before Lent – rather like a week-long version of Britain’s Shrove Tuesday.

According to Time Out London, this traditional Russian pre-Lenten festival highlights Russian arts with a programme featuring ethno-folk group Pelageya, the Terem quartet playing traditional instruments such as the domra and balalaika, and folk dancing.

The children’s programme on the Scoop stage will feature puppet theatre pieces by the Moscow Marionette Theatre, a presentation of Maslenitsa traditions with audience interaction, performances of traditional songs by children’s groups, competitions and games.

In keeping with tradition, there will be tasty Maslenitsa specialty foods on sale – including the quintessentially Russian ‘blini’ (pancakes).

The event takes place 1–6pm on Sunday in Potters Fields Park SE1 2AA (between Tower Bridge and City Hall), London.

From 2:00 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. on Saturday the Courtauld Gallery at Somerset House is hosting its free family workshops and this week the theme is Watercolour Wonderlands.

Kids ages 6-12 can discover the delights of watercolour painting and create a wall hanging or scroll inspired by work in the Courtauld Gallery.

To take part, collect your free ticket at 1:00 p.m. on the day of the event from the information desk in the Seamen’s Hall. Spaces are limited, so tickets are allocated on a first come first served basis. Children must be accompanied by an adult.

At the beginning of the year, I try to do a bit of hibernating. Staying in, keeping warm and not spending any money. Generally just trying to recover from all of the extra eating, drinking and lazying about that’s done over the holiday period!

If you’re like me, you’ll be excited to see the latest from Tesco Entertainment. Stock up cheaply on a few new DVDs and you’ll probably spend less than renting them at your local video store.

Here are a few of the films on offer:

Monsters Vs Aliens (2009)
£5.00

Play preview
Transformers (2007)
£3.00

Fast Furious (2009)
£5.00

Play preview
Cloverfield (2008)
£2.00

Play preview
Tropic Thunder (2009)
£5.00

Role Models (2009)
£5.00

Play preview
Stardust (2008)
£3.00

Play preview
10,000 BC (2008)
£3.00

On Saturday, head to Somerset House from 11-1 or 2-4:30 to make snowflakes and icicle mobiles.

In the free holiday workshop, children of all ages can create a glittering vision of wintry cool to hang up at home using frosty, icy patterns and stained glass effects!

Also on Saturday, visit the Roman Road Market for some Christmas shopping. There will also be free ice skating on the temporary rink on Usher Road (off Roman Road).

Santa will be out and about roaming ‘the Roman’ handing out gifts to children under 11 years old ‘whether they’ve been naughty or nice’.

And you can warm up with a free hot drink and nibbling on a mince pie whilst listening to local choirs performing cheerful carols or the brass band at Gladstone Place.

On Sunday, check out Christmas on the Canal at the grand opening of City Road Basin in Islington.

Festive activities include Christmas markets, boat trips, Santa’s Grotto on board the Angel boat, Carol singing, a snow machine, mulled wine and mince pies and a giant tree Christmas lights switch-on.

Saturday, head to Contemporary Applied Arts for Make It: Magical, before it ends next week.

The free workshops for kids age 6-12 are based on the gallery’s Christmas exhibition, ‘Mystery, Magic and Merriment’. You’ll have a variety of materials available to make a special gift, keepsake or seasonal decoration or create beautiful cards, with technical guidance from gallery staff.

Saturday’s workshop is from 10.30 – 12.30pm. For this one I’m told you MUST book ahead. To do so call 020 7436 2344 or email clare@caa.org.uk or harriet@caa.org.uk.

On Sunday, head to the National Portrait Gallery for Christmas Past, where you’ll get to explore how families celebrated Christmas in the past and make a traditional tree decoration inspired by the collection.

This event starts at 2:00 p.m. and is recommended for kids 5+. Free tickets are required and available on the day one hour before the event starts from the Information Desk in the Main Hall.  The session will last approximately 90 minutes.  Places are limited to 20 per session, maximum 4 tickets per adult.

AnimalDaysOut.com is a great place to find family friendly activities for kids to do with animal welfare, conservation and education. Attractions on the site include animal-related centres, nature reserves, wildlife parks, local one-off and charity-led events.

AnimalDaysOut.com is constantly updated by member attractions and includes many Christmas and New Year events providing a wide array of fun things to do for all ages and all budgets.

Christmas events include Santa at Odds Farm Park, Christmas Fairy Tales at Marwell Wildlife, Carols at ZSL London Zoo, Santa’s Christmas Grotto at Old MacDonald’s Farm, Traditional Christmas Market and Ice Skating at the Hop Farm, Christmas “Fantastica” at Mead Open Farm, Christmas World at Hoo Animal Kingdom and The Magic of Christmas at Colchester Zoo.

To view discounts to attractions on this site, visit here. Currently the AnimalDaysOut.com lists two offers:

• Save up to £6.95 with the 3 for 2 voucher for Horseworld in Bristol. Click here to print the voucher.
• £1 off at Stockley Farm Park in Northwich during the Christmas nativity period. Click here to print the voucher.