Fabulous Things to Do Online in London During Lockdown

Are you looking for fun, entertaining or even healthy things to do online here in London? I share some of the excellent online things you can do during the lockdown that you don’t want to miss!

Lockdown Events for Theatre & Movie Lovers:

First up is The National Theatre which is located at Southbank Centre along the Thames, and is the home of the nation’s major performing arts venue. It is offering National Theatre at Home which is streaming live productions to its YouTube channel. Each production is only available for a week. They’ve shown popular hits like One Man, Two Guvnors; Jane Eyre, Treasure Island and Twelfth Night. In the queue are Frankenstein and Antony & Cleopatra, which I cannot wait to see. Also on their website are fun quizzes you can take part in on the last Monday of each month. I’ll include a link to their website as well as all the things I mention in this video.

If movies are your thing, then for 4 Saturdays in May at 6pm BST, Lionsgate, the movie company will be streaming 4 great movies. The initiative benefits the NHS Charities Together currently supporting NHS staff and volunteers caring for COVID-19 patients, and The Film and TV Charity COVID-19 Emergency Response, supporting freelancers in the industry not covered by the government furlough scheme.

Each film is hosted by a celebrity guest and featuring live competitions, giveaways, shout-outs from cast, crew and celebrities as well as movie quizzes and many more special surprises. Here’s the line-up:

• May 9th – Eddie the Eagle – Hosted by Keith Lemon
• May 16th – Bend it Like Beckham – Hosted by Jack Whitehall
• May 22nd – The Hunger Games – Hosted by Jonathan Ross

If opera is more your style, The Royal Opera House is also streaming opera and ballet for free during the outbreak. The iconic institution is running its #OurHousetoYourHOuse where a major opera or ballet will be streamed every Friday at 7pm.

Lockdown events for Dance Lovers

For the dance enthusiasts, Sadler’s Wells, London’s premiere contemporary dance theatre company located on Rosebery Avenue in Clerkenwell is offering its Digital Stage where you can watch performances on Facebook and its YouTube channel. Performances are put up for 7 days so make sure to catch your favourites.

The English National Ballet is offering ENB at Home with plenty of content online including classes, talks and performances. Their content goes across multiple social media channels including Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube, so be sure to stay connected. They are having watch parties for some of their most iconic performances including Romeo & Juliet and Fantastic Beings.

Speaking of dance and fitness, BLOK which is an east London boutique gym has partnered with Beats by Dr. Dre for daily works. They will be streamlining on Instagram their signature classes including BLOKsculpt, BLOKcore, pilates and barre backed by a curated workout soundtrack, which you can download on Spotify.

Lockdown Events & Ideas for Kids and Families:

So now that I’ve mentioned some great content for adults, but what about for the kids?

Well there is plenty online to entertain them. If you’re on Facebook, you may want to join your local area groups as I’m seeing lots of posts for online tutorials, musical instruments lessons and other activities.

A few that I’d like to highlight here are:

Southbank Centre has loads of content and what I particularly love is what they have online for kids. “Once Upon a Time in a Home Not Far Away” is their platform programme that includes workshops and activities for the young writers and illustrators in your house. Included is Imagine a Story where a celebrated author and illustrator is selected to support over a thousand school children to become authors. On offer is a chance to have author Nathan Byron read his book Look Up! about astronaut-to-be young girl named Rocket and her cat Luna. Kids can also have illustrator Dapo Adeola teach step by step how to illustrate and draw Luna.

London Zoo is offering virtual tours of the zoo that includes webcams and livestreams; animal antics, zookeeper videos and behind the scenes updates.

If you want to go further afield, Wild Earth TV has an incredible online programme offering an opportunity for you and your kids to interact with an expert game ranger in the African wilderness. You can interact in real time as they are using safari vehicles, guides on foot, drones and other technology to search for nature’s favourite animals. It’s really informative and close up. They even have live sunrise and sunset safaris. As someone who’s been on safaris, this is one of life’s most magical experiences.

One really special find I’ve discovered as I love to travel is that Experience Egypt is giving virtual tours of some of the most magnificent structures on earth. While it’s not the same experience as the real thing of actually visiting in person, but these virtual walkthroughs are pretty special. You get to meander through pyramids and tombs all from the comfort of your sofa. You can even discover the animal museum at the Zoological Giza Garden.

I hope this article has helped you discover some really fun and entertaining things to do online during this time. Please make sure to hit the like button if you’ve enjoyed it and leave me a comment.

While we are on lockdown, we will open up again soon and when we do, we’ll be ready to go discover more of London. I’ve got a great FREE colouring book of famous London sites that you and your kids can colour in. If you’d like to get your copy and even submit your coloured in pages, then go here to get yours!