Things to do with kids in Clapham

The best thing to do with kids in Clapham is the Common: two playgrounds, a paddling pool, a skatepark, three ponds and more than 85 hectares to run about in, all free and open around the clock. Build the day around it, then add a film on Venn Street, a story at the library or a show on Lavender Hill when the weather turns. Here is how we do it.

Start on the Common

Lambeth Council runs the Common, and its own page lists the lot: two playgrounds, a paddling pool, a skatepark, the Victorian bandstand, three cafes, toilets, three ponds and two patches of woodland, plus pitches and courts for football, tennis, basketball and netball. The Common itself never closes, but the toilets, cafes and the paddling pool keep their own hours, so check before you promise anyone a splash.

Bring a scooter, because the paths are long and flat. Bring a ball, because there is always a game to join. And on a sunny Saturday, claim your patch of grass early: by lunchtime half of SW4 is out there with a picnic blanket.

Mount Pond and Benjamin Franklin

Older kids like a story with their walk. Mount Pond was dug in the late 1740s, and according to the Clapham Society, Benjamin Franklin very likely tried his famous experiment of pouring oil on rough water there, while staying with a friend by the Common. His own account, published in 1774, says he first tried it on Clapham Common. Stand at the edge, picture the oil spreading, and explain the science on the way home.

A film on Venn Street

Clapham Picturehouse on Venn Street has four screens and a bar that does coffee, cake and sourdough pizza. Child tickets are £4.99, and the cinema runs a Kids' Club for families. It is the obvious rainy afternoon, and it is just off the top of the High Street, by Clapham Common station.

If you are on Venn Street on a Saturday, the street market is there too, with food stalls under green tents. Pick up lunch, then go in for the matinee.

Books at Clapham Library

Clapham Library sits inside the Mary Seacole Centre at 91 Clapham High Street. Lambeth calls it the borough's largest library, it has a lift, and it is open seven days a week. It is free, warm and full of picture books, which covers most of what a wet Tuesday needs. Ask at the desk about sessions for the under fives, since times change through the year.

For a bookshop, walk to Clapham Books at 26 The Pavement in the Old Town. It is open seven days, from 10am on weekdays and Saturdays and until 4pm on Sundays.

A show at Battersea Arts Centre

Battersea Arts Centre on Lavender Hill, SW11, puts family shows on its programme through the year, many of them pitched at the very young. At Christmas it turns into a family takeover, with a show for small children, a Santa's Grotto and a soft play for the under fives. Check the family filter on the BAC listings before you go, and book: the good slots go fast.

The building has a cafe, which makes the walk up from the Junction or the bus along Lavender Hill an easy outing.

Animals in Battersea Park

If the Common is not enough green, Battersea Park is a short bus ride north, and inside it is Battersea Park Children's Zoo. The zoo says it is open daily from 10am to 4.30pm, with keeper talks, feeding times and adventure playgrounds. Buy tickets online and go at opening time, before the crowds.

Lunch with the kids

• The Abbeville, 67-69 Abbeville Road. The pub has a kids' menu and makes a point of being child friendly. Tell them when you book if you need a high chair, booster seat or room for a pram. The kitchen opens at 10am at weekends.
• The Windmill, Clapham Common South Side. A big pub on the Common with a garden, breakfast from 8am at weekends and a Sunday roast from noon. It is five minutes' walk from Clapham Common and Clapham South stations.
• Minnow, 21 The Pavement. Brunch every day, and a heated terrace that looks straight over the Common. Brunch runs until 3pm on weekdays and 4pm at weekends.

Ice cream on the Pavement

Finish at Nardulli's, the gelateria at 29 The Pavement, right on the edge of the Common. In winter it opens from noon until 10pm on weekdays, and in summer it stays open until 11pm on Fridays and Saturdays. Buy a cone, walk it across the grass and call it a day.

How to plan it

Do the Common in the morning, when the playgrounds are quieter. Keep the cinema, the library or BAC in your back pocket for when it rains. Book anything with a ticket, especially at weekends and in the school holidays. And remember that the Common is big: agree a meeting point, the bandstand is the easy one, before anyone runs off.