Children and families
Half-Term Activities
Get ready for a half-term packed with imagination, adventure, and creativity! From coding cool games and crafting colourful rainbows to building Spitfires out of LEGO and diving into magical stories, there’s something exciting at every Idea Store and library.
Whether your little ones love tech, tales, or hands-on fun, these free events promise big smiles and brilliant memories. Curious? Come explore what’s on!
A Fun Poetry Workshop for Young Writers
Age 11-18
Thursday 5 June and
Thursday 19 June
4:30 – 5:30 pm
Idea Store Watney Market
Do you enjoy writing poems, song lyrics, or stories?
Come and join The Tortured Poets Department!
Enjoy a friendly space for young writers to express themselves,
try out new styles, and meet others who love writing too.
What You’ll Do:
- Take part in writing activities
- Write poems and song lyrics
- Read and share your work
- Get helpful tips and feedback
- Learn new ways to write
- Make new friends!
Story Time
Monday-Saturday
10.30-11am
At All our Stores. Join in, make some noise and have fun with Story Time for under 5s!
If you are a Primary School or Nursery and would like to visit the story time session or just visit the library please email ideastore@towerhamlets.gov.uk so that we can host you.
Homework Club
Come and use our computers, desk space and information resources to help you get your homework finished. Our staff will be on hand to point you to resources to help. Some sessions will also have Homework Club volunteers to help you if you get stuck.
All the sessions run from 4 – 5.30pm.
Monday
- Idea Store Bow
- Idea Store Whitechapel
- Bethnal Green Library
Tuesday
- Cubitt Town Library
Friday
- Idea Store Chrisp Street
- Idea Store Watney Market
- Idea Store Whitechapel
Art Club
Every Saturday 3-4pm
At every store. This weekly-themed art club lets your creative side come alive!
Using paints, glue, glitter and lots of other items you can create something beautiful. Maybe a celebration card or a painting of winter or spring or just something crazy that you just want others to see!
Please note: late arrivals may be turned away and we reserve the right to refuse entry if we reach the maximum number for the session. This ensures the best possible experience for those taking part.
LEGO Club
LEGO club is an opportunity to unleash your building creativity. We will give you a new challenge every week and you can build to your hearts content!
Tuesdays, 4 - 5pm
Thursdays, 4 - 5pm
Sundays, 12noon - 1pm
eBooks and Audiobooks
With Idea Store membership you can download eBooks and audiobooks directly to your smartphone or tablet.
Libby Kids
We have a wonderful collection of eBooks and audiobooks just for children at Libby.
Use Libby in the browser or download the Libby App to your device. You can also access our ebooks and audiobooks at Overdrive if you use an older browser.
Download Libby on the App Store or Libby on Google Play
Borrowbox
Borrowbox have hundreds of eBooks and 5,000 audiobooks for children.
Choose from the chart toppers, award winners, real life stories and the classics. Just login with your card number.
Please note that your PIN for Borrowbox is the last 4 numbers of your card and not your usual library PIN.
Download the Borrowbox app to your device.
Borrowbox on the App Store or Borrowbox on Google Play
iPlay: Interactive Play sessions
Jump, dance and compete your way to a healthier lifestyle with our immersive interactive play sessions. Fun for ages 5+.
Idea Store Chrisp Street
Mondays, 4 - 5pm
Wednesdays, 4 - 5pm
Sundays, 1 - 2pm
Idea Store Story Time Online
During lockdowns, when we couldn't bring our fantastic Story Time in person, our staff recorded a lot of them for Youtube that you can enjoy any time you feel like a great story!