The Best West End Shows For All The Family 2026
Image Credit: Kilyan Sockalingum
Do you want to go to the theatre in London’s iconic West End, with your kids, but don’t know which shows are suitable for them to see?
Fear not, for here is our guide to what’s on in the West End that can be enjoyed by children and adults alike. These musicals and plays are the ones that all the family will enjoy.
From long-running shows such as The Lion King and Wicked to the spine chilling Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, here is the best of the West End for all the family.
A couple of things that you will need to note: Most West End theatre shows will not allow children under 5 years old into the performances, and as a general rule those under 16 must be accompanied by an adult, who must sit next to them in the auditorium. It is best that you check the theatre’s admission policy before booking.
The Best West End Shows For Kids
Let’s dim the lights, switch our mobiles to silent and get on with the show….
- Paddington The Musical
It's the big hit musical of the year!
Winner of seven Oliver awards, Paddington The Musical is the musical to see with the kids - and it's just as popular with all ages!
Bursting with catchy songs, dazzling dance numbers - and, naturally, plenty of marmalade sandwiches - this is Paddington like you’ve never seen him before.
With original music and lyrics by Tom Fletcher (McFly), it tells Michael Bond's much loved story of Paddington Bear. When a small, lost bear arrives from Peru he searches London for a new home. A chance encounter with the Brown family leads him to a wonderful new habitat, Windsor Gardens.
Already booking until February 2028 (yes that's right, 2028), it is the feelgood musical that everyone wants to see. It's on at London's Savoy Theatre.
- Disney's Hercules
- My Neighbour Totoro
- Matilda
- Oliver!
Lionel Bart’s iconic musical, Oliver! has fully been reconceived by director and choreographer Matthew Bourne for a new generation of fans.
With a sensational score, including Food Glorious Food, Consider Yourself, You’ve Got to Pick-a-Pocket or Two, I’d Do Anything, Oom Pah Pah and As Long As He Needs Me , this Olivier, Tony and Oscar-winning masterpiece vividly brings to life Dickens’ ever-popular story of the boy who asked for more.
Booking at the Gielgud Theatre until March 2027.
- Harry Potter and the Cursed Child
- The Lion King
- Wicked
- The Play That Goes Wrong
- Mamma Mia
June 2025 saw the opening in London's West End of Disney's Hercules. This musical version of the much loved animated adventure will be at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane. More than two and a half decades since the animated Disney musical, everyone’s favourite demi-god is flexing his, rather sizable, muscles once again!
With music and lyrics by Alan Menken and David Zippel, a brand-new book by Robert Horn and Kwame Kwei-Armah and co-choreography by Tanisha Scott, get ready for a wise-cracking, column-shaking, underworld-rocking ride of adventure and self-discovery.
Booking to July 2026.
Following two rapturously received, sell-out runs at the Barbican, this five-star, ground-breaking “triumph” (Telegraph) is on at the Gillian Lynne Theatre. It is a beautiful and moving show which mixes human performers and puppetry in a remarkable and unique show.
Winner of six Olivier Awards, My Neighbour Totoro is based on Studio Ghibli’s much loved and hugely respected animated movie.
Currently booking to August 2026.
Fans of Roald Dahl will have Matilda at the top of their must-see list. Tim Minchin’s inspired musical version of the story of the girl who loves books has been described as a musical masterpiece.
Created by the Royal Shakespeare Company, it is a show that that revels in the anarchy of childhood, the power of imagination and the inspiring story of a girl who dares to change her destiny.
Matilda has played to packed houses for 15 years and been given standing ovations since it opened, and has multiple awards around the world.
Now booking at the Cambridge Theatre until January 2027.
All Harry Potter fans will be excited to see this show, which continues Harry's story to adulthood as an employee of the Ministry of Magic, a husband, and father of three school-age children.
Harry Potter and the Cursed Child is in two parts, which you are intended to see in order on the same day (matinee and evening) or on two consecutive evenings.
The play has won multiple Olivier Awards since it opened in the West End, and it is currently booking until September 2026 at the Palace Theatre.
The Lion King has been running in the West End for nearly 20 years and is still massively popular with audiences. The show is not just a musical telling the story of Simba the lion cub; it is an experience which uses the whole of the theatre with music, dance, puppets and uniquely inventive props.
Of course it includes all the songs that your kids will know and love from the film, including I Just Can't Wait to Be King and The Circle of Life and includes comedy, tragedy and is everything that great theatre should be.
Booking until December 2026.
Wicked has pretty much become a classic musical now. Written as a prequel to The Wizard of Oz it tells the story of how Glinda The Good and Elpheba, the Wicked Witch of the West first met.
With the huge success of the film version, tickets for the original stage version are more "popular" than ever!
Already one of the longest running shows in London theatre history, this spectacular show includes the hit song “Defying Gravity” and has won over 100 theatre awards.
Booking until January 2027.
You can’t beat a bit of classic slapstick comedy, and The Play That Goes Wrong will have you breathless with laughter from start to finish
The Cornley Polytechnic Drama Society are putting on a 1920s murder mystery, but everything that can go wrong... does! Will the accident-prone actors battle against all odds to make it through to their final curtain call? You’ll have to find out!
Booking until October 2027.
If you have seen the 2008 film or its sequel, you will know that Mamma Mia, with its string of ABBA hits is another of the West End’s most popular and long-running musicals. You probably know the plot; Sophie is about to get married, and wants to discover the father she’s never known.
To find the answer she brings her mother face to face with three men from her distant romantic past on the eve of a wedding they’ll never forget!
With more ABBA songs than you can shake a stick at, this is an evening of fun and magical 70’s music that will leave everyone with a smile on their face and a tear in their eye.
Currently booking until March 2027.
Sneek Peak for Autumn 2026!
Shows to look forward to later in the year.
- The Snowman
- Stick Man
It's rapidly become a Christmas West End tradition just like The Snowman. Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler's Stick Man is returning to the Bloomsbury Theatre for the festive season on 2026.
What starts off as a morning jog becomes quite the misadventure for Stick Man: a dog wants to play fetch with him, a swan builds a nest with him, and things start to heat up with he ends up on a fire! How will Stick Man ever get back to the family tree in time for Christmas?
Packed full of puppetry, songs, live music and funky moves, this award-winning production, is the perfect festive treat.
It opens on 3rd December 2026 and runs until 3rd January 2027.
Yes! It's back! The Snowman has been performed every Christmas at the Peacock Theatre since 1997 and has become something of a London Christmas institution - and now it has been confirmed that it will be back for Christmas 2026.
Based on Raymond Briggs iconic book it tells the tale of a boy and the magical night he spends when he is transported around the world with the snowman that he built, which comes to life one snowy Christmas night.
A truly magical experience for children of all ages, you will come out of the theatre “Walking in the Air”! It runs from 21st November 2026 until 3rd January 2027.