Please email info@floc2018.org if you would be interested in childcare for children 1-10 years old. We have a list of childcare providers we can recommend for you to hire.
Children are welcome at all FLoC social events (banquets, receptions, and dinners) except the Workshop Dinner on 13 July at Keble College (all guests must be 18 or older).
Please note children 10 or older will require their own social event ticket. If you intend to bring children under the age of 10 to one of the Workshop Dinners, please get in touch with us at help@floc2018.org as special provision will need to be made.
Museums: There are a number of fantastic free-of-charge museums in Oxford, many of which run children’s programmes (see their websites for details). Favourites of the organising team (all within an easy walk of each other, in central Oxford) include the Natural History Museum, Ashmolean, Pitt-Rivers and Museum of the History of Science. The Story Museum is also an excellent visit (but there is a small fee). Oxford University’s Bodleian Libraries have a variety of exhibitions and events for all audiences.
For fans of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, the Weston Library has an excellent exhibition of JRR Tolkien’s papers (artwork, manuscripts and personal documents). Entry is free but you need a ticket: Book here!
In town The Westgate Centre shopping mall in Central Oxford is home to the Oxfordshire County Library, which has a brilliant children’s area. They run various drop-in sessions for babies and young children (see website for details). The Westgate Centre itself has a nice little play area on the roof: it is just a patch of artificial turf but children seem to love it.
Outdoors The Oxford University Parks are a short walk from FLoC: a nice open place to play (you are welcome to stray off the paths) with a pond where people often come to watch the ducks. There are various points of interest (e.g. a Genetic Garden) and during the summer there are often cricket and lawn-tennis matches: follow the links here for your favourite sport to see what’s on.
High Bridge will take you over the river and onto a network of lovely (but sometimes very muddy) public footpaths that follow the river, and go around the edges of the meadows in all directions. Cows are sometimes grazed in the fields: you are welcome to walk anywhere, so long as you don’t bother the animals.
Jericho is the name of the neighbourhood immediately adjacent to the Blavatnik School of Government: there are a number of child-friendly cafes, an excellent independent movie theatre, and access to the Oxford Canal (which has a paved towpath you can walk along for miles in either direction).
There are lots of play-places and parks in and around Oxford, wtih swings, zipwires, sandpits etc. Here is a map of all of the Oxford City Council play areas and recreation grounds. Aristotle Lane is the nearest park to the FLoC venues.
Classes and events Check the Daily Info for information on classes, drop-in sessions and family-friendly events – things are constantly being added!