Tickets for good seats at a West End show can be pricey. So, if you're treating the kids, you want to certain it's a show they'll love, and the Royal Shakespeare Company's Matilda The Musical is a guaranteed hit.
A few years ago, as he was about to start school, I took my now nine-year-old son Odhran to see this all-singing, all-dancing, show at Cambridge Theatre in London's Seven Dials area.
The multi-award winning musical with book by Dennis Kelly and music and lyrics by Tim Minchin, is based on the beloved 1988 children's novel Matilda by Roald Dahl.
It tells the story of an extraordinary little girl, who uses her vivid imagination, sharp mind and bravery to take a stand and change her own destiny.
I remember Odhran sitting on the edge of his seat with his mouth hanging open as he soaked up every moment of this show.
Recently, I had the chance to return to see Matilda The Musical with my younger son Reuben, and I was delighted to find that, years later, the show is still as amazing as I'd recalled.
Reuben has seen the film adaptation of the Tony and Olivier award-wining musical, starring Alisha Weir as Matilda, and he was thrilled to hear all the familiar songs performed on stage.
On the way to the theatre, he asked 'but how are they going to do the bit where she swings the kid round by the pigtails?'
Without giving too much away, I can say that the West End musical is wonderfully creative in how it brings these tricky parts of the story to stage.
The performance is about two and a half hours long including an interval. Reuben and I attended on a school night and I wondered if he might get tired during the show.
But he seemed pumped up by the rousing songs, high energy dance routines, and absorbing storyline. At one point, he turned to me with a beaming smile and said 'This is great!'
It's been a week since we went to see the show and he's still going round the house singing When I Grow Up and Revolting Children.
Tickets are available from £20. The age guidance is 6+ and children under four will not be admitted into the auditorium. But younger children and babes in arms are welcome at the venue's relaxed performances.
Following the success of its first tour in 2018/2019, Matilda The Musical is heading back on tour across the UK and Ireland from October 2025. Find out more here.
This is a show the whole family will enjoy, and one that will make a lasting impression on little kids. If you're undecided about what to go see with kids in the West End you really can't go wrong with Matilda The Musical.