Feeling the squeeze this half term? Or simply want to teach your children how to have fun on a budget, fear not, we're here to help with some great October activities for everyone!
1. Visit a museum!
There are hundreds of museums in the UK that are free to visit and most of them put on fun activities for children throughout the year and especially at half term. There are museums devoted to history, science, culture and all sorts of hobbies and interests, here are our top picks:
Victoria and Albert Museum/ V&A Museum of Childhood, London
- Great for: Horror fans, and a bit of everything!
North Lincolnshire Museum, Scunthorpe
- Great for: Families, interactive exhibits, archaeology.
The Roman Baths, Bath (free entry for Discovery card holders)
- Great For: A relaxing day out.
National Football Museum, Manchester
- Great for: Football fans, interactive activities for children.
Falmouth Art Gallery, Cornwall
- Great for: Activities for children, Art.
National Museum of Scotland, Edinburgh
- Great for: Natural and Human exhibits, exhibits especially designed for children.
Monkwearmouth Station Museum, Sunderland
- Great for: Train fans.
2. Messy Play
No need to think big for this one you can use all kinds of household goods or even food waste for this one:
- Natural Dyes: Grab some old white pillowcases and experiment with tie dye with some elastic bands and string, a pot, and some water, try using onion skins, beetroot, red cabbage, lemon or turmeric!
- Make your own Slime!: All you’ll need is some PVA Glue, and Slime Labs Activator! Simply mix together and add food dye Available at www.Slimelabs.co.uk
- Papier-mâché: Grab some newspaper, warm water and plain flour, make a paste with the flour and water and simply brush it into each layer of newspaper, you can use a balloon, bowl or any object to create your shape!
- Moon Sand: Simply mix together cornflour and vegetable oil to create a crumbly mouldable sand that doesn’t dry out (take care when selecting your oil and keep in mind any allergies)
It’s a brilliant time to find mushrooms! Grab a book from your local library on how to identify British Fungi, create a list and set off to the woods to see which ones you can tick off! If you’re not an expert on mushrooms, then look, don’t touch as not all mushrooms are friendly!
Easier to identify are Rosehips, Hazelnuts and Sweet Chestnuts, and Conkers (not all are edible) do a little research, bring your phone and maybe use an identifier app and you’ve got some free snacks or ingredients for beauty products! You can even make conker soap!
Find more info here: https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/blog/2017/10/foraging-in-october/
4. Find a Local Pumpkin Trail!- Many towns and villages create their own pumpkin trails, find one near you and join in the fun
- Create your own! If there isn’t one near you why not create a hide and seek with some little pumpkins, you can pick them up for under £1 each, think Easter egg hunt but with less help from the chickens!
5. Visit Your Local Animal Sanctuary!
Most are free to visit and you can choose whether to pick up a memento from the gift shop or simply enjoy meeting some new furry friends. Here are our top picks:
- The Donkey Sanctuary. Sidmouth, Devon
- Retreat Animal Rescue. High Halden, Kent
- Raystede Centre for Animal Welfare. Ringmer, East Sussex
- Fritton Owl Sanctuary. Great Yarmouth