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Autumn Half Term: Things To Do With The Kids
 Wondering what to do with the kids over the Autumn half term? As you'd imagine, much of the fun to be had this October has a Halloween theme - so don your witches hat, dig out the fake blood and enjoy our selection of things to do and places to go.
Norfolk Spooktacular
You'll need to buy timed tickets for this family event at Blickling Hall, but it'll be worth it with spooky storytelling and ghoulish happenings in the Hall and Garden. There will also be a children’s fancy dress competition and seasonal food in the restaurant.
Where? Blickling Hall, Norfolk
When? 31 Oct 2008 between 6-9pm.
Blickling Hall website
Pumpkin Carving In Warwickshire
Spooky Halloween activities at Upton House include a pumpkin carving workshop, basement tours, an eerie garden trail and terrifyingly good food in the restaurant. There will be a small charge for the pumpkin workshop.
Where? Upton House & Gardens, Warwickshire.
When? 25, 26 October 2008 12- 4pm
Upton House website
 Baking In Buckinghamshire
Send the kids off to the Spat Cooking school and they'll bring home plenty of edible goodies. Kids aged 5-12 learn to cook recipes including Grunge Buns,
Slime Crunchy, Pumpkin and Corn Bread and Bat Droppings.
Where? Princes Risborough, Buckinghamshire
When? 29 October 2008
Details: £25 per child
www.splatcooking.net
Creepy Creatures in Blackpool
Blackpool Zoo has planned a whole host of Halloween activities over the half term. Kids can attend pumpkin carving workshops and then fill the pumpkins with tasty treats for the animals to enjoy. Then on Halloween itself there's a special event from 4pm onwards with fancy dress, trick or treat bags and a snack all for £5.
Where? Blackpool Zoo.
When? 27-31 October 2008.
www.blackpoolzoo.org.uk
Garden Ghouls In Dorset
Kids can come to Bournemouth's award-winning Lower Gardens and have some spooky Halloween fun for free.
Awfully gruesome activities include a fancy dress competition, carved pumpkin competition, haunted funhair and wandering entertainers.
Where? Lower Gardens, Bournemouth.
When? 31 October 2008 from 1-7pm.
www.bournemouth.co.uk
 Some Enchanted Yorkshire Eve
This half term the grounds of Brodsworth Hall will reopen after dark, with fantastic lighting effects highlighting the exterior of the hall itself, as well as the restored Victorian gardens in an evening extravaganza.
Where? Brodsworth Hall, South Yorks
When? 24 Oct - 2 Nov 2008
Brodsworth Hall website
Cornish Ghoul Hunting
Home to a number of gory battles, Pendennis Castle is the perfect location for Halloween sightseeing. Follow a guide on a spooky tour of the castle which includes a trip to the Tudor Kitchen. Not usually open to the public, it's easy to see why; the creepy kitchen is reputed to be haunted by Maude, the extremely bossy ghost of a former head chef. Kids in fancy dress will get a free spooky cookie in the cafe.
Where? Pendennis Castle, Falmouth, Cornwall
When? 27 Oct - 2 Nov 2008, 11am - 4pm
Details: Family tickets start at £38
www.english-heritage.org.uk
Wizard Academy, Halifax
The Eureka school for witches and wizards is hosting a special event - The Witching Hour on Halloween. Fun on offer includes scary gallery trails, practical magic, slime-making, traditional Halloween games and a chance to do the Monster Mash. Make sure thekids bring a Halloween pumpkin to take part in a magical, candle-lit parade.
Where? Eureka!, Halifax
When? 31 Oct 2008, 6.30-9.30pm
Details: Family tickets start at £38
www.eureka.org.uk
 Frights And Fireworks
There's pumpkins a-plenty at Disneyland Paris's Halloween Festival. Visitors can expect to see Mickey and his friends, all the Disney villains as well as - new for this year, Jack and Sally from Tim Burton's A Nightmare Before Christmas. Don't forget to visit the Trick Or Treat stage in Halloweenland. On Halloween itself there's a huge party complete with fireworks, shows and parades.
Where? Disneyland Resort Paris
When? 4 October - 2 November 2008.
www.magichalloween.com
Budding Artists In London
It's often hard to find cheap or free things to do during the half term, but if you've a budding artist in the family take them to the National Gallery which is holding free art workshops, focusing on landscapes, using collage and stencilling. Ages 5-11
Where? National Gallery, Trafalgar Square, London.
When? 28 Oct - 1 Nov 2008
Details: Booking is essential - call 020 7747 2894
www.nationalgallery.org.uk
Scotland's Spooky Wood
Faskally Wood is the setting for Enchanted Forest, a spectacular journey of light and sound with the every popular Spooky Wood, complete with UV equipment and motion sensors to trigger lights and scary sound-effects. This year the event coincides with the Pitlochry Autumn Festival which will have a Halloween Marquee, Story Telling Yurt, and Ghost Tours on offer.
Where? Faskally Wood, Pitlochry, Perthshire, Scotland
When? 17 Oct – 2 November 2008
Details: Adults £9.50, over 5s £4.50
www.enchantedforest.org.uk
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