If you're looking for ideas for family days out and activities to do this October half-term, you've come to the right place!
Here are nine suggestions for what you can get up to with your kids while schools in Hertfordshire and surrounding areas are on their half-term break.
1. Standalone Farm pumpkin carving
Every weekday during half-term, kids can spend an hour pumpkin carving at Standalone Farm in Letchworth.
They get to pick their own pumpkin, decide what Halloween-themed carving they want to make, then get to work!
Entry to the farm costs £7.50 for adults and £6.50 for kids, with under 2s going free.
2. Church Farm Ardeley Halloween activities
The Fairy Woodland Play Area has received a creepy makeover, there’s a pumpkin hunt and even a scarecrow trail! All the family are welcome here, including dogs, and the activities are on every day over half-term including weekends.
It costs £6.50 for a Halloween Farm Pass giving you access to everything that’s going on and a Halloween Activity Pack too – and under 2s visit free!
3. Knebworth House Halloween Adventure
There's another spooktacular event on at Knebworth House, with a Halloween Adventure running from 25-27 October. Kids (and adults!) can take part in a wide variety of activities: Halloween games, a Halloween trail, Spell School, and a decorated pumpkin competition.
Tickets give you access to the Halloween Adventure, Knebworth Gardens and the Dinosaur Trail. They cost £8.50 for kids or £3.95 for adults, and under 3s go free. Spell School costs an extra £1 per child.
4. St Albans Halloween Scarecrow Trail
This completely free activity is running every day in St Albans. Head to the Museum + Gallery, or to the St Albans BID office in French Row, and pick up a special map.
Then the fun begins! You’ll be hunting around St Albans for nine different scarecrows, with each of them having a letter. Get all the letters, then unscramble into a word and put it on your map.
Return it to the BID office and you’ll be in with a chance of winning one of four St Albans gift vouchers!
5. Family activities at IWM Duxford
There’s lots of fun to be had every day at IWM Duxford over half-term. Kids can put their paper-plane making skills to the test in Flight Academy, with special runways for the purpose!
There’s also a Family Mission telling an interactive story about D-Day, while you can help overcome Cold War hackers in Airforce Action Stations.
Plus, if you go on Tuesday 25 or Saturday 29, you can meet some Cold War veterans if you’re at the museum between 11am and 3pm.
Entry to the museum costs £27.50 for adults and £13.75 for children, with kids aged four and under going free.
6. Shield making at Welwyn Roman Baths
Head to the Watermill between 1.30pm and 3.30pm on Tuesday, October 25, to have a go at creating your own Roman shield! You can also try on their historic helmets, and throw a fun foam javelin. Tickets cost £5 per person and get you into the main baths too.
7. Whipsnade Zoo
There’s a host of creepy events going on at the zoo every day in half-term – interactive, Halloween-themed story sessions, pumpkin decorating, and animal talks tailored to the spooky season.
Bring your best costume along for the contest at the disco held every day between 11am and 1pm, where there’ll be party games too. And at 11.40am and 1.40pm every day there’s a magic show too!
All the activities are free if you’ve paid for entry to the park, which costs £30.50 for adults and £19.50 for kids. Babies and toddlers aged two or under go free.
8. Stevenage Museum half-term activities
From Wednesday, October 26, to Friday, October 28, there are daily activities on at Stevenage Museum. On Wednesday, you can make giant plant pictures to go up in the exhibition alongside Georgia O’Keeffe’s prints.
Then for the next two days, it’s Halloween-tastic with a skull and bones drawing workshop on Thursday and Halloween crafts on Friday.
The sessions run from 11am to noon and from 2pm-3pm every day. There is a £4 cost per child, except on Wednesday when the sessions will be free.
9. Willows Activity Farm
There’s an ongoing pumpkin festival at this farm near St Albans, with thouands of locally grown pumpkins available for picking!
Also on offer is a pumpkin hunt, with prize badges for every child who takes part. And there’s a great photo opportunity too at Gourds Grotto!
All this and more is on every day, with tickets (including a pumpkin for every child) costing £24 for both adults and children if booked online or £25.50 on the day. Tickets for under two’s are free without a pumpkin, or cost £2 with a pumpkin.
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