Everything running on Saturday and Sunday across the North West. The list rebuilds itself every day, so it is always the coming weekend and never the one just gone.
A free wolf-spotting activity round the wonkiest Tudor house in England: the wolves have wandered off and the children have to find them. Cross the moat, count the wolves, and let the hall's crooked floors do the entertaining. Normal admission applies.
A free exhibition at Lowry built round picture books like Elmer and Dear Zoo, with play areas for under 7s. It closes on 1 November, so half term is the last chance. Free, but book a timed slot.
Six miles of lights along the prom from the big switch-on night to early January. Drive it, walk it, or catch a heritage tram through the middle of it, which is the version kids remember.
Halloween build challenges, glow in the dark brick workshops and the Great Monster Chase 4D film back in the cinema. The toilets there are shut for a refit until 22 October and the nearest ones are on floor 4 of the Trafford Palazzo, which is better known before than during.
The Clubhouse marks 25 years of Room on the Broom with a Halloween dance party and the chance to meet Witch. Costumes encouraged. It is included in normal admission, which is from £12 a child.
A trail round the tanks helping the Sea Witches and Warlocks protect the creatures, with characters, photo spots and a small pumpkin patch, all in a normal ticket. Under 2s free. The Cursed Depths nights on 30 and 31 October and 1 November are the after hours, scarier version and a separate thing.
Luke Jerram's seven-metre glowing moon hangs in the cathedral for the whole of October, with children's workshops and pyjama parties on the programme. Entry is by donation, suggested £5 an adult or £12 a family, and daytime visits need no booking. Sunday opening is only 12 to 2.
A Halloween trail through the Brockhole woods with six character stations to find. Collect a letter at each one, work out the secret word and claim a Halloween gift bag (colouring book, crayons, a snap band and a maze book) back at Minty Land. Built for 2 to 8 year olds at £3 a child.
A free, low-key Halloween-season job for 5 to 12s: pick up a sheet at the welcome desk and make a skeleton mask inspired by a mysterious painting in Gallery One. Runs through half term and all of November.
Halloween crafts at Clitheroe Castle Museum: a wool castle cat for £2 or a spooky tealight holder for £3, no museum ticket needed. Drop in between 11am and 4pm, all ages.
A Halloween storybook trail through the woods round the lakes at Culcheth, billed as spooky, not scary, and made for families and 'little adventurers': help Victor the Skeleton and Luna the Witch break the Skeleton King's curse. Pram and wheelchair friendly. Early bird tickets are £2 off, infants need a ticket too, parking is £5 booked ahead, and the cheaper early dusk slots from 5.20pm suit small children best.
The whole farm, indoors and out, plus a new Pumpkin Village this year: pumpkin mountains, archways and displays of gourds you did not know existed, and a Sorcery School twice a day. Pumpkins are not in the ticket, so agree a budget before the wheelbarrow comes out. Under 1s free.
The treehouses, zip wires and wobbly bridges as normal, plus Twig or Treating with the characters, a spooky disco, face stencils and a Glowing Light Trail as the sun goes down. Open until 6pm so the light trail is the finale. A limited number of tickets carry 25% off on every date, so the first to book pay least.
An evening walk through 15 acres of woodland lit with glowing pumpkins, with live characters along the way, now in its tenth year. Billed as gentle thrills rather than frights, with marshmallow toasting at fire pits and real owls to meet. Most families spend an hour and a half to two hours; you pick an entry time when you book.
Halloween at the theme park built for the under 12s: a fancy dress street parade, Gilly's Spooky Dance Party, the Monster Mansion Mine and character meet and greets on top of the usual rides. Costumes and colour rather than jump scares, which is the right way round at that age.
A Halloween trail round the aquarium with challenges, a pumpkin patch and a reward at the end, plus Serafina the Sea Witch at weekends and in half term. Included with admission. Separate, scarier After Dark evenings run on 24, 25, 30 and 31 October for older children.
Radcliffe Library's Monday rhyme time carries on at New Life Church, 10.30am in term time, while the library is closed for its move into the new Radcliffe Hub. Cost is not stated on the council page.
Free drop-in storytelling for 2 to 5s at Bolton libraries, running through school holidays. Bolton Central is Wednesdays and Fridays at 11am; Farnworth, Horwich, Westhoughton and others have their own weekly slot.
A weekly chess club for children aged 6 and up at Crosby Library, Mondays from 3.30pm to 4.45pm in the small lecture hall. No booking, just turn up. Drinks are provided.
A free weekly after-school Lego club at Boothstown Library, Tuesdays in term time from 3.30pm to 4.30pm, for primary school children. Under 8s need an adult with them. No booking needed.
Baby Bards is a 45-minute story and early phonics session for 18 months to 4 years at Shakespeare North Playhouse, every Tuesday until 15 December. £6 covers a child and one adult, with no booking fee.
Two free regulars at Bolton Central Library: Baby Time with songs every Tuesday from 10.30am to 11.30am, and Saturday Storytime at 2pm. No booking needed for either.
Stay and Discover at Keswick Museum, a story with Becky and Digby followed by a creative session for under 5s. Free, one booking per family, every term time Wednesday.
A free half hour of stories for under 5s at Stockroom, the new library in Merseyway. Every Wednesday at 11am. It is free but they ask you to book so they know numbers.
Little Explorers at Tullie in Carlisle, a gentle themed session for under 5s and their grown up in a different gallery each week. Children free with an adult ticket. Book ahead.
Little Wanderers at Wordsworth Grasmere, free songs, stories and play for under 5s inspired by Dove Cottage. Term time Thursday mornings, just turn up.
Free Rhyme and Chat Time at Bury Library on Thursdays in term time, 11.30am to 12.30pm, aimed at early speech and language. No booking. Use the ramp opposite the Job Centre and staff will let you in.
Tiny Tales is creative play, stories and songs for under 5s in the Everyman's Street Cafe, Thursdays at 11am until 17 December. £6 covers one adult and up to three children. Book through Teeny Tiny Theatre.
High Jinx, a magic and illusion show in the Blackpool Tower Circus ring, on a handful of dates only this autumn. All shows at 2.30pm, and it comes back for the Christmas holidays.
Bookstart Bear Club at Rochdale Central Library on Fridays in term time, 9.45am to 10.30am, for toddlers up to pre-school. Free, but book a ticket per child. Children collect stamps in a Bookstart passport.
An interactive outdoor art installation for half term: step through a series of mysterious doorways to find local folklore, old traditions and ghost stories. The listing gives no separate price, so assume normal Lyme admission until the National Trust says otherwise.
Spooky World's daytime version at Apple Jacks Farm, aimed at younger children with no scare attractions. Open 10am to 4pm on selected October dates and daily in half term. £15.50 over 90cm, with a free pumpkin each.
The Zoo vs You Top Trumps trail round the Islands zone, pumpkin sculptures, and an exclusive card to take home for finishing, all included in an ordinary zoo ticket. Nothing extra to book and nothing that will give anyone nightmares. Face painting is the one thing charged on top.
A folklore-flavoured Halloween adventure played on one phone through the free Stranger Folk app round the grounds of Wray Castle, with no plastic fangs in sight. Designed for ages 7 to 12, and playable in 20 minutes or spread over a day. Parking is £7 for two hours unless you are a National Trust member.
Quiet inclusive sessions at Dunes Splash World for neurodiverse and disabled visitors and their families, 6pm to 8pm on 19 October, 23 November and 21 December. £8.50 each, one carer free, just turn up and pay.
A movement class for 1 to 5s and their grown-ups at The Met in Bury, Wednesdays 1.30pm to 2.30pm until 16 December, with no session in half term. £4.50 a session. Good for burning off energy indoors.
The Garrick's production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat runs over half term in Altrincham. Matinees on the weekends. Recommended for 6 and over, and no under 4s at all.
Batilda the witch has dropped her potion ingredients all over the house, and children hunt them down room by room for a small prize. Recommended from age 3; adults pay normal house admission.
Jack Skellington, Sally and Zero in lights, projections and sculptures round Arley's gardens, set to the film's songs. It is the spookier end of Christmas and about 75 minutes of walking outdoors on a one-way route, with pushchairs recommended for children five and under. Arley only hosts it, so questions and bookings go to the organiser, and use postcode CW9 6NA then follow event signs, not the sat nav.
A clue trail round the village aimed at 3 to 10 year olds, five pounds a map with a spooky reward at the end. Entry and parking at Blakemere are free, so this is about as cheap as a Halloween outing in Cheshire gets, provided you can steer round the shops.
Liverpool's free light art trail along the waterfront, running right through October half term. Not fireworks, but a better fit for children who find bangs too much. Nightly times were not published when we checked, so look before you set off.
Scarecrows all round the gardens and woods, themed this year on pop stars and music legends. Included in admission, and closed on Wednesdays and Thursdays. Through October there is also Stranger Folk, an app-based folklore quest with goblins and other creatures lurking round the house and gardens.
Half term at the aquarium with spooky trails, activities and skeleton scuba shows in the tanks, plus the odd ghoul wandering about. Indoors and warm, which counts for a lot in the last week of October. The page prints no year, but those dates only fit this year's half term.
Half term crafts at Blackwell, the Arts and Crafts house above Windermere: tissue paper flowers every day and stamp making on 29 October. Included with house admission.
Spooky drop in crafts every afternoon of half term at Tullie in Carlisle, a different make each day. Children go free with an adult day ticket or annual pass.
A circus-themed half-term panto, Goldilocks and the Three Bears, at St Helens Theatre Royal from 24 October to 1 November. Two shows on the first weekend, then a 1pm matinee daily. A family ticket for four is £103.
Pick up a trail sheet and hunt down the ten Grumpy Pumpkins round the museum grounds and woodland, each guarding an ingredient the Witch of the Wood needs for her spell. It is £1 a child on top of adult admission. The same week has spooky stories for little ones on Thursday 29 October and Jack-o'-lantern light walks in the woods on the evenings of the 26th and 27th (adults £10, children £7.50).
Crewe Heritage Centre has Halloween fun on its half-term open days, 24 October to 1 November, 10am to 4.30pm. Wednesday 28 October is a free admission day. The 31 October weekend closes the season.
Half term at the safari park done in Halloween dress, with the drive-through reserve and the shows running as usual underneath it. The car is the ride, which suits children who have had enough of queuing.
Muncaster's big Halloween week, themed Zombies and Boggles this year: a scary maze, pumpkin patch (free pumpkin for the first 2,500 child tickets), a Halloween trail in the gardens, parades, a haunted castle, bird of prey displays and a torchlight march. The indoor Castle Show is an upgrade at £17 adult and £13 child on top.
Half term opens with a Miniature Steam Weekend, then a week of children's activities with, the museum says, a few spooky Halloween happenings. Detail was thin when we checked, so treat it as a museum day with extras.
Stations and cafes get ghoulish decorations, the railway museum at Ravenglass puts on children's activities, and selected trains run as double-headers with two steam engines up the Eskdale valley. Full details were still to come when we checked, so budget for a normal train fare.
Not Halloween as such, but half term on the Wirral with a real-life dragon from Teach Rex, dragon breath with The Wonderweaver and a new show, Dragon Dynamics. Useful for the child who is sick of pumpkins by the Tuesday.
Quarry Bank's first Scarecrow Festival carries on into half term with a scarecrow trail, storytelling, crafts and games. The Apprentice House is running spooky tours this autumn too.
Nine skeleton scenes hidden across 50 acres of autumn gardens, more daft than frightening, and the whole thing is covered by ordinary garden and parkland entry. It runs the length of half term but shuts on the Monday, which catches people out every year.
An interactive spooky plants trail round the garden: scary-looking species, plants with legendary healing powers and poisonous ones with dark secrets, with rubbings to collect and your own spooky plant to design. It is included in garden admission, which is free for under 5s. Zoolab witch and wizard potion sessions with creepy crawlies on 27 and 28 October are bookable extras, and there are spooky grass heads to make on 25, 30 and 31 October.
A free Halloween trail round Chester city centre, 24 October to 1 November. Spot ten or more candy clues in local businesses, note their colour and design, and enter to win a £50 Chester Gift Card.
Halloween at Blackpool Zoo turns into a Wizarding Wildlife School, with classes and activities included in normal admission. An optional VIP experience for ages 5 and up costs £19.99 extra.
A book-themed Halloween trail round Ness Botanic Gardens, 24 October to 2 November, 10.30am to 3.30pm. It takes about 40 minutes and suits 5 to 12s. The sheet is free with admission; bring a pencil.
A book-themed trail round the gardens for 5 to 12s, about 40 minutes: spot favourites from children's books along the way and work out which one the witch has not read. The trail sheet is free with garden entry, but bring a pen or you will be buying one in the shop. Half term also has a Halloween family workshop, and an autumn colours workshop on Tuesday 27 October.
A lantern trail at Gulliver's with monuments, dinosaurs and dreamworlds lit up, back for 2026 with new displays. Sunday and Wednesday nights are mostly dog-friendly, so pick another night if you have a child who is wary of dogs. Parking is free. It opens for October half term, so it doubles as a Halloween outing.
Find nine imps and familiars hidden in Ordsall Hall and its gardens, 25 to 29 October and 1 November, during opening hours. £2 a child, paid at reception. Part of it is outdoors, so dress for the weather.
Four not-too-scary Halloween parties run by the park cafe: a K-Pop Demon Hunters party (Sun 25 Oct, 2 to 4, £13.50), a Friendly Witch show for toddlers (Wed 28 Oct, 2 to 4, £12.50), Wizardry and Dragons with party food (Sat 31 Oct, 11 to 1, £13) and a Wicked-themed party (Sun 1 Nov, 2 to 4, £15). Most let one adult in free with each child and are capped at 30 children, so book early.
Half term at Elizabeth Gaskell's House: a Cranford the Cat trail and a spooky sill haunter craft, free for under 16s with a paying adult. Open Wednesday, Thursday and Sunday only, and you need to book.
Half term at Jodrell Bank, 26 October to 1 November: a free Spooky Space Trail with a certificate and sticker, plus a science show on weekdays. Both are included in admission. Booking online saves 10 percent.
Rochdale Town Hall runs free family Halloween activities every day of half term, 26 October to 1 November, 10am to 4pm. No booking. The exact activities are still to be announced on its social channels.
Hour-long candlelit tours of the house over the last four evenings of October half term, alongside a Halloween scavenger hunt in the topiary garden, creative workshops and a costume competition. Not for under-5s, and the tour ticket does not include daytime entry.
A Halloween disco session at the trampoline and inflatable park, ninety minutes for £9.99 with grip socks extra. Fancy dress optional, long sleeves sensible.
Two-hour Halloween parties in the soft play: a pumpkin hunt, fancy dress, a UV disco with glow sticks and a spooky gift each, with face painting at the Friday and Saturday ones. Sunday's is an SEN party, and one adult or carer goes free per booking.
Free family films in the Bolton Central Library lecture theatre at 2pm on the second Saturday of the month, moving to the Friday in half term. Coming up: 30 October, 14 November, 12 December. Titles are not published.
Steam trains along Preston Riverside with ghostly goings on aboard, both days of the Halloween weekend. A train that is going somewhere beats a queue for a photo with a witch.
Arc's monthly art club at Hat Works in Stockport, where adults and children make things together. Drop in between 11am and 3pm, with a suggested £3 donation per artist if you can afford it.
Join us and Colibri Mexican Folkdance for a vibrant celebration of life, love, and remembrance!
Dinosaur Adventure Live is an interactive stage show with realistic dinosaurs at The Brindley in Runcorn on Sunday 1 November, at 2pm and 4.30pm. Rangers try to save the island. Tickets £18.50.
A live Ms Rachel tribute show for toddlers at Middleton Arena on Sunday 1 November at 1pm, with sing-alongs and plenty of joining in. Under 12 months go free on a paying adult's lap. From £19.43.
Starts at 10am to 12pm. Times, prices and tickets are on the organiser's own page.
The second night of Salford's free weekend, and the one with a proper bonfire, plus a funfair and a single display. Gates open at 4pm on a Sunday, so it can be an early one before school on Monday.
Wigan Council's family fireworks night, and one of the earliest finishes in the region: gates at 4.30pm, fireworks at about 6.40pm, done by 7pm. Funfair and food before. A good one for a Sunday with school the next day.
Steve Backshall's Deadly Live, the stage show from the CBBC series, at the Winter Gardens Opera House in Blackpool. One show at 2pm on 1 November. Tickets are not cheap.
Sunday School open to school age children during the services, week one and week three.
Starts at 11am. Times, prices and tickets are on the organiser's own page.
Nick Cope, the CBeebies Popcast singer, brings his family concert to Waterside in Sale. Two shows on 1 November, songs with animations on screen. Aimed at ages 3 and up.
Tommy and Tilly's Magic Castle, a Halloween half term panto with songs, illusions and audience joining in, at Blackburn Empire Theatre. One show at 1pm on 1 November. Family ticket £47.
For anyone in Year 6 and up all about fun, friendship and faith.
For anyone in Year 6 and up all about fun, friendship and faith.
For anyone in Year 6 and up all about fun, friendship and faith.
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