You don’t need to spend a fortune to have fun with the family this autumn and winter. From fireworks to forest trails, science festivals to playing pirates, there are plenty of exciting attractions and events out there that are totally free. Here is our pick of the best free things to do with your family.
Eden Arts
Norfolk HarFest, Norwich
All the fun of the farm comes to the city at Norfolk’s HarFest on October 7. Centred around the historic Norwich Cathedral Close, the harvest celebration will have livestock and farm machinery for kids to enjoy, local bands and art groups performing and the hotly contested Great Norfolk Scarecrow Competition. Feeling peckish? Pick up some delicious local produce at the farmers’ market.
Canal & River Trust Winter Open Days
Venture to the bottom of a drained lock chamber, stroll along an empty canal and discover how modern-day engineers and conservationists care for 2,000 miles of historic waterways at one of 10 free Canal & River Trust open days. Talking place across the country from November to March, each event will be different – the first takes place at Banbury Lock in Oxfordshire.
Foraging and fungi printing, Leicestershire
Head out on a fungi foray into the heart of the National Forest. Local mushroom expert Ben Devine will show you an array of woodland fungi before you join a creative session with artist Kathryn Parsons. She'll teach you simple printmaking techniques using your forest finds. The free two-day course takes place on 14-15 October. Places must be booked in advance and children must be seven years or older.
Yorkshire Sculpture Park
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Taking energetic kids to see an art exhibition can be stressful, but let them run wild at this open-air art gallery while exploring some superb pieces of contemporary art. Set within 500 acres of beautiful parklands and woods, there are many trails to explore and 80 sculptures to find. They can even touch them – musical sculpture Playground by artist collective Greyworld is bound to be a hit.
The Potter Trail, Edinburgh
Harry Potter is big business in tourism but amazingly Edinburgh's Potter Trail is a free walking tour around the Old Town. So grab your wand and don your wizard robe to set off on a magical tour around some of the haunts that inspired JK Rowling as she wrote her books. There are lots of other places to find free fun in Scotland.
National Maritime Museum, London
Calling all wannabe explorers, sailors and pirates: adventures aplenty await you at Greenwich’s National Maritime Museum. The brilliant interactive Ship Ahoy! gallery allows kids to dress as a sea captain, stoke the boiler of a steamship and go crabbing. Or set sail across the Great Map on an interactive game to explore distant lands and discover treasures around the world. There’s a host of free family events at the weekends too.
Diwali, Leicester
Leicester’s Golden Mile will be bathed in light as it becomes the focal point for the city’s lively five-day Diwali festivities. It’s among the biggest celebrations of the Hindu festival of light outside of India so gets very busy but if your kids don’t mind crowds it’s a joyous event to attend. The lights are switched on 8 October and culminate with a fireworks display and entertainment on Diwali Day on 19 October.
New Forest Walking Festival, Hampshire
Get the kids outside and into the joys of rambling on one of the 80 guided walks taking place during this annual walking festival from 14–29 October. Local experts will lead a range of walks around the national park where they'll divulge secrets of the forest, fascinating historic facts, and help you spy the local wildlife along the way. Many are free.
The Manchester Science Festival
Take a robodog for a walk, fly a drone and mix up a storm in a lab. On from 19-29 October, the Manchester Science Festival is the largest science festival in England with a raft of free events and workshops to entertain all age ranges. One highlight is bound to be seeing the award-winning Robots show, which opens at the Museum of Science and Industry during the festival. Manchester has lots of other free things to do.
Go apple picking, various
Orchards, community farms, and country estates up and down the country will host apple-picking events on Apple Day (21 October) – many are free such as the one at Fulham Palace in London, where there'll be storytelling and an apple-cake baking competition too. After you’ve eaten your fill, store your haul away for a rainy day apple-crumble-making-session.
Pick your own pumpkin, Kent
Head out to the fields this year to pick your own pumpkin to carve for Halloween or just to eat. Farmers around the country are now opening up their fields to the public for this fun autumnal activity such as this farm near Ashford in Kent. Its pumpkin fields will be open on 14–15 October and again from 21–29 October. Entry is free, but you pay for what you pick.
Horniman Halloween Fair, London
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Dress up as your favourite spooky creature at a free festival in the gardens of this brilliant south London museum on 28–29 October. There’ll be a parade, pumpkin headdress making sessions and creepy crawly spotting. For £1, join a spooky Halloween trail around the gardens or pick up a pumpkin at the farmers’ market (Saturday only). Don't miss a mooch around the museum’s extraordinary collection of objects – there are lots of things to touch and interact with.
Raid the costume box at the RSC, Stratford-upon-Avon
See your child’s inner thespian released as they rummage in the Royal Shakespeare Company's dressing-up box. Permanently located in the foyer for kids to play with, it’s regularly updated with costumes from the stages. Other free activities for kids include adventure bags, which you can collect from the cloakroom for an hour-long exploration of Shakespeare’s plays and the theatre’s collections.
Winter Droving Festival, Cumbria
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A torchlit procession through Penrith brings this lovely celebration of rural life on 28 October to a close. Everyone's encouraged to dress as sheep, cows or drovers so get the kids to go online beforehand for help making their own animal mask. There are live performances throughout the day, a craft market and a free poi spinning workshop.
Hunt dinosaurs, London
Giant dinosaurs, a maze, sandpit, and a boating lake: there’s a lot to love about Crystal Palace Park in south London. Follow the lakeside trail to spot the extinct beasts – there are over 30 heritage-listed statues here, which were created by Benjamin Waterhouse Hawkins when the park opened in the 1850s. Then head to the playpark for more dino-themed fun with bones and hatching eggs to discover in its sandpit.
Light Up Lancaster, Lancashire
Follow a magical trail around Lancaster’s centre to marvel at the colourful and thought-provoking illuminations that light up the city’s heritage buildings, squares and shops during this fun family-friendly evening event from 3-4 November. There will be music and dance performances too, followed by a firework display on the Saturday night.
Find fairy rings in a forest, various
Autumn is the best time of year for fungi – get the kids spotting different species on branches, rotten logs, and among the grass. The Berks, Bucks & Oxon Wildlife Trust has fantastic nature reserves where you can find fairy rings on a woodland stroll such as Foxholes in Oxfordshire. While the Nature Discovery Centre at Thatcham hosts regular nature events for little ones for a nominal fee.
The Sunday Spot, South London Gallery
You may have to convince the kids to go to an art gallery but once they discover the Sunday Spot sessions at the excellent South London Gallery in Peckham they won’t want to leave. These free, drop-in immersive art activities for families take place every Sunday from 2–4pm with changing themes and activities relating to the latest exhibitions. Best for children aged 3–12.
The Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, London
Inspire the kids to get sporty by following in the footsteps of the world’s greatest athletes on the 2012 trail around east London's amazing sporting venue. Pick up the Explorer’s Guide to Adventures brochure too – another lovely trail that's perfect for little ones with plenty of fun activities and ideas for adventures in this green urban space.
Walk Conwy Castle’s walls, Wales
Play kings and queens on a romp around the walls of Conwy Castle, an enormous structure with 21 towers on the Conwy estuary. From this commanding position you will have fabulous views across to Snowdonia as you go on an adventure around the sturdy walls, which enclose the town. You have to pay to go in its towers but the wall walk is free. You can visit some other Welsh castles for free too.
Water vole spotting, Kielder Water and Forest Park, Northumberland
Wind in the Willows fans will know that Ratty was actually a water vole. These loveable little creatures were once a familiar sight in Kielder Water until the predatory mink wiped them out. With mink numbers now very low in the park, 320 voles were reintroduced here this summer. The best place to spot this protected native species is the wildlife hide on the Forest Drive.
Den building, London
You don’t need to live in the countryside to have a fun day out in the forest. The London Wildlife Trust runs regular free family learning days in Sydenham Hill Wood, an amazing unspoilt woodland in south London, where you will learn about the different trees, play woodland games, build dens and gather around a fire to toast marshmallows.
Spot wild ponies on Dartmoor, Devon
Train future engineers, National Railway Museum, York
Calling all engineers and train spotters: you can create streamlined engines, trial prototypes, hop on board a miniature railway and find out how high-speed travel works in a series of free drop-in workshops at York's wonderful National Railway Museum. There’s a range of activities taking place from 21 October to 4 November to help ease any half-term boredom.
Bath City Farm, Wiltshire
For a fun and free day out with kids big and little, community farms are great. The people of Bath are very lucky to have Bath City Farm on their doorstep, with its wonderful views back over the picturesque city. The farm has lots of livestock for the kids to meet and learn about and a lovely play area too. It's free but donations are welcome.
Enter the Giant’s Lair, Northern Ireland
Dare to enter the Giant’s Lair and you'll encounter an assortment of mythical wood-carved creatures on this delightful story trail within the Slieve Gullion Forest Park. Spot little fairy houses, dodge dragons and creep past giants on the mile-long woodland trail. There’s an adventure playground too.
Spot fallow deer, various
Another of autumn’s most wonderful spectacles is the annual rutting of fallow deer. Watching the males congregate to groan and lock antlers in this fierce mating competition is one way to teach them about the birds and the bees… You can go deer spotting for free in Bushy Park and Richmond Park, London, and Beecraigs Country Park in Scotland.
Get hands on with history, Oxford
Watch the marching band, Windsor
Royal Armouries Museum, Leeds
Little knights and warrior queens will love exploring the array of arms and armour and learning about the combat techniques of Saxons, Vikings and medieval knights at this free museum. There are occasional jousting and falconry displays as well as daily talks by staff dressed as characters from the past.
Modern art activities, Tate Liverpool
From a dedicated space for kids to play in to activity packs and art trails to follow, the modern art gallery on Liverpool Docks is a superb space to get them excited about art. It’s not about quiet contemplation here either – noise is allowed and families are encouraged to talk to about what they see. The gallery runs fun hands-on workshops in half-term as well, suitable for all ages. Tate Liverpool is free to all and children under 12 also have free entry to special exhibitions.
Padstow Christmas Festival, Cornwall
The pretty Cornish port gets into the Christmas spirit from 7-10 December when celebrity chefs and an array of food, drink and craft producers congregate for the annual festival. Inspire older kids to help out in the kitchen this Christmas at one of the chef demonstrations and take little ones to meet the man himself at the grotto. Live music, a lantern parade, fireworks and lashings of local ales and cider mean there's something to appeal to all the family.
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