Half term: Things to do during the school holiday this October

Half term is under way for many and just in time for… a whole new set of rules . Now it’s not just the kids you’re worried will be left climbing the walls for a week or two (or longer if the rumoured circuit-breaker lockdown comes in).

But don’t despair. Alfresco socialising is still allowed (in groups of up to six) and autumn brings an abundance of virtual and IRL opportunities for keeping little ones and teens entertained. From treehouses in the Cotswolds to cookery classes to livestream at home, this is your half-term hero directory.

It’s not too late to book a cosy autumn break. For a seaside retreat, six-bedroom Hastings House in Sussex should do the trick. There’s a courtyard garden with a barbecue at the back and Hastings Pier is a short stroll away (from £2,515 for three nights, bramleyandteal.co.uk).

Further west, Grade II listed Durslade Farmhouse in Somerset sleeps up to 12 (with the rule of six, everyone get a room and a bathroom to themselves). Bathrooms have free-standing tubs and the living area is kept toasty with a statement fireplace (from £500 per night, coolstays.com). If you prefer a return to nature, Feldon Valley lodges sleep families of up to seven in a Cotswolds forest (FROM £200, feldonvalley.co.uk), while Kip Hideaways’ Log Cabin in Herefordshire is in the middle of seven acres of woodland. The eco cabin sleeps up to five, and kids will love the rope swing and toasting marshmallows at the firepit (from £125 a night, kiphideaways.com).

Sometimes nothing beats the comforts of a hotel. Surrey favourite Beaverbrook is offering a family escape with complimentary children’s meals and a kids’ club — the ideal time for you and your SO to head to the spa (beaverbrook.co.uk). Oxfordshire’s Mollie’s Motel Diner, from Soho House, has a Mini Mollie’s menu and small foodies will love the nachos and burgers (molliesmotel.com). For a bit more seclusion, The Fish Hotel is on the Farncombe Estate in the Cotswolds. Opt for one of three treehuts (which sleep two adults and two kids) with outdoor bathtubs (thefishhotel.co.uk). Closer to home, The Lime Tree hotel has just opened in Belgravia opposite the teen favourite Peggy Porschen bakery (from £125, limetreehotel.co.uk), while children staying in a deluxe family room at the Marriott Hotel, Regent’s Park, will receive a selection of Elmer The Patchwork Elephant gifts (from £166, marriott.co.uk). The Stratford’s half-term offer is a crowd-pleaser. Book a room over the break and you’ll get a second interconnecting room half price, plus popcorn and in-room movies for the kids, wine for the adults, and full English Breakfast for all the next morning (from £136, thestratford.com).

Can’t get away? Be a tourist at home. The ArcelorMittal tunnel slide is extending its hours for half term (corporate.arcelormittal.com), while the London Eye has advance tickets from £24.50 (londoneye.com). And Tier 2 doesn’t have to get in the way of museum trips. The temporarily renamed Museum of Fundon (London) has two free digital family trails in October (museumoflondon.org.uk); Greenwich’s National Maritime Museum has virtual sailor and space experience workshops (rmg.co.uk); and the Roald Dahl Museum has an “at home” discovery centre (roalddahl.com). Elsewhere online, Escape Hunt is offering virtual escape rooms (escapehunt.com); Disney on Stage has craft workshops (disneyonstage.co.uk); and you can support Islington’s Pleasance Theatre by tuning in to The Snail and the Whale (tallstories.org.uk).

For the hottest cooking classes this autumn, you don’t have to leave the house. Migrateful is running Zoom-based workshops taught by refugee and migrant chefs up to four times a week (migrateful.org), The Cooking Shed has Zoom tutorials for three- to 17-year-olds for £25 a class (thecookingshed.com), while Proud2BeMe is hosting a cooking and baking class for teenage girls on October 26 (eventbrite.co.uk) and chef Natasha Shamji’s half-term cooking camp for seven to 12-year-olds lasts all week from October 26 (£16.76, eventbrite.co.uk).

If the kids are going to be glued to their screens, make sure they’re watching the right stuff. An all-star remake of The Secret Garden (Sky Cinema, October 23) features Colin Firth and Julie Walters and season two of The Mandalorian, with the adorable Baby Yoda, is also on its way (Disney+, October 30). To get into the spirit of Halloween, check out The Witches, reviving the Dahl book with Anne Hathaway (PVOD, October 26). If you prefer screen-time alfresco, Pop Up Screens’ Peckham installation has screenings of Wallace and Gromit: Curse of the Were-Rabbit, Moana and Toy Story 4, while Rooftop Film Club has relocated to Ally Pally with plenty of kid-friendly flicks (rooftoopfilmclub.com). In north-west London, The Luna Drive In Cinema is screening creepy classics such as Goosebumps and The Addams Family (lunadriveincinema.com, from October 23). And Meridian Water’s The Drive In (thedrivein.london) has a mix of new blockbusters and old favourites.

To truly keep your distance, take to the water. Go Boat’s self-driving picnic boats are running out of Paddington and Kingston-upon-Thames (from £79, goboat.co.uk), while West India Quay’s Skuna Boats is running a “boat out to help out” scheme throughout October for barbecue and hot tub boats: crews of six will get 50 per cent off on Mondays to Wednesdays (skunaboats.com). And Thames Rocket has a Fantastic Four offer for families with two children: £99 for a 50-minute speedboat experience (thamesrockets.com).

Thank God it’s autumn. October is the perfect time to catch rutting season in Richmond Park, and Polesden Lacey, Scotney Castle and Sheffield Park are among National Trust gardens open within a short journey from London (nationaltrust.org.uk). In the capital, artists have taken over the London Wetland Centre in Barnes (wwt.org.uk), while Kew Gardens launches a Gruffalo Adventure from tomorrow (kew.org). If Victorian London is more your thing, try Story Tourists’ interactive walking tour based on Robert Louis Stevenson’s The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (storytourist.com). It’s self-guided via an app so you don’t need to mix.

Halloween falls on a Saturday this year so spend your Friday (and all week) getting crafty. The Royal Parks is putting on a virtual activity week (royalparksorg.uk); and English Heritage and has an online beastly mask-making tutorial (English-heritage.org.uk). This year, families are encouraged to replace trick-or-treating with displaying Jack-o’-lanterns in their windows as part of The Big Neighbourhood Pumpkin Trail.

Choose your pumpkin picking spot wisely and book in advance. Secretts of Milford (secretts.co.uk) is a 50-minute train ride from London’s Waterloo. Tickets are £2 and there will be a barbecue on-site. Further afield, Cotswold Farm Park is including entry to its PYO pumpkin patch in the admission price (cotswoldfarmpark.co.uk). At Four Winds Farm (facebook.com/farmfourwinds) in Kent there will be a scarecrow hut as well as tea and cakes.