“I'm so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers.” With crisper days, a much needed half-term (how are the kids so tired already?!) and the thrills and chills of Halloween, it’s a great month to enjoy some family days out.

This newsletter brings fresh inspiration to make the most of October with a selection of 20 things to do in London this month; 21 National Trust half term and Halloween events; plus 8 more ideas for this weekend.

And there’s more October joy to come: my next newsletter will bring you FREE half term and Halloween activities. Make sure you’re subscribed so you don’t miss out!

September felt like a fresh start for me, as well as the kids. With them settled in school, I’ve enjoyed several child-free cultural visits.

I caught up on a couple of shows I missed before Summer - seeing both Crown to Couture at Kensington Palace and DIVA at V&A was a perfect outing with a friend.

I’m trying to keep up the vast swathe of new exhibition openings. I was reminded of the energy of the British fashion scene at REBEL: 30 Years of London Fashion at the Design Museum and the rampant sexism of the 1990s in Sarah Lucas: Happy Gas at Tate Britain. I’ve contemplated human mortality at Marina Abramović at Royal Academy; reflected on music as a keeper of cultural memory in Julianknxx: Chord Rememory of Flight at Barbican and been wowed by the exquisite handiwork in Treasures of Gold and Silver Wire at Guildhall Art Gallery. Expect more thoughts on some - or all - of these in forthcoming episodes of The Exhibitionists podcast.

I won the lottery - the Open House one that is - and had a bucket list visit up the BT Tower. I continued seeing London from on high with visits to Europe’s newest - and highest - free viewing platform Horizon 22; and to the top of the iconic Battersea Power Station’s chimney via Lift 109.

As a family, we visited two new National Trust places - that’s new to us of course, they’ve been there for centuries. We were totally charmed by the 14th century moated manor house Ightham Mote in Kent, whilst Museum Boy rated Cliveden’s maze a 10/10. At times I thought we might never find the exit!

Museum Girl is growing up - and I’m here for it. She attended her first ever evening museum opening - Wallace & Gromit: The Wrong Trousers turns 30! at the Cartoon Museum, where she tucked into cheese and crackers and headed straight to the front for the speeches. And she was entranced by the ‘formidable, feminist, satirical, and spectacular’ Carnesky’s Showwomen Sideshow Spectacular, part of Bartholomew Fair, especially the clown who handed her a bouquet of dried lavender.

Here’s to another month of special moments for us all.

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October 2023: What’s on London with kids

For boo-rilliant half term inspiration, check out my comprehensive Halloween and October half term 2023 blog post. And I’ll be sharing free October half events in my next newsletter.

Meanwhile, here’s 20 great family-friendly events to see you through the first few weeks of October:

1. Craft invention prototypes, take an exhibition tour with a Victorian inventor, get your face painted and much more at Family Day: Out of this World at The National Archives, TW9. 1 October 2023. Free, with some spaces left for the paid inflatable planetarium.

2. Meet Astrid Lindgren’s Pippi Longstocking with a storytelling performance by Sofie Miller at Shoe Lane Library, EC4. 4 October 2023. Free, book.

3. Free 'tiny revolution' Fun Palaces in London include artsdepot, Half Moon Theatre, Hoxton Hall, Morden Hall Park and St Margaret’s House. Events runs between 6-8 October 2023, check individual listings. Free, book/drop in. 

4. Crawl inside a giant head made from hand-dyed, quilted jersey and be enveloped in colour and tactility at Daisy Collingridge’s first solo show, Splanchnic at TJ Boulting, W1. 6 October-11 November 2023. Free, drop in.

5. Make a pledge for change with author-illustrator Lucy Farfort (7 October 2023) and get to know Vlad, the fabulous Vampire with Flavia Z. Drago (21 October 2023) at Tate Britain, SW1. Free, drop in.

6. In the lead up to Diwali, help illustrate a giant mandala in The Big Draw: Rangoli mirrored cosmos at Peninsula Square, SE10. 7-8, 14-15, 21-22 and 28-29 October. Free, book.

7. Make clay mushrooms and learn about fungal science in Sunday Sessions: Fungi day at the Garden Museum. 8 October 2023. There’s also Seed packet drawing (1 October 2023) and Spotty pumpkin painting (14 October 2023). Free, drop in.

8. Celebrate the Black natural historians of the past, present and future with Explorers family festival: Black natural history at the Natural History Museum, SW7. 8 October 2023. Free, book.

9. Draw, collage, play with textures, make models and join a walking drawing tour to explore architecture on the Family day: look, hear, touch at the Royal Academy, W1. 8 October 2023. Free, drop in.

10. Ghanaian sculptor El Anatsui takes over the iconic Turbine Hall with his vast, cascading sculptures. 10 October 2023-14 April 2024. Combine with UNIQLO Tate Play: Shadow and light holiday make studio (21-29 October 2023). SE1. Free, drop in.

11. Bloomsbury Festival family events this year include a Peter Pan family adventure walk, theatre storytelling and a double bill of interactive theatre space travel. Select dates between 13-22 October 2023. Free/paid; book/drop in.

12. Customise your amulet at the Petrie Museum whilst you discover the importance of protection in life and the afterlife in ancient civilisations. 14 October 2023. WC1. Free, drop in/book.

13. From Hokusai to Pokémon, Studio Ghibli, robots and beyond, take young visitors on an atmospheric and playful journey in Japan: Myths to Manga at the Young V&A, E2. Opens 14 October 2023. Paid, book.

14. Join a singing session, try steel pans, see lovingly restored cars, hear storytelling and more in 75 ways to celebrate Windrush75 in just one day! at Woolwich Works, SE18. 14 October 2023. Paid, book.

15. Use chant, poetry and interactive cartography to celebrate the flora of African and Caribbean folklore with Lady Papaya at Chelsea Physic Garden, SW3. 15 October 2023. Paid, book. Ages 11+. 

16. Have fun in a musical playground, make musical patterns with Duplo, and discover weird instruments in Turn it up: The power of music at the Science Museum, SW7. 19 October 2023-6 May 2024. Paid, book.

17. Nature and illusion converge in Petrichor: Mat Collishaw at Kew Gardens, TW9. 20 October 2023-7 April 2024. Combine with We’re Going On a Bear Hunt (21-29 October 2023). Paid.

18. Set to Stun: Designing and filming Sci-Fi in West London at Gunnersbury Park Museum showcases sets, costumes, prosthetics, props and artistic visualisations from film and TV classics. 20 October 2023-12 July 2024. W5. Free, drop in.

19. Explore the intricacies of the human body with family friendly activities in World Anatomy Day at Barts Pathology Museum, EC1. 21 October 2023. Free.

20. Boo-k the Halloween Fair at the Horniman Museum before it sells out! Expect circus skills and hooping, spooky tunes from We Bring Good Disco, a costume parade, party games, craft workshops and more. 28 October 2023. SE23. Paid, book.

Looking for activities for Under 5s only? There are 30 places with dozens of events in my Autumn Under 5s cultural play sessions post. In addition, there’s these newly-announced Under 5 activities:

• Squish Space at Barbican, EC2 (2-8 October 2023; free, book/drop in);

• Tuesday Tots at the Garden Museum, SE1 (7, 11 & 31 October 2023; free, drop in);

• Stay and Play Thursdays at the Boathouse Studios, IG11 (every Thursday from 19 October 2023; free, drop in)

• A FREE Rug Rhymes session for London Literature Festival at the National Poetry Library, SE1 (20 October 2023; free, drop in).

I’ll share more October events for all ages as they are announced over on my Instagram stories.

21 National Trust places to visit this Halloween and Half Term [AD]

This Halloween half term, have a spook-tacular time at a National Trust place. Their family-friendly events are designed to delight, rather than terrify. Go on a monster hunt through woodlands, make herbal potions in walled gardens and carve pumpkins in historic stables. Find ghosts floating in majestic showrooms and pumpkins hidden in beautiful gardens.

Make the most of the seasons and embrace autumn with outdoor trails and games, a Fungi Festival and nature printing. Hot chocolate and seasonal cafe treats post-leaf stomping are optional!

Here’s 21 National Trust places in London and the South East region with family-friendly activities this October half-term:

1. Take The Tale of the Monster Hunter (14-29 October 2023) and carve your own pumpkin (27-29 October 2023) at Osterley Park and House, West London.

2. Follow resident cat Roscoe’s footprints trail, play autumn bingo and outdoor games, make a leaf crown and tour working stables at Ham House and Garden, Richmond. 21-29 October 2023.

3. Enjoy Diwali workshops and Community Tales storytelling at Morden Hall Park, SW London. 21, 26 & 28 October 2023.

4. Pick up a skeleton mask and map to begin your Funnybones-inspired adventure at Mottisfont, Hampshire. Until 5 November 2023.

5. Be inspired by the lives of iconic people who changed the world in the Little People - Big Dreams exhibition and trail at Polesden Lacey, Surrey. Until 29 October 2023.

6. Experience the glamour of Basildon Park, Berkshire as it is illuminated and make a vibrant rangoli bookmark at the Festival of Light and Colour. 14-31 October 2023.

7. There’s pumpkins, witches hats, spells and plenty of tricks and treats on the Count Frogula’s Halloween half term trail at Nymans, Sussex. 21-29 October 2023.

8. Half term activities at the Fungi Festival at Emmetts Garden, Kent include making toadstall crafts, a graffiti masterclass and a Spooky Fungi Finale with pumpkin carving, apple bobbing and dog costume show. Festival runs 6-29 October 2023.

9. Unlock your magical powers on the Spell Quest at Bodiam Castle, Sussex. Plus best dressed competitions, halloween crafts and medieval archery demonstration on select dates. Trail 14-29 October 2023, events select dates.

10. Learn about the lifecycle of squash on the Pumpkin trail at Chartwell, Kent. 21-29 October 2023.

11. Make your own herbal potion on the Enchanting Herbs and Potions trail, plus spellbinding crafts at Hughenden, Bucks. 21-29 October 2023.

12. Spot weird things in trees at Stowe Gardens, Bucks. Solve the puzzles, find the clues and take some awesome selfies. 21-29 October 2023, with Apple Harvest Weekend 21-22 October 2023.

13. Hunt down the naughty ghosts hiding around the garden on the trail at Ightham Mote, Kent. 21-29 October 2023.

14. Locate all the skeletons or discover the Secret of Scotney with two halloween trails for different ages at Scotney Castle, Kent. 21-29 October 2023.

15. Find out what magickal creatures are bringing to the Wandering Witch’s All Hallows Eve party at Claremont Landscape Garden, Surrey. 14-29 October 2023.

16. Haunted showrooms (22-30 October 2023), pumpkin hunt, spooky activity trail and broomsticks at Hatchlands Park, Surrey. 21-31 October 2023.

17. See what rascally games the impish fairies have been up to on the Fairies and fantastic fungi trail at Batemans, Sussex. 21–29 October 2023.

18. Solve the spooky mystery of the stolen Halloween trail pumpkin with activities, games and challenges at Petworth House and Park, Sussex. 14-29 October 2023.

19. Discover missing pumpkins, magic meetings, a mystical witches coven and Spookiful Bothy at Standen House and Gardens, Sussex. 14-31 October 2023.

20. Help Wilma the Witch track down stolen pages from her spell book to lift the curse on Hinton Ampner, Hampshire. 14-30 October 2023.

21. Search for mysterious and bizarre ingredients in the gardens at The Vyne, Hampshire. Complete the witch’s potion for a sweetie prize. 21 October-5 November 2023.

Tag me @museummum and National Trust South East @southeastnt in your half term photos on Instagram - we’d love to see how you get on!

Weekend activities: 30 September-1 October 2023

Just in case you need some last-minute ideas, all of these family-friendly activities still have space for this weekend. Click the links to check times, any costs or booking details.

1. Meet Miss Nightingale (30 September 2023) or Meet Mary Seacole and mix a medicine (1 October 2023) at Florence Nightingale Museum.

2. Families Create: Roll, squash, pinch! at Zabludowicz Collection. 30 September 2023.

3. Autumn celebration weekend with Deen City Farm at Ham House and Garden. 30 September 2023.

4. Doodle stitched wildlife workshop at the Glades, Bromley. 30 September 2023.

5. LGBTQ+ family-friendly zine making workshop at Mitcham Library, 30 September 2023.

6. Fulham Palace Apple Day, 1 October 2023.

7. Black History Month storytelling and quilting workshop at Pitzhanger Open Sundays, 1 October 2023.

8. Friends of Lloyd Park Oktoberfest in Lloyd Park, 1 October 2023.

Have a great month and let me know if you get up to anything fun! I’ll be back in touch in a couple of weeks with a guide to free October half term events.

Bye for now,

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