Our October Plans
In my opinion, October is one of the best months of the year. For families, we are treated to a full month of activities, fun and yummy treats. Not only that, but we also get to enjoy a week off school thanks to the October half term.
Being separated from Luke’s dad does make exciting months like this quite difficult to plan. There’s so much on offer in our local area that planning our weekends around said events and each other can be super tricky. Lucky for us, we’ve managed to plan a relatively busy month that includes all of us, so Luke doesn’t have to miss out on anything.
Blackmoor Apple Tasting
We’ve been looking forward to this for weeks now. As soon as it starts to look a bit autumnal outside, I know it’s nearly time for the Blackmoor Apple Tasting event! Every October we head out to the Blackmoor Estate and spend the morning exploring for free. There are loads of stalls with different varieties of apples and pears to taste, mulled cider stalls{!!}, snakes and creepy crawlies for the children to marvel at and hold (last year Luke stroked a snake!), and loads of bespoke crafty stalls selling everything from hand-drawn greeting cards to beautiful homemade wooden platters. There’s also a horse and cart ride, hot dogs/burger stalls, local produce and a food court.
Best of all, you can buy your pumpkins! You can’t get through October without posting at least one pumpkin patch photo on your Instagram or Facebook page! Look out for ours! 😉
Halloween Parties
Luke’s PTA school Halloween party is just before the October half term. This year he wants to dress up as a skeleton, which I’m quite happy with as it means I can find a matching outfit for him and his brother. The PTA is really great at Luke’s school and there’s always lots of fun stuff for the kids to do.
The party is obviously just for Luke and the lower year groups, but we will have our own mini family Halloween party a little closer to the 31st. Luke and Oscar can dress up, we’ll play Halloween games and bake some Halloween treats. Last year I bought Luke a Halloween themed Paw Patrol t shirt which glows in the dark and some colourful glow sticks too. We turned all the lights off and snuggled down to watch some {not so} spooky films together, which I can imagine we will probably do again this year too.
Half Term
This year Mikey has half term off, so we’ve got him to ourselves for an entire week. Money is tight, originally we were going to try and book a couple of nights away at Haven, but that wasn’t an option in the end. We looked around at other family friendly places but decided we’d better just stay at home and see what’s around.
We live in an area where there’s always lots of local events on, so I don’t doubt for a minute that we will have a jam packed half term. Luke’s school stays open through the holidays and hosts activities every day. On one of the days it’s £2 for as long as like on a bouncy castle with refreshments etc provided. I imagine we will definitely go to that! There are also ninja assault courses and baking days which could be worth visiting. We’ll also pop around to visit my Grandpa (great PawPaw to the boys) and pack up the wellies for a few muddy woodland walks.
Halloween Crafts
Can you get through a school holiday without doing some sort of crafting or activities with the kids? We have a huge supply of crafts at home after setting up the ultimate craft kit and so we will definitely be getting creative. Previously, we’ve made Halloween Toilet Roll Bats, Ghostly Garlands and Tissue Paper Pumpkins, as well as our very own 3-in-1 Halloween party game. I’ve got loads of ideas for crafts and other relocates bits and bobs on my Halloween Pinterest board, so I’ll be using that for inspiration.
Fireworks Night
I have no idea why, but our fireworks night is being held on the 27th October, so we will definitely be attending that! We love on the same road as the park, so it’s not far for us to walk which avoids that problem of having to find somewhere to park the car at shows like this. I imagine that we will have to get some form of ear defenders for Oscar – any recommendations? We’ll probably also do some Firework Night themed process art in the morning to get us pumped up for our night out.
Wizard Weekend At The Watercress Line
Another local event that we are all super excited to attend! A couple of years ago we visited Thomas and Friends and rode all the steamys from Alton to Arlesford. Just before Halloween, we will be visiting The Watercress Line again but this time we’ll be dressed up in our spooky Halloween costumes for their Wizard Weekend. As a massive Harry Potter fan, I’m excited to explore the carriage they used in the Harry Potter films and walk along the official Kings Cross footbridge from the film. There’s the opportunity to dress up in Hogwarts robes and take some magical selfies, which I definitely won’t be passing up. There’s also loads of other cool stuff, like seeing owls and falcons, finding out how witches broom sticks are made, witnessing some real life magic and, obviously, there will be face painting! We’re heading there on Sunday 28th but the weekend starts on Saturday 27th October.
Finkley Down Farm
Towards the end of the month Luke’s got a school trip planned to visit Hampshire/s award winning Finkley Down Farm. They’ve been learning basic biology and reading from reference books, so the trip ties in with their curriculum. I haven’t ever been to Finkley Down Farm before but I am pretty sure that Luke’s visited the farm before with his dad. That was a pretty long time ago though and it’s always way better to go somewhere exciting with all your mates, so I’m sure he will love it!
Halloween!
We will be enjoying our own mini Halloween party, watching films and eating snacks. We will, of course, be carving pumpkins as well and then roasting the seeds! This year I think I’m going to paint my pumpkin. Luke has hinted he might enjoy doing that more than carving as well, so I best stock up on some paints! I’m thinking of painting a unicorn…it seems to be the done thing!
Lukeosaurus And Me
Rachael is a 31 year old mum to 10 year old Luke and 5 year old Oscar. She lives in England and writes about family life, crafts, recipes, parenting wins(and fails), as well as travel, days out, fashion and living the frugal lifestyle.
22 Comments
Rebecca | AAUBlog
we have some similar things planned. It is such a fun time of year 🙂
michelle twin mum
It sounds like you’ll have a great month and I love th esound of the Blackmoor apple tasting event. Mich x
Charli
This sounds like a great month ahead! Its brilliant that the school stays open with fun activities through half term, I imagine that’s a lifesaver for many parents!
C x
Bella at Dear Mummy Blog
We’ll be visiting Finkly again this year as it’s local to us x Love the Watercress Line and haven’t been there since Thomas Day x
Lukeosaurus And Me
I’ve never been myself, but Luke’s excited! We are REALLY local to the Watercress Line so we do go on it quite often, my other half especially likes the Ale Train. 😉
Leanne | www.crestingthehill.com.au
You’re so lucky that you have so much on offer that is cheap and kid friendly. That bouncy castle for $2 sounds like every child’s dream, and then add in fireworks and Halloween – so much fun and lots of variety – you can’t ask for better than that!
Lukeosaurus And Me
Luke’s school is amazing and always puts on loads of activities for the kids that are super fun and afforadable.
Annette, 3 Little Buttons
It looks like you have so many wonderful places to visit and plans to get stuck into for October. Which reminds me that we need to get a move on with planning our own activities. The one thing I would love to do is go pumpkin picking x
Lukeosaurus And Me
We sure do, it’s a busy month but I’m really excited for it all. 🙂
MELANIE EDJOURIAN
The Halloween party sounds like fun. Mine love them although I don’t think we are going to any at the moment. No skeletons here we have a Sully, a witch and an undecided.
Lukeosaurus And Me
Undecided are the best ones, a mix match of anything and everything!
Sally Akins
Sound like you’ve got a fantastic month ahead – I always love this time of year, especially the half term holiday!
Lukeosaurus And Me
The half term holiday is great in October, isn’t it? There’s always loads to do!
Rachel
You sound like you have a busy October, just like us! We’re looking forward to half term too!
Anosa
It seems like you have some impressive plans, I am only doing half of the whats on your list.
Lindsey bray
Wow sounds like a very busy and very fun month u have planned I love this time of year
Louise
It sounds like you guys have a jam-packed October to look forward to. I’ve got some Legoland vouchers that need using before the end of the month, so I’m hoping the weather will stay as it is (ie: not freezing cold and chucking it down with rain LOL) and we can head down there for the day. I really want to find a nearby pumpkin patch to visit as well, but at the moment I’m struggling with that one!
Louise x
Linda Hobbis
My kids absolutely adore Halloween too. We went to pick our own pumpkin last year but the farm was shut because everyone had been earlier. Organisation is key with visiting these place.
Dena
I am so looking forward to Halloween this year! Cannot wait to dress up and go to a party!
Kerry Norris
Sounds like you’ll have a great half term. My daughter loves Halloween so I’ve been trawling Pinterest to find things to craft and decorate etc
Fatima
Walk to the muddy mudlands and visit to the granddads house sounds great’! I still need to plan something for half term!
Mud Fridays
What a lovely set of plans! I really like the sound of the Watercress line and their wizard weekend. I wish we were closer as we definately would have visited x