A half term holiday that incorporates a ‘celebration’ like Halloween makes entertaining the kids much easier. Whether it’s themed events at the local soft play or zoo, pick you own pumpkin, making a broomstick or preparing the house for the special night, there are loads of great ways to capture their imagination and interest. It’s simpler if you can make a loose plan balancing getting out and about, organised activity camps, meeting up with friends, arts and crafts and so on.

Certain activities are a must: Pumpkin carving outside in the garden is a fab way to blow away the cobwebs. We always make a quick trip to cheap stationary shops; it’s a great place to start for easy crafts and making your own decorations.

This year I’m keen to find some different ‘treats’ for their Halloween baskets. They get loads of sweets and chocolate that hang around in the cupboard for months. They’ll get some sweets of course, but they’ve asked for squishies, a torch and bouncy balls so far.

School life and after school clubs can take over during term time, so play dates are wonderful. However, planning can save your house from becoming littered with abandoned fancy dress, collapsed dens and half played board games. Easy-to-make Halloween recipes are the perfect solution to spending time with your kids and getting to know their friends too.

We enjoy walks in the autumn. There are colourful trees to climb, mushrooms and fungi to look at, and fairy hats (the top of acorns) to find and collect. If you have your wellies at the ready, there’s bound to be a puddle or two. Coming home for a hot chocolate is obviously a popular choice.

De-cluttering when the kids are at home can be tricky. But many kids have no idea what’s in the back of the toy cupboards. Asking them to ‘make room for Christmas presents’ might be an answer and charity shops will welcome the donations.  Why not also get organised for class Christmas cards and teachers’ presents? Whilst looking for a spooky treat or two, keep your eyes open for things that your kids can make for their teachers or something special for helping your child this year.