20 awesome things to do in London with kids: October/Halloween 2025

There’s lots on at Half Moon this month, including a Free Family Fun Day featuring storytelling, music and movement on the 4th; interactive show evim [my home] (2-7s) from 10th-11th; and dreamy dance-theatre experience The Sleep Show (4+) on the 25th. Free/paid.
Hampstead’s Well Walk Theatre is screening three family-friendly shows this month, including Hampstead Haunted House from 4th-5th, Petit Pierre in Transylvania from 11th October to 2nd November and Cappy and the Whale from 18th-19th. Paid.
Ryan Gander: I’ve Fallen Foul of My Desire will run at Camden Arts Projects from 15th October to 18th January. Referencing humanity’s ongoing obsession with the accumulation of ‘stuff’, the exhibition will feature sculptures, animatronics and installations. Free.
Halloween at Kenwood runs from 17th-22nd. As twilight falls, journey into the heart of Kenwood’s haunted estate, where every path is filled with eerie surprises, shimmering lights, and mystical installations on this brand-new illuminated Halloween trail. Paid.
Halloween at Kew is on from 17th-25th. Watch out for tricks in the forgotten fairground and beware the monsters lurking in Frankenstein’s laboratory. Be careful of giant spiders waiting in creepy cobwebs, ghastly ghouls and wicked witches. Paid.
Festival of the Girl returns to Islington’s Business Design Centre from 18th-19th. Get your girls stuck into engineering, martial arts, sword fighting, finance, weightlifting, coding, politics, filmmaking, psychology, STEM, skateboarding and loads more. Paid.
London Zoo’s new ZooTown role-play centre opens on the 18th, inviting kids aged 3-8 to become mini-zookeepers. The zoo is also hosting Halloween Family Fun from 25th October to 2nd November, featuring everything from pumpkin patches to eerie animal talks. Paid.
MathsWorld, a new immersive mathematics-discovery centre, will open on the South Bank from the 19th. Expect a wealth of interactive maths-based experiences focused on everything from code-breaking and AI to geometry and probability. Paid.
Head to Leighton House on the 25th for Family Fun: The Mystery of the Stolen Painting. Children and their adults will work together to discover who stole Frederic Leighton’s famous painting, in an actor-led interactive crime-mystery puzzle. Paid.
UNIQLO Tate Play Holiday Make Studio: Home runs from 25th October to 2nd November on Tate Modern’s Turbine Hall Bridge. Step into a hands-on studio and discover your own idea of home through making, playing and connecting. Free.
Barbican’s Family Film Week is on from 25th October to 2nd November and there’s something for every taste, from Hola Frida!, an animation about Frida Kahlo, to 80s classic E.T. and contemporary favourite Kpop Demon Hunters, plus lots more. Paid.
Head to Bow Arts on the 26th for Bow Families: Making Wearable Body Parts and Creating Surrealist Exquisite Corpses with Nicola McEvoy. Use accessible materials such as recycled fabrics, cardboard cutouts and foam to make your own Frankenstein creations. Free.
The Enchanted Cinema: Monsters and Magic will be at the Horniman from 26th-27th. Led by a professional musician, create a magical one-of-a-kind soundtrack to on-screen works. Then, on the 1st of November, check out the museum’s Day of the Dead Family Festival. Paid.
There’s plenty of Halloween fun to be had at Big Penny Social this year, from a special Halloween Bounce House from 27th-31st (relaxed session on the 29th) to a Family Disco: Halloween Special – featuring plenty of spooky tunes – on 2nd November. Paid.
Family Halloween: Stories from the Enchanted Garden are taking over Chelsea Physic Garden from 27th-31st. Guided by lantern light, follow secret paths to the Enchanted Cottage, where Magical Storyteller Emily will captivate audiences with spooky (but fun!) tales. Paid.
Discovery Days: Hair Raising Halloween is back in Hyde Park from 28th-30th. Investigate feely boxes in the Witches’ Den, explore a hair-raising nature trail, learn about the bats in The Royal Parks, listen to a spooky story and lots more. Free.
There’s plenty of freaky fun happening at the Foundling Museum this half term, with creative workshops including Haunted Halloween Lanterns, Deadly Tin Designs, Spooky Spiders Animations and Scary Skeletons running from 28th-31st. Paid.
Halloween Spooky Walks are back at Lauderdale House on the 31st. This immersive theatrical experience will feature eerie decorations, lots of jokes and audience participation, with petrrifying performances by more than 20 professional actors. Paid.
Ally Pally Fireworks return on the 31st of October and 1st of November. Expect fireworks, sets from DJ Luck & MC Neat, an ice disco, a German bier festival, a bonfire, ghost tours of the Palace’s Victorian theatre and a spooky fancy-dress competition. Paid.
Albany’s Halloween Kids Disco for 3-8s takes place on 2nd November. DJ Brigitte Aphrodite will be bringing joyful, spooky, party vibes perfect for mini musos, with family-friendly dancefloor bangers and party decorations created by the theatre’s over-65s art club. Paid.