October Half Term 2025 – Free & Low Cost Family Activities

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October Half Term 2025 – Free & Low Cost Family Activities

It seems like only yesterday that the kids went back to school, but lo and behold it’s October already and the half term holidays are about to kick off. I’ve pulled together my usual round-up of holidays activities in Edinburgh that won’t break the bank, i.e. that are either free or very low cost. I hope you find something you’ll enjoy.

MUSEUMS

Edinburgh has a fantastic choice of family friendly museums, most of which offer free entry. Many of them also host free events during schools holidays. See below for our favourite museums and some of the special events taking place over the October Half Term holidays.

National Museum of Scotland

Open daily, 10am – 5pm. The museum has several interactive galleries aimed at families, and a host of free trails to choose from. Check out the online Family Hub for more details.

Special Events:

Wild Wings of Hope
Weds 15 – Fri 17 October, 10:30am – 4pm
Free, drop-in

National Galleries Scotland

Open daily, 10am – 5pm. Free family trails, art trolley and sensory bags at the National; Free family trails, sensory walks and ‘Art Space 2’ activity room at the Modern; Free family trail and art trolley at the Portrait. Find out more on the Galleries website or read our Art Space 2 review and The National with Kids review.

Special Events:

Your Art World, at the Portrait Gallery
Sat 11 October, 10:30am – 12p,
Free, drop-in

Shapes of Change, at the National Gallery
Mon 13 – Fri 17 October, 2pm – 4pm
Free, drop-in

Shapes of Change Relaxed Morning, at the National Gallery
Tues 14 Oct, 10:30am – 12pm
Free, booking essential

Museum on the Mound

Open 10-5pm Tuesdays to Fridays, and 1-5pm Saturdays and Bank Holidays. Learn about the (hi)story of banking and money, with lots of hands-on activities scattered throughout the galleries. Indoor family trails, sensory bags, and sensory garden trail available, ask at reception.

Find out more on the Museum on the Mound website or read our Museum on the Mound review.

Special Events

Museum on the Mound has fun, free family-friendly activities, trails and handling tables throughout the October holidays (many thanks to Hannah from the museum for sending this via email):

“Get hands-on with our collection by dropping by our handling tables. These change every 2 weeks, so please visit more than once to design a banknote, explore coins from around the world and to discover some weird and wonderful currencies.”
“Discover your own story power with a Create a Coin Story booklet, and our Find a Fable origami fortune tellers.”
“Find the spooky squirrels haunting our Museum with our Halloween trail or take part in our animal spotting trail.”

City Art Centre

Open daily, 10am – 5pm. Family ArtSpace available daily, packed full of art materials and worksheets relating to the relevant exhibitions, and they now also have two sensory backpacks that families can borrow. Find out more on the City Art Centre website or read our City Art Centre review.

Museum of Edinburgh

Open daily, 10am – 5pm. Free family activity area packed full of art materials and worksheets relating to the galleries, as well as a reading corner and some replica objects you can explore. They now also have a new Sensory Room, and two sensory backpacks that families can borrow. Find out more on the Museum of Edinburgh website or read our Museum of Edinburgh review.

Museum of Scottish Fire Heritage

Fantastic wee museum open Tuesdays to Saturdays, 10am to 4pm. It tells the story of Scottish firefighting from its inception to the present day. Very family friendly, with interactive displays, dressing up, reading nook, and ‘search and explore’ bags to borrow. Find out more on the Museum of Scottish Fire Heritage website, or read our Museum of Scottish Fire Heritage review.

St Cecilia’s Hall & Music Museum

St Cecilia’s Hall & Music Museum is open Tuesdays to Saturdays, 10am to 5pm (last entry at 4:30pm). Admission is free. It’s a wee gem of a museum to explore, with a year round family trail and interactive discovery drawers in the Wolfson Gallery that are particularly fun for children. Find out more on the St Cecilia’s Hall website or in our St Cecilia’s Hall review.

Special Events:

Halloween Family Trail
Thurs 26 June until Sat 30 August; various time slots during opening hours
Free, pre-booking recommended

Lauriston Castle

Entrance to Lauriston Castle itself is by pre-booked guided tour only, but the grounds are free to access daily from 8am to 7:30pm and are a popular spot for walks and pics. Lauriston Castle now also has a sensory backpack, which families can borrow for free. Keep your eye on the Lauriston Castle Facebook page for any closures to the grounds due to weather warnings. Mimi’s cafe is open daily 9am – 5pm; toilets are open 10am – 4pm.

Special Events

Autumn Sakura
Sat 11 & Sun 12 October, 11am – 3pm
Free, drop-in

The Big Draw
Mon 13 & Fri 17 October, 10am – 12pm
Free, drop-in

Museum of Childhood

Open daily, 10am – 5pm. Plenty of hands-on activities to keep kids busy, including games, dressing up and a story corner. They now also have two sensory backpacks which families can borrow for free. Can be combined with a visit to the Scottish Storytelling Centre across from it, which has a nice cafe including an interactive story wall with lots of cubby holes to open and explore. Find out more on the Museum of Childhood website.

LIBRARIES

A couple of Edinburgh libraries have advertised special events for the October holidays:

Corstorphine Library

October School Holiday Programme
Includes: VR Session (Mon), Explore Learning workshop (Weds), Spooky Storytime (Thurs), Spooky Crafternoon (Fri), and more. All free and drop-in.

Drumbrae Library Hub

School Half Term Programme

Includes: Holiday Craft (Mon), Edinburgh 900 Storytelling Event (Tues), Monster Masks (Weds), Kids Number Bingo (Fri), Comic Making (Sat), and more! All free and drop-in, except a drawing workshop on the Thursday but it’s already booked up anyway.

Gilmerton Library

Edinburgh 900 Storytelling Event
Sat 11 October at 12pm
Free, booking required

Granton Library

Make Your own Shadow Theatre
Mon 13 October at 2pm
Free, drop-in

Golden Autumn with Storyteller Claire McNicol
Tues 14 October at 11am
Free, drop-in

McDonald Road Library

A Journey Through Scottish History
Thurs 16 October, 2pm – 3pm
Free, booking required

Morningside Library

Autumn Craft
Fri 17 October, 2:30pm – 3:30pm
Free, booking required

Newington Library

Spooky Dance Storytime with Fergus McNicol
Thurs 16 October at 10:30am
Free, drop-in

Oxgangs Library

Edinburgh 900 Storytelling Workshop
Sat 11 October at 2pm
Free, drop-in

Help Tidy the Garden for Winter (all ages welcome)
Mon 13 October, 2pm – 4pm
Free, drop in; juice/tea/coffee and biscuits provided

Piershill Library

Drawing Workshop for Children
Tues 14 October, 3pm – 4pm
Free, booking required

Portobello Library

Halloween Treasure Trail
Runs throughout the October holidays until Sat 18 October
Free, drop-in

Stockbridge Library

Edinburgh 900 Storytelling Session
Monday 13 October, 2:30pm – 3:30pm
Free, drop-in

Wester Hailes Library

Zoo Tails
Mon 13 October at 3:45pm
Free, drop-in

Other Regular Library Events

Many of the other Edinburgh City Libraries also run regular free events throughout the year, including during schools holidays. Too many to list them all, but activities include weekly Bookbug sessions, board game meet-ups, arts & crafts afternoons, Lego clubs, family story time and more! Unfortunately, there’s not a central page that lists all the events, you need to check out each library individually. We have found the best place to do that is on Facebook. Why not go and bookmark your nearest library on Facebook now, via these links below:

OTHER INDOOR ACTIVITIES & EVENTS

The Wee Play Hub at Ocean Terminal

The Wee Play Hub on the first floor of Ocean Terminal is open Wednesdays & Fridays – Sundays, 11am – 3pm, and Thursdays 12pm – 4pm. As well as open play, they also have a weekly programme of free drop-in events including art classes, crafts, story time and Lego club. Check out the Wee Hub Facebook Page for details.

IKEA Edinburgh

Various free family activities throughout the October holidays, including: Safari Adventures Trail, Explorer Dress Up Station (both Sat 11 – Mon 20); Face Painting (Sat 11 & Sun 12 Oct); Mini Park Rangers Stories (Mon 13 Oct); Jungle Threads Crafts (Tues 14 & Fri 17 Oct); Wee One Wednesday (Weds 15 Oct); Board Game Breakfast (Thurs 16 Oct); Safari Crafternoon (Thurs 16)

Full details about each event on the Ikea Edinburgh website

Pets at Home October Workshops

Workshops will take place at Corstorphine, Craigleith, Fort Kinnaird and Pentland stores
Sat 11 to Sun 19 October, 3pm – 3:45pm

“Come along for some Halloween fun and discover the gruesome things our pets love to eat. Get creative with your own pumpkin stencil design and enjoy meeting some of our in-store pets.”

Free but booking required. Details on the Pets at Home website.

Miscellaneous Indoor Events

Free Halloween Workshops at Gyle Shopping Centre
Sun 12 – Sat 18 October, 11am – 1pm; Free, drop-in

“Join us…for a fun free workshop including crafts, slime making, face painting and spooky treats.”

Prewired Programming Club for under 19s at CodeBase
Weds 15 October, 5:30pm – 7:30pm; booking required

“Play around with whatever technologies and programming languages you want. You can learn something brand new, practice something you already know, start a project, get help with something you’re stuck on, or even teach others.“

THE GREAT OUTDOORS

Hopefully we’ll have some nice weather over the October break. But as we say in Scotland, there’s no such thing as bad weather, just the wrong clothing. So get yourselves out there whatever the weather! Here are some outdoor events, plus some of our of other places favourite places to head for some fresh air over the holidays!

Murder Mystery Trails around the Hermitage & the Meadows

All day, any day!

I wrote these trails for my sons, but you can download free copies for personal use, along with answer sheets, maps and certificates. I offer them for free as I want them to be accessible to all, but you are welcome to make a small donation if you are able.

>> Download Hermitage of Braid Trail
>> Download The Meadows Trail

Edinburgh Parks & Playgrounds

Edinburgh has no shortage of parks and playgrounds across the city, for when you want to go out with the kids to burn off some energy over the holidays. Tip: Bring a towel to wipe down any wet play equipment!

Check out our A to Z map of playgrounds in Edinburgh for inspiration on which ones to visit next. Our favourites include East Meadows Playpark, Saughton Park, Leith Links Playpark, Victoria Park, Seven Acre Park, and the (fairly) newly refurbished Princes Street Gardens.

Or grab a bag of bird seed and visit one of the many spots across the city where you can feed ducks, swans and other birds. Our favourite spots include Blackford Pond, Easter Craiglockhart Nature Reserve, Inverleith Park, and Duddingston Loch & St Margaret’s Loch in Holyrood Park.

Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh

The popular Botanics Halloween Trail is returning this year! The trail runs 11 to 19 October, 10am – 4pm. It’s £3 per booklet, which you can collect at either the East or West Gate, and the price includes a treat at the end. Suitable for ages 3+

General opening times for the Botanics in October are 10am – 5pm. Admission to the Botanics itself is free.

Collective on Calton Hill

Calton Hill is an exciting place to explore with kids. The Collective Play Shelter provides an outdoor covered space for picnic lunches, and there’s a choice of three self-led family trails to guide you round the hillside. More info on the Collective website.

Family Walks

We like to get out for a good family walk over the holidays. Some of our favourite walks are:

Union Canal & Water of Leith Visitor Centre

One of our favourite walks is along the Union Canal, starting at Fountainbridge and walking all the way to the Water of Leith Visitor Centre at Slateford, where the canal and the Water of Leith cross ways. It takes us about 45 minutes. You can reward yourself at the end of the walk with a coffee or juice and some cake in the Visitor Centre cafe, and kids can have a play in the interactive exhibition. If little legs are too tired to walk again, there’s a bus right outside the Visitor Centre that will take you back in to town.

>> Read our review of the Water of Leith Visitor Centre

Other Favourite Family Walks

Some other walks I haven’t written up yet, that we enjoy doing, include going up Arthur’s Seat (via Dunsapie Loch); walking along the Innocent Railway to Dr Neil’s Garden in Duddingston; and the circular up and around Easter Craiglockhart Nature Reserve, starting from the dock pond at Lockharton Crescent.

Miscellaneous Outdoor Events

Holyrood Family Adventure at Holyrood Park
Mon 13 October, 1pm – 3pm.
Free guided walk, suitable for age 5+ (booking required).

Meadows Junior Parkrun
Every Sunday at 9:30am. Free, but registration required.

DAY TRIPS

Head to the Beach

We love a good trip to the beach, even in Autumn. Sunbathing and sea paddling days may be over for this year, but there’s still time for a good beach walk with stone skimming and shell collecting – why not download our Beach Scavenger Hunt to take along!

We love our local Cramond and Portobello beaches, which you can visit by bus within Edinburgh, and there’s also plenty other beaches within reach that you get to within 30 – 45 minutes by train. Our favourites include Dunbar, North Berwick and Longniddry in East Lothian; and Aberdour and Kinghorn in Fife. And with Kids for a Quid, up to four children can travel for just £1 return each with an adult on Scotrail train journeys.

Go on an Adventure

If you want to venture a bit further afield for a little adventure during the holidays, there are some options available without breaking the bank. We don’t have a car, but have travelled to lots of places within 1.5 hours of Edinburgh by train. Here are some reviews of a few of our favourite low cost trips:

Summerlee Museum of Scottish Industrial Life, Coatbridge (free entry).
Callandar House & Park, Falkirk (free entry).
Riverside Museum, Glasgow (free entry)
Kelvingrove Art Gallery & Museum (free entry)
Weehailes Adventure Playpark, East Lothian (£4 for kids age 3+, £1 per adult)

Don’t forget to claim your Kids for a Quid rail ticket, to keep travel costs down too. Only available from station ticket counters (or on the train if no ticket counter available).

Kids for a Quid Scotrail Offers

I’ve already mentioned the Kids for a Quid rail tickets above, but did you know you can also get free entry for one child per full paying adult at selected visitor attractions in their Kids Go Free Deals! Maybe there’s a place you’ve always wanted to visit, but admission costs have prevented you from going. The special Kids Go Free deals can help take the sting out of things a little. Current offers in Edinburgh include Deep Sea World, Camera Obscura, and Edinburgh Zoo. For further afield we can recommend Abbotsford, the Great Tapestry of Scotland, the National Mining Museum, and Discovery Point (Dundee), which are all do-able as day trips from Edinburgh.

This isn’t a complete list, I’m sure there’s probably more great free events that are missing – if you know of any other free events in Edinburgh this October half term, just leave a comment or send me a message and I’ll add them in!

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