For inspiring days close to home, check out our round-up of activities and events to enjoy with your kids this half term in East London.
The first half term of the year, the nights are drawing in and lots of East London venues are stirring up the action for you and the kids. With Diwali, Halloween and Día de los Muertos, you can expect a fun filled week to brighten up the darkening evenings.
1 Spooky Superstitions Half Term at London Museum Docklands
The museum (now called London Museum Docklands) is running a free half-term programme themed around London legends and spooky superstitions, from 24 to 31 October.
Highlights include:
- Interactive storytelling with Victorian sailors uncovering spooky superstitions (26–29 Oct)
- Clay lucky-charm sculpting (26–30 Oct), making a mythical river creature (27–30 Oct)
- Fairy tales and story-crafting with Joseph Coelho OBE on 27 October.
- Halloween role-play in the Little City
- Spooky silent disco in the old warehouse on 29 October.
24th–31st October 2026, museum open daily 10 am–5 pm
Museum of London Docklands, No.1 Warehouse, West India Quay, London E14 4AL
Free
2 Family Design Challenge at Young V&A – Goodies & Baddies
Drop in to the Open Studio, where families respond to a creative brief set by a designer, explore objects from the collection, and get hands-on with materials and tools. You can even take your creation home. 29th –30th October is bird housing models, and 31st October is a Halloween special, ‘Goodies & Baddies’. While you’re there, Inside Aardman: Wallace & Gromit and Friends is on until 15 November (£12.50).
Thursday 29th – Saturday 31st October 2026, drop in 12–4 pm (last entry 3.30 pm). Best for ages 5–14
Young V&A, Cambridge Heath Road, Bethnal Green, London, E2 9PA
Free
3 Light and Movement: Diwali Family Day at Museum of the Home
Celebrate the run-up to Diwali, the festival of lights, with a free day of creative activities and interactive performances. In the Kuchipudi dance workshop, dance practitioner Ranjini Nair teaches the steps and hand gestures of this Indian dance style, so kids can tell a story by becoming a prowling tiger, a swaying elephant, a buzzing bee or a flowing river. In the Learning Pavilion, artist Poonam Dhuffer leads Constellations of Light, where families cut, paint, layer and collage their own luminous circles. As the day goes on, everyone’s circles join a growing shared artwork. While in Hoxton, don’t forget to visit Hoxton Street Monster Supplies, an absolute must for the spooky season.
Tuesday 27th October 2026, 10 am–12 pm and 1 pm–3 pm (drop in anytime during these sessions)
Museum of the Home, 136 Kingsland Road, London E2 8EA
FREE (donations welcome) – Prebooking your free ticket is appreciated
4 Spooky Happenings at Discover Children’s Story Centre
Discover is getting spooky this half term with a programme of Halloween storytelling and crafts. Your entry ticket can also cover the Story Worlds and Garden, plus the new Winnie-the-Pooh 100th anniversary trail.
- Brew up your own slimy concoctions at Potion Lab: Spooky Halloween Crafts.
- Join author John Dougherty for spooky storytelling from his new book Something in the Darkness, a spine-tingling tale about how the things that scare us in the dark are less frightening in the light.
- Celebrate the launch of Who Said Boo? with author Jeanne Willis, with music, dancing, games and a special storytelling.
- Get crafty at Creepy Creatures with London College of Fashion.
- For Diwali, there’s Diwali/Deepavali Dance & Stories.
25th -31st October 2026 various times
Discover Children’s Story Centre, 383-387 High Street, Stratford, London E15 4QZ
Entry from £10, under 2s free
5 Wickidz Halloween Closing Party
Wrap up spooky season with a Sunday afternoon family rave at Hackney Bridge. Resident Wickidz DJ Rob Da Dad is back on the decks with guest Matt Masters, playing family-friendly bangers. Expect dance-alongs, party games and dance-offs, plus a big arts and crafts station and a pro make-up artist doing scars, fake blood and vampire bites. Grown-ups can grab a cocktail, mocktail or beer from the Hackney Bridge bar. The dress code is Halloween with an 80s horror twist, but any spooky costume will do. It’s aimed at families with children aged 12 and under.
Sunday 1st November 2026, 2 pm–5 pm
Hackney Bridge, Units 1-28, East Bay Lane, London E15 2SJ
Tickets required for everyone, adults and children (see Eventbrite for prices)
6 London’s Day of the Dead on Columbia Road
Celebrate Día de los Muertos on the streets of East London. Columbia Road and Ezra Street will be filled with music, dance, flowers, costume and a street procession inspired by the Mexican celebration of life, death and remembrance. The flower market is the perfect backdrop, as marigolds are traditionally used to welcome and remember loved ones. It’s colourful and joyful rather than spooky, so it’s a great Halloween day out for families. Expected highlights include mariachi and brass-band music, dancers, face painting, decorated shops, fundraising stalls and activities around Bethnal Green Library, but the full programme hasn’t been published yet.
Saturday 31st October 2026 from 12 pm
Columbia Road and Ezra Street, London E2 7RG (nearest station: Hoxton Overground)
FREE (food, drink, face painting and stalls may cost extra)
7 Halloween at Big Penny Social
Big Penny Social’s much-loved bouncy fun house is back with a spooky twist from Sunday 25 to Friday 30 October. The whole Event Space fills with giant inflatables, including a huge inflatable assault course. Bounce House is aimed at kids aged 2–8, with special sessions for under 3s. In previous years the venue has also run a relaxed, autism-friendly session with no music and lower lighting, so check the booking page for this year’s times. On Thursday 29 October there’s free pumpkin carving with kids welcome until 7 pm, and grown-ups can swap their carved creation for a free house pint. The week ends with a Family Disco Halloween Special on Saturday 31 October and Sunday 1 November.
Bounce House: Sunday 25th – Friday 30th October 2026, one-hour sessions (last year ran 10 am–4.15 pm)
Pumpkin Carving: Thursday 29th October
Family Disco: Saturday 31st October & Sunday 1st November
Big Penny Social, 1 Priestley Way, London, E17 6AL
Bounce House £7 per child (accompanying adults and under 6 months free); pumpkin carving free
8 Family Film Week at the Barbican
The Barbican’s Family Film Club becomes a full Family Film Week this half term, with screenings almost every day and plenty of monster mayhem for Halloween. Spooky picks:
- Howl’s Moving Castle (25 Oct – 1 Nov): Ghibli’s classic about a girl cursed by the Witch of the Waste
- Ghidorah, The Three-Headed Monster (30 Oct): classic Japanese monster mayhem
- Relaxed: Minions and Monsters + Drawing (31 Oct): Minions meet Kaiju-mania
Saturday 24th October – Sunday 1st November 2026, various times
Barbican Cinema 2 & 3, Beech Street, London EC2Y 8DS
Tickets from £5
9 Halloween at The Tower of London
Explore the Tower’s history on a half-term ghost hunt. Will you discover the Haunted Forge, the Enchanted Wishing Well, or the Raven’s Observatory? The ghosts gather at the Haunted Forge at 11.15, 12.45 and 14.45 each day. Note: visitors are asked not to wear costumes, and anyone arriving in costume will be refused entry. Don’t forget your proof of address for Tower Hamlets resident rates.
24th October – 1st November 2026, 10.30 am–4 pm daily
Tower of London, London, EC3N 4AB
Included in palace admission
10 Día de los Muertos Columbia Road
Celebrate Día de los Muertos on the streets of East London. Columbia Road and Ezra Street will be filled with music, dance, flowers, costume and a street procession inspired by the Mexican celebration of life, death and remembrance. The flower market is the perfect backdrop, as marigolds are traditionally used to welcome and remember loved ones. It’s colourful and joyful rather than spooky, so it’s a great Halloween day out for families. Expected highlights include mariachi and brass-band music, dancers, face painting, decorated shops, fundraising stalls and activities around Bethnal Green Library, but the full programme hasn’t been published yet.
Saturday 31st October 2026 from 12 pm
Columbia Road and Ezra Street, London E2 7RG (nearest station: Hoxton Overground)
FREE (food, drink, face painting and stalls will cost extra)
11 Spooky Half Term at the Royal Observatory
Royal Museums Greenwich has a spooky half term across its sites. It’s also your last chance to visit the Royal Observatory this year, as it closes on 2 November for refurbishment. Spooky picks:
- Ghastly Greenwich Tour (24, 27, 28, 29 Oct, 4 pm): 45 minutes of local ghosts, treason and witchcraft at the Royal Observatory, ages 7+
- Halloween Trail (daily): solve riddles to find the pumpkins and reveal a secret word at the Royal Observatory
Saturday 24th October – Sunday 1st November 2026, various times
Royal Observatory & Cutty Sark, Greenwich, London SE10
Observatory: adults £24 / children £12, tour extra (£5 / £2.50).
12 Halloween Family Barn Dance at the Round Chapel
Hackney’s own ceilidh band Cut A Shine teams up with Mini Folk for a Halloween afternoon of family barn dancing in the beautiful Round Chapel. There are two live dance sessions, with easy dances for tiny feet and proper ceilidh favourites for grown-ups. Alongside the dancing, there are bubbles from Vivi the Bubble Fairy, crafts and face painting. Dressing up is encouraged, and it’s for all ages, babies included.
Saturday 31st October 2026, 1 pm–4 pm
The Round Chapel, 1D Glenarm Road, Clapton, London E5 0LY
£7 per person, under 1s free
13 SEND friendly fun Myth Monsters
Part performance, part headphone experience, Myth Monster is a show about us, our ancestors and the ancestors we’ll become. Amazing sound design, original music and plenty of chances to move, dance and join in make it accessible, surprising and uplifting. It’s created for adults and children aged 8+.
Wednesday 28th October 2026, 11 am and 2 pm
May Scott Studio, Hoxton Hall, 130 Hoxton Street, London N1 6SH
£7–£15
Worth Travelling For: Halloween at Kew
Kew Gardens becomes an after-dark Halloween adventure with a 1.5 km illuminated trail. Walk through a tunnel of grinning pumpkins guarded by the Headless Horseman, then dare to enter Dracula’s Lair, the Cursed Tomb and a Medieval Dungeon, with fire performers lighting up the night. Pick your scare level: Daylight sessions (before 6 pm) are best for little ones, Twilight (6–7.30 pm) gets spookier, and Moonlight (after 7.30 pm) is the darkest but still suitable for all.
During half term (25th October – 1st November 2026), 4 pm–10 pm
Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Richmond, London TW9 3AE
Off-peak from £19.50 adults / £13 children (4–15) / £64 family of four; peak dates cost more