Family Fun for May Half Term
How will you be spending your May Half Term Holiday?
Are you visiting Mid Devon over the Half Term break this May, or local and looking for ideas of fun things to do as a family? We’ve got you covered! Check out our summary of family friendly activities happening across the region.
Indoor Attractions and Activities
- Tivoli Cinema in Tiverton is a quirky retro cinema with a good range of the current blockbusters, as well as sometimes offering screenings of kids classics. They often have special deals during school holidays making a visit to the cinema with the family more affordable.
- Create a special memento of your trip at one of our Paint Your Own Pottery venues. Paint Pots of Devon in Crediton and Happy Glaze Pottery in Tiverton both have a great variety of options for painting, from small items to larger statement pieces!
- Tiverton Library and The Hayridge in Cullompton both have a brilliant range of free events including Lego Club, Family Story Times and Art and colouring activities.
- Apex Race Centre gives you the chance to try out exciting and challenging race circuits in a totally safe way in their completely immersive race sim centre!
- Gamers should head to Bridge Troll in Tiverton or Kirton Games in Crediton. Enjoy board games, Pokémon clubs and lots more! Bridge Troll is also a café so you can enjoy some treats while you play!
- There are plenty of soft play options in Mid Devon! Waie 2 Play near Crediton, Planet Play in Crediton and Little Monsters in Tiverton all offer classic soft play fun and cafes for you to relax while the little ones play.
- Bear Town near Cullompton the ultimate indoor role play experience for children up to 7 years. Great fun letting imaginations run wild in the different play zones in the town.
Heritage Attractions
- Bampton Heritage & Visitor Centre helps you learn about the history of Bampton with children’s activities including dressing up costumes, quizzes and an interactive game. You can also follow a free family trail around the town and if you head up to the Motte there’s a great play area.
- Tiverton Museum has a whole week of brick building fun planned with their half term Brick Week. Get stuck in at the play stations, follow a brick figure trail and have a go at some crafts, as well as all their usual family fun, including dressing up, toys and games and the Tivvy Bumper Steam Engine.
- Georgian Manor House Fursdon is still a family home today. You can learn about the Fursdon family in the museum and then enjoy exploring the beautiful gardens before stopping for a delicious cream tea in their tearooms.
- Coldharbour Mill are celebrating the Late May Bank Holiday with their Spring Steam Day, where you’ll have a chance to see the machinery in steam, as well as joining in with some fun crafts.
- Tiverton Canal Co. are celebrating their 50th anniversary this year! Enjoy a special trip back in time on one of the last horse drawn barges in the country, along the Grand Western Canal.
- Tiverton Castle is brimming with history and is great fun for children with Civil War armour to try on, ghost stories, secret passages and medieval loos! There is also a lovely walled garden to enjoy.
- Head off on a family friendly trail around the house and grounds at National Trust Killerton looking out for clues about the area’s Royalist past and discover the property’s current archaeological dig, where you can meet an archaeologist.
Active and Outdoor Attractions
- Enjoy a bit of friendly family competition at Footgolf Devon. The nine-hole course near Cullompton is a brilliant fun day out for all the family with a winners podium for the victor!
- Get muddy at the Bear Trail, a family friendly obstacle course near Cullompton. An absolute mud fest and great fun for all ages with nets, zip wires and tunnels to take on.
- Drive real diggers, operate dumpers and enjoy thrilling rides and fun play areas at Diggerland Devon. A wonderful fun day out and if you use the special link in their listing on our website you’ll get 20% off your booking!
- Go off road at Quad World and take on their all-terrain course. The perfect chance to race your family and see who comes out on top, all in fun of course!
- Re:Fuel‘s classic car events are family friendly and they encourage petrolheads of all ages to come along and enjoy the cars on show! In the May half term look out for some great events including Nineties and Noughties and a Bank Holiday special. You’ll also find a children’s play area in their café The Steamer.
- Bouncy Castle Kingdom is an awesome inflatable theme park, which is making its way to Tiverton from 30th -31st May. There’ll be soft play zones for younger children and food and drink available.
- Culmstock Soap Box Derby returns on 26th May. Carts must have entered before the event but the derby will be great fun to watch even if you’re not taking part!
Flora and Fauna
- Follow the special Floriography Trail at National Trust property Knightshayes. Find out how the Victorians used flowers to convey messages while enjoying the lovely grounds and fascinating Gothic mansion.
- There is a whole host of fabulous gardens opening their gates across Mid Devon as part of the National Open Garden Scheme. Check out which gardens will be open and what’s on offer in our blog about them.
- There are more gardens to explore on 26th May at East Anstey Open Gardens, where 9 beautiful spring gardens will be open to enjoy, with children free and a pop up café.
Free Activities
- Enjoy a fun free day out exploring Tiverton looking out for 12 swans hiding throughout the town. The Flock that Rock is nesting in the town until the end of October. The trail maps are free to pick up in various locations and you can pick up a badge once you’ve found all 12… don’t forget to keep an eye out for a naughty 13th swan that keeps changing location!
- The Grand Western Canal Country Park offers easy level walking along the towpath, or you can hire bikes (or bring your own) for a pedal alongside the canal. The canal meanders through beautiful countryside for 11 3/4 miles. There are plenty of places for refreshments stops along the way, or take along a picnic. Have a look in the Visitor Centre at the Canal Basin and look out for the fun play area nearby.
Double check opening times, prices and booking info with individual attractions and venues. Have a look at more upcoming events on our What’s On page.