Are you looking for October school holiday activities in Angus to keep the kids amused while they’re off school?
If you are, no doubt you’ll also be looking to keep the costs of entertaining the family down, particularly with the cost of living soaring.
To help, we’ve pulled together a list of 10 free or low-cost ideas for October holiday activities in Angus which should keep the children busy and happy.
And thanks to free family bus travel – one adult with any number of children – being offered within Angus from October 1 to 16, getting to some of the venues could be free too.
Angus schools break off for two weeks on Friday 30 September.
Best October school holiday activities in Angus 2022
Free swimming sessions
Children can swim for free any of five Angus swimming pools between October 1 and October 16 if they have a bActive lite membership (free).
Pools where free swim sessions are available are Arbroath, Montrose, Brechin, Kirriemuir and Forfar.
Free swim sessions – limited to one hour per child a day – can be booked online.
Murton Farm, Forfar
Children will love meeting Murton Farm’s donkeys, Ernie and Floppy. There are also loads of other animals to see, including ferrets and guinea pigs, and different breeds of chicken and ducks.
Youngsters will also be able to burn off some energy bouncing on the trampolines and digging in the sandpits and if they’ve any left there’s plenty to see on a walk around the nature reserve.
Admission to the farm is £2.50 per child and free for adults.
Peel Farm, Kirriemuir
A ramble round Peel Farm’s nature trail will take you past its red deer park and waterfalls on the River Isla.
There’s also a chicken village and other farm animals to say hello to.
There’s plenty of wildlife to spot, and activity sheets are available from the farm’s coffee shop or courtyard so children can tick off their finds.
Brechin climbing wall
Try climbing on the Angus Rocks wall at Brechin Community Campus.
There are sessions for four-year-olds, for 5-7-year-olds and for 8-16-year-olds on October 6 and 13.
There’s a fee of £4, or they are free for those with bActive memberships (annual or monthly fee).
Montrose Basin reserve and visitor centre
Montrose Basin reserve is a haven for wildlife, including birds and seals.
Its visitor centre has a wildlife-themed kids corner, and there are binoculars and telescopes to allow kids a better look at its feathered residents.
Children will also love checking out the different bird sounds using the Call a Curlew telephone.
The visitor centre is open daily from 10.30am to 5pm until the end of October.
On October 12, there’s a Wellie Wander where children will make journey sticks, identify wildlife and learn about autumn at the basin. Tickets for the Wellie Wander must be booked and cost £5.
Rediscover your local museum
Angus has a host of museums with exhibits and activities that will interest children – and admission is free.
The Signal Tower Museum near Arbroath harbour tells how the Bell Rock Lighthouse – the oldest seawashed lighthouse in the world – was built and what it was like to be a keeper.
At Montrose Museum you can see hieroglyphics on the Ancient Egypt objects and see the natural history gallery, at Meffan Museum in Forfar you can learn about Helen Guthrie, the last woman in the town to be convicted as a witch, while at Tayside Police Museum children can dress up in uniform and experience being locked in a cell.
There’s also Glenesk Folk Museum, the Town House Museum, Brechin, and the Gateway to the Glens Museum, Kirriemuir, with its Peter Pan statue.
Monikie Country Park
Monikie Country Park is great for a walk, run-around, cycle and exploring any day. of the week.
But on October 10, there’s also a Halloween trail led by Pumpkin Pete. The inclusive event, suitable for those with disabilities, runs from 1.30pm to 3pm and for £1 each children will be given maps to follow a spooky trail, with puzzles to complete.
St Cyrus Nature Reserve
St Cyrus Nature Reserve is one of the most diverse nature reserves in the UK, including volcanic cliffs, grasslands, sand dunes and beach.
There are four different walking trails around the reserve from which you can look out for its wildlife.
You might be lucky enough to spot dolphins. A humpback whale was even seen recently from the beach.
Play park and beach combo
Angus is blessed with several great play parks and beaches – many of them side-by-side. Who cares if it’s no longer summer?
Dress for the weather, pack a picnic and flask and you could spend hours at Sandy Sensation, by Carnoustie beach, West Links Fun Park, by Arbroath beach, Seafront Splash, by Montrose beach, or Blue Seaway at Monifieth beach.
Mountain bike trails
Angus also has some great mountain bike trails of varying lengths and terrain.
The route at Backmuir Woods, between Muirhead and Liff, is suitable for even younger kids on balance bikes.
For the green loop, which is just 4km, the entrance is across from the medical centre and the trail goes round the forest.
There’s an option to try a more difficult red loop for more able cyclists.
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