Things to Do in Dorset for Families During the School Holidays

 Looking for fun things to do in Dorset during the school holidays? You’re in luck! From beautiful beaches and wild country parks to charming villages and historic sites, there’s something for every family in Dorset — whether you want to keep the kids busy, make memories together, or simply appreciate the magic of your home county. 

🍦 Spend Time at Our Amazing Beaches 🍦

Did you know Bournemouth Beach and Weymouth Beach made it into Tripadvisor’s Best Beaches in Europe for 2025? (Yes — we’re up there with the world’s finest!)

✅ Bournemouth Beach — Miles of sand, traditional amusements, ice cream stands — perfect for children and families!
✅ Weymouth Beach — Shallow waters, sheltered sand, and plenty of space for games. More of a traditional seaside town
✅ Studland Bay— Much quieter than it's Bournemouth and Poole neighbours - great for a more restful family day by the sea. We particularly love Knoll Beach. Look out for the ice cream boat! 

Knoll Beach, Studland

🍉 Outdoor Adventures  🍉

Looking for something more energetic?
✅ Dorset Adventure Park (Corfe Castle) — Water slides, an assault course, and lakes to splash in — a wild day for children and adults alike!
✅  The Alpine Adventure Park at Snowtrax offers swings, trampolines, super slippy slides, and much more including a pirate ship situated on it's own island— perfect for children who love a bit of a challenge.

🦉 Get Closer to Nature 🦉

✅ Brownsea Island — Take a short ferry ride from Poole Quay and discover peacocks, red squirrels, secluded beaches, and rich wildlife — a magical adventure for children!
✅ Blue Pool — Wander through this tranquil spot near Wareham, where a dramatic pool glows blue and green, surrounded by heathland and forests — a wonderful opportunity for children to connect with nature. Look out for their special events throughout the year, we love visiting at Halloween! 
✅ RSPB Arne Nature Reserve — Amazing trails, rich birdlife, deer, and beautiful views — a perfect spot for a family wildlife adventure in Dorset. 

Blue Pool

🍃 Enjoy Our Country Parks 🍃

✅ Moors Valley Country Park and Forest — Amazing trails, a miniature railway, high-ropes course, playgrounds, a lake, and it's very own Gruffalo  — perfect for children of all ages!
✅ Avon Heath Country Park — Miles of walking trails, wildlife spotting, a children’s play area, and plenty of space for a picnic with the whole family.
✅ Upton Country Park — Stroll through beautiful gardens, explore the woodlands, let the children burn off energy at the large playground, or enjoy a cream tea in the well stocked cafe afterwards

The Gruffalo at Moors Valley Country Park

 🐷Fun for the Whole Family 🐷

✅ Farmer Palmers Farm Park — Petting sessions, bouncing castles, a dinosaur trail, ride-on toys, and much more — a classic Dorset family day out during the school holidays! (Plus the cakes in the Hen House cafe are 10/10!)
✅ Monkey World — Home to over 250 rescued primates — a wonderful blend of education and entertainment for children of all ages.

Meeting a new friend at Farmer Palmers

🦕 5. Dig Into History — And Some Fossil Fun! 🦕

✅ Lyme Regis  — The Jurassic Coast is a UNESCO World Heritage Site — grab a fossil hammer, go fossil hunting with your children, and uncover ancient creatures!
✅ Charmouth Beach and  Heritage Coast Centre — Learn alongside your children about dinosaurs, ancient creatures, and their stories — and then go and explore the rock pools where you might find your very own ammonite to take home

Fossil Hunting on the Jurassic Coast

🎪 Local Festivals 🎪

Dorset really knows how to throw a family-friendly festival — and summer is bursting with music, magic, and muddy knees (the fun kind). Here's what not to miss during the school holidays in Dorset:

✅ Poole Harbour Festival (25–27 July) — Amazing food trucks, live bands, children’s entertainment, and a chilled holiday-like atmosphere — a perfect Dorset festival for families!
✅ Camp Bestival (31 July - 3 Aug) - The ultimate family festival! Think glittery wellies, circus tents, Mr Tumble, fireworks, fancy dress parades, big-name bands, and a dedicated kids’ field full of crafts, theatre shows, and activities. This one’s family festival royalty — a proper bucket-list experience!
✅ DorsetFest (27–28 June) – A charming folk festival in the countryside with live music, craft stalls, children’s games, storytelling, and plenty of space to run wild.

Camp Bestival - Dorset's biggest festival

Whether you're a local looking to rediscover your favourite spots or planning brand new adventures with the kids, Dorset is packed with unforgettable experiences this summer. From beach days and castle explorations to nature trails, festivals, and fossil hunts, there’s something to excite every kind of family. So pack the buckets and spades and get ready for a Summer full of fresh air, fun and memories that’ll last long after the school holidays end.

A Spooky Evening at Moors Valley Country Park’s Halloween Trail: A Review

If you're looking for a family-friendly Halloween experience that blends outdoor adventure with spine-tingling fun, Moors Valley Country Park’s brand new Halloween Trail is the perfect destination! We recently visited on opening night, and from the creative displays to the eerie ambiance, it offered the ideal blend of Halloween thrills without being too scary for younger visitors.

There are three different time slots to consider. Daylight - which is perfect for younger visitors, Twilight - the scare level ramps up a notch, and Moonlight - as scary as it gets but still suitable for all. 

We arrived for our Daylight slot at 5pm and we were guided towards the main carpark. Be prepared for the carpark to be very busy at peak times - you may end up in the overflow carpark so it would be wise to bring a torch.

Before you begin your journey into the forest, you can grab a bite to eat at one of the many food vendors. Our group had hog roast, burgers and hotdogs but there were plenty of choices including greek and waffles. Prices were to be expected but the portions were very generous, as demonstrated by the size of my daughters hotdog!

Hot dogs at Moors Valley Halloween

The Halloween Trail winds through part of the park’s vast woodland and takes between one to two hours to complete, depending on how long you linger at each stop. Visitors follow a mapped path, where they’re greeted by engaging characters, creepy props, and spooky sounds that set an eerie but enjoyable tone.

The sun was setting as we walked around and it made for a spooky backdrop to my photos, with the orange glow peeking through the trees. We took our time exploring and I appreciated booking the earlier time slot as it wasn't too busy. We were able to take lots of photos and never felt rushed. 

Headless Horseman - Moors Valley Halloween Trail

Midway round the trail, we found a small pitstop area where a pop up bar was selling amazing looking hot chocolates and spooky themed drinks. There was also Candy Cauldron where the kids bought apples dipped in freshly melted chocolate and covered with spooky sprinkles. Definitely a highlight of the evening for them!

Once the sun had set and darkness arrived, we saw the forest from a different perspective. It felt quite spooky and we wondered what (or who!) we would encounter at each twist and turn of the path. 

Family-Friendly Fun

The Moors Valley Halloween Trail is an excellent option for families with children. It avoids the extreme frights you’d find in a traditional haunted house, making it accessible for younger kids who want to join in on the Halloween fun. The interactive elements encourage exploration and curiosity, and the characters along the way are much more friendly than frightening.

If you’re a Halloween enthusiast hoping for something truly terrifying, you might find this experience more on the mild side. However, for a festive, spooky evening with the family, the Halloween Trail offers just the right balance.

Practical Tips

If you’re planning to visit, here are a few tips to make the most of your experience:

• October evenings can be chilly, so bundle up and wear comfortable walking shoes since you’ll be navigating forest paths.

• While some parts of the trail are lit, a torch can help you see the path clearly and add to the spooky fun.

• There are no toilets on the trail so make sure you use the ones in the event village before you begin

• Take your time and look up! There is lots to see on the trail and I'd recommend taking your time so you don't miss anything. We spent almost two hours on the trail from start to finish (including time eating chocolate apples 😀)

Halloween Trail by torchlight

Final Thoughts

The Moors Valley Country Park Halloween Trail is a delightful Halloween outing that families and kids of all ages can enjoy. It combines outdoor exploration with gentle frights and offers an experience filled with magic and creativity. 

Overall, it’s a fantastic seasonal experience for anyone looking to enjoy Halloween festivities without too many scares. Highly recommended for families and Halloween lovers who appreciate a blend of nature and enchantment with a spooky twist. 

The Halloween trail is running everyday until Sunday 3rd November with timed entry slots. For more information including ticket prices and booking information, check out the website here.

*Disclaimer - We were given tickets to the opening night in exchange for an honest review - we really loved it though and will definitely be returning next year! 

Summer Fun at Moors Valley Country Park, Dorset

One of our favourite places to visit in Dorset is Moors Valley Country Park and it's always a fab day out with so much to do! With 1000 acres to explore there are plenty of beautiful walking/cycle trails, Go Ape Tree Top Adventure, cycle hire centre, a steam railway, picnic areas, Gruffalo sculptures and our favourite thing to do, the play trails. Here's a little look at what you can expect to see this Summer:

Play Trail

The play trail is perfect for families and is totally accessible for wheelchairs and buggies. (Although the adjoining Tree Top Trail is not suitable).  It's less than a mile around so ideal for little legs however you can expect to spend most of your day here because you won't be able to tear the kids away from the play equipment!

Featuring giant spiders to climb, a giant ants nest to explore, giant snakes to wriggle through and many more wooden play structures, Moors Valley really does have one of the best play areas I've ever seen.

This Summer, the play trail has been extended to include a brand new area called Bewildernest, one of the largest play areas across the park. Inspired by wild play and the magic of the forest, the Bewildernest area centres around a giant nest of native woodland shrubs with a mysterious maze of tunnels inside to navigate and explore, We can't wait to check this out on our next visit!

Zog Activity Trail

Another popular activity is the activity trail and this year, the trail is all about Zog. If you've not heard of Zog then he is a lovable dragon created by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler. We adore Julia Donaldson stories and we've always had a soft spot for Zog, especially after seeing the book bought to life over Christmas on TV!

Visitors can follow the trail through Zog's forest classroom to learn more about the animals and habitats around them. There will be lots of dragons to spot along the way plus hidden images that children can reveal by using a special coloured lens from the activity pack. (Available to buy from the visitors centre for £3).

The Zog trail is buggy friendly and a fantastic way to see parts of the forest you wouldn't normally go to!

We were lucky enough to be invited to a very secret tea party recently with some other local bloggers and we got to meet Zog - Erin was a bit unsure but Elliot loved it. Especially when he got to take a selfie with him!

We even got to ride on the steam train with him - it's not every day you can say you shared a train with a bright orange dragon!

Gruffalo's 20th Birthday Celebrations - 6th & 7th July 2019

2019 marks the 20th anniversary of The Gruffalo book - I know, I can't believe it either! To celebrate his birthday, the Gruffalo will be back at Moors Valley for some special appearances over the weekend, plus free face painting and more. You'll also be able to download a very special activity pack featuring games, crafts and activities - keep an eye out on the Facebook event for this!

Moors Valley Railway - Open Weekend - 13th & 14th July 2019

Moors Valley Railway opens it's doors to the public next month and visitors can take a peek behind the scenes. For train enthusiasts, there is also a Model Railway Exhibition in the carriage shed.

You will also be able to drive a steam train in the "Driver for a Fiver" event which is always popular. We did this a few years ago and I'm not sure who enjoyed it more - Elliot or my husband!

For more information on all the events and play trails, plus parking charges, head over to:

https://www.moors-valley.co.uk/

Our February Half Term

January seemed to drag on forever and it felt like half term would never arrive! But finally it was time to relax...I say relax in the loosest sense as we had an action packed week planned. But still, there was no school run!

Here's what we got up to..

Abba Workshop / Upton Country Park

The first day of the holidays saw us having a split day - I spent the day with my choir on an Abba Workshop which was brilliant fun! The children had a day with Paul which was nice as they don't get to do it without me very often. The weather was a bit drizzly but he took them out for a long walk to a place called Upton Country Park. It's somewhere we love visiting and it's great because it's walking distance from our house, and there is always something fun to do!

He did make me laugh though, he packed a picnic for the kids but said they were still hungry and wanted something else....welcome to my life hah! Always blimmin hungry! 

Winchester Science Centre

This is fast becoming Elliot's favourite place to visit, in fact he's been there three times since December! We went along to review the half term activities and we had a brilliant day. There is so much to do and is definitely a full day out. Erin loves it too, she's too young to understand the science behind the experiments but give her a button to press and she's happy! 

Jawsome Sharks at Weymouth SEA LIFE Adventure Park

We've recently become Blogger Ambassadors for Weymouth SEA LIFE and it's somewhere we really enjoy visiting. The kids were looking forward to taking part in the Jawsome Sharks event and I was looking forward to seeing the Fairy Penguins - who are extremely cute by the way! 

We had lunch in the nearby pub too and they had a soft play area which was fab - more pubs should have this! It meant the kids weren't getting bored waiting for their food, and I got a few minutes of peace while they were off exploring. Not so easy getting them to leave though ;)

Dodging the showers at Kingston Lacy

Kingston Lacy is very popular at this time of year with thousands of people visiting to see the beautiful snowdrops. It certainly seemed like most of Dorset were there the same time as us judging by the number of cars in the carpark and queues in the cafe! 

It was a funny old morning with lots of sunshine and torrential showers but the kids didn't care about the rain, they just had lots of fun playing with their friends. We did have a muddy incident though...Erin decided that stomping in it wasn't enough and she ended up sitting in a very thick muddy puddle!

Looking for Zog at Moors Valley Country Park

Moors Valley is always a great place to visit as there are acres of forest to explore with lots of play trails along the way. There is also the brand new Zog trail! We didn't do the full trail which involves purchasing an activity pack from the information centre but we enjoyed spotting the Zog pictures along the way. 

We went with a couple of our friends and the children had a brilliant time playing on the wooden play areas. Thankfully we had no mud incidents although Elliot did manage to split his welly boots! 

Seaside Fun in Swanage

The weather looked lovely for Friday so we headed down to the seaside town of Swanage with some friends. Unfortunately the weatherman got it wrong and we drove into Swange in thick mist! It was pretty chilly too so not quite the warm Spring day we were hoping for. Never mind, we had lots of fun playing in the park, spending all our 2ps in the arcade - we even went to Wimpy, how retro! 

After lunch we decided to let the kids have a play on the beach - but it took them all of 5 seconds to get wet in the sea! Elliot's legs were drenched and his brand new wellies were full of water! Fortunately we had spare clothes and hypothermia was averted. They loved it though!!

Geocaching in our local area

On the last day of the holidays the sun was shining again so we decided to head out for a bit of Geocaching. If you've not heard of Geocaching before, it's a great activity that goes on all over the world and is basically a bit like a treasure hunt! 

We drove to a nearby village and followed a very muddy track that led us to several caches. Elliot was really excited to find his first geocoin too! 

The weather was absolutely gorgeous - mad to think that this time last year we had snow! 

So that was our half term holiday -nice and busy just as we like it! We did have a couple of days where we didn't go out and just chilled out at home - we all needed to recharge our batteries and it was nice not to have to rush out anywhere. 

We're on countdown to the Easter holidays now!