Reading's October half term is 26 to 30 October 2026. Free library crafts, a Beatrix Potter show, a LEGO day at MERL and a teddy bear sleepover, with times.
October half term in Reading is Monday 26 to Friday 30 October 2026, with children back at school on Monday 2 November. Most of what is on locally that week is free and run by Reading’s libraries and museums, and several things need booking.
The quick answer
- Half term: Monday 26 to Friday 30 October 2026 for Reading’s maintained schools, and for Kendrick and Reading School too.
- Two independent schools break a week earlier: The Abbey from 19 October and Leighton Park from 16 October.
- Free highlights: a LEGO day at the Museum of English Rural Life on Tuesday 27 October (book) and a Halloween teddy bear sleepover at Battle Library on Thursday 29 October (book).
The dates are from Brighter Futures for Children’s Reading term dates. The school-by-school comparison is on our Reading school term dates page.
What’s on in Reading over half term
Everything below was checked on 25 September 2026 against the organiser’s own listing. Libraries’ sessions are from the council’s October half term listing on What’s On Reading, which says all children must be with an adult.
| When | What and where | Cost and booking |
|---|---|---|
| Sat 24 Oct, 10am to 12pm | Hanging hedgehog decoration craft, Southcote Library. Ages 4+ | Free, drop in |
| Sat 24 and 31 Oct, 9.30am and 10.30am | Teddy Bear Story Time, Reading Rep Theatre. Ages 18 months to 5 | £3.50 a person, adults too; book |
| Tue 27 Oct, 10am to 3pm | LEGO Build the Change: Insects and Pollinators, Museum of English Rural Life. Suggested age 4+ | Free, booking required |
| Tue 27 Oct, 1pm to 6pm | Spooky ghost tree and monster finger rings, Southcote Library. Ages 4+ | Free, drop in |
| Tue 27 Oct, 2pm to 3pm | Spooky bookmarks, Palmer Park Library. All welcome | Free, drop in |
| Wed 28 Oct, 11.30am and 2.30pm | The Tailor of Gloucester, a musical Beatrix Potter adaptation by Farnham Maltings, Reading Central Library. Best for ages 4+ | Ticketed; book |
| Wed 28 Oct, 2pm | Behind the Scenes tour of Reading Museum's store in Whitley. Adults and children over 12, six per tour | £20 adults, £10 under 18s; book |
| Thu 29 Oct, 4pm to 5pm | Halloween Teddy Bear Sleepover, Battle Library: bring a teddy, make a door hanger, hear a scary story, collect the teddy and a goody bag next morning | Free; booking needed for the sleepover |
| Fri 30 Oct, 11am to 12pm and 2pm to 3pm | Winnie-the-Pooh at 100 craft sessions, Reading Central Library. Ages 7 and under | Free, drop in |
| Sat 31 Oct, 10am to 12pm | Museums on Wheels, Southcote Library: objects from Reading's museum collections and family activities | Donations welcome |
Sources: The Tailor of Gloucester, Winnie-the-Pooh at Reading Central Library, Reading Museum store tour, Teddy Bear Story Time and the MERL LEGO day. MERL says its booking link is “coming soon”.
At Reading Museum
Reading Museum on Blagrave Street runs a full half term programme from Saturday 24 to Saturday 31 October, and opens on Monday 26 October, a day it is normally shut. Entry is free. From the museum’s Family Fun page:
- All week: Pumpkin Trail featuring Silly Squirrel and a Bayeux Battle Trail, £1.50 each; Bayeux Battle activity pack, £2.50; an activity cart, donations welcome.
- Sat 24 Oct: All about Bats talk with Berkshire Bat Care, 11am to 12pm, free, booking link to follow; Go Batty bat mobiles, 10am to 12pm and 12pm to 1pm, free, drop in.
- Mon 26 Oct: Build the Change LEGO sessions, two hours from 10am and 1pm, suggested donation £4, booking link to follow. The museum’s printed guide lists this LEGO session on Saturday 24 October instead; the website is the more recent, but check before you go.
- Tue 27 Oct: 3D Halley’s Comet workshops, one hour from 10am, 11.15am, 1pm and 2.15pm, £4, book online.
- Wed 28 Oct: Rhymetime, 10.30am to 11am, and The Big Draw, 10.30am to 3.30pm, both free, drop in.
- Thu 29 Oct: Victorian Schoolroom Experience in the Abbey Gateway, ages 5+, 11am and 2pm, £2 a person, book online.
Museum hours and the Bayeux Tapestry tours are on our Reading Museum opening times page.
Any day that week
The Museum of English Rural Life on Redlands Road runs a year-round family Rat Trail and, from 8 September 2026 to 5 September 2027, a family display called Ladybird in Focus: Behind the Hamster, on how a Ladybird book is made (MERL what’s on).
For older children and adults
- Stand Up For Slapstick, The Hexagon, Thursday 29 October, 7.30pm: Henning Wehn, Angela Barnes, Mark Steel, Lucy Porter and Alasdair Beckett-King, hosted by Jimeoin. Tickets £33, advised 16+ (What’s On Reading).
- Two Halves of Guinness, Reading Rep Theatre, 29 to 31 October: Zeb Soanes plays Alec Guinness, marking 25 years since his death (Reading Rep).
Free holiday clubs
Reading’s free Holiday Activities and Food programme does not run in October half term. Brighter Futures for Children says the HAF clubs run over the Easter, summer and Christmas holidays, for children aged 4 to 16 who get benefits-related free school meals (Brighter Futures for Children).
Still to confirm
- The MERL LEGO booking link, which the museum says is coming soon.
- More listings. Venues often add half term events in October; we will check again in mid-October and add them.
Getting into town? See parking in Reading and Reading roadworks and travel.
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