Best day ever: Things to do with kids in Liverpool

Another Place, Crosby, by sculptor Antony Gormley consists of 100 cast-iron figures gazing wordlessly out to sea from the beach. Perfect for bracing autumnal walks, flying a kite or even swapping swimming costumes for coats and playing on the sand with a bucket and spade. Art and artless childhood abandon co-exist here.

Nineties parenting is definitely a mood this year. Ok, so this isn’t the analogue trend that everyone’s raving about but it will probably go down better than a screen ban. Get lost in Donkey Kong Jr and Street Fighter 2 at ArCains. Part of the Cains Brewery Complex, it’s a gamer’s paradise.

If your kids are getting into proper music, The Beatles Story is a good place to build on that enthusiasm. The interactive Discovery Zone is the highlight with its sing-along-a-Beatles karaoke, and a giant floor piano for composing your own pop classics.

Beeston Castle perches atop a rocky crag, looking out over the surrounding Cheshire Plains. Call in at the English Heritage gift shop to stock up on chain mail and weapons then sneak up through the woodland to attack the medieval castle. After paying the entrance fee, of course.

BeWILDerwood Cheshire is an adventure park for families. However, its woodland setting and the scale of the play equipment makes it so much more than a mere playground. It’s based around a series of books by Tom Blofeld but you don’t need to be familiar with the stories to have a good time. The best days at BeWILDerwood are ones filled with action. There are mazes to dash round – including one high up in the treetops, zip wires, climbing, den-building and huge slides. Halloween at BeWILDerwood includes all the usual adventure park fun plus a spooky disco, face painting and a glowing light trail as the sun goes down.

Older children or those with a particular passion might be interested in The British Music Experience. There are displays and exhibits from across the decades so kids can home in on the bits that interest them. Expect more focus on Lily Allen than ska. There’s plenty of interactive stuff too with a dancefloor, a recording booth and DJ decks to have a go at.

When it comes to days out with kids in the North West, Chester Zoo is the big one. Literally. There are over 30,000 animals – and more than 520 different species – spread across 130 acres. It’s one of the most highly-rated zoos in the country and its huge size means there is plenty of space for the creatures who call it home – you don’t get that slightly icky feeling of looking at sad animals in small enclosures. There’s an all-new immersive 50-minute David Attenborough experience ready for half term.

Get stuck in with a pottery painting session at Frankie’s Paint-It Pottery. Whether you’re crazy about clay or it’s your first time getting creative with ceramics, there’s a wide selection of paints and pots to choose from. Pot prices start from as low as £12 depending on size and design.

Gravity MAX Liverpool is like an indoor theme park that encompasses ten pin bowling, indoor karting, batting cages, arcades and urban street-style mini golf. It’s also the home of Immersive Gamebox in Liverpool.

Gulliver’s World is a theme park that’s perfect for smallsters. It has rollercoasters and upside-downy things for tweens but these stomach-churners are vastly outnumbered by gentle planes, water rides, teacups and rollercoasters of the introductory variety. Don’t miss the Fright Fiesta which takes place over half term. Spoiler: there are no frights. It’s all about dressing up and having fun. The Land of Lights event is also open after dark from October 24 2026.

Hill Dickinson is the new home of Everton FC and you can book stadium tours to see around for yourself. Put yourself in the position of the players with a visit to the men’s first team circular dressing room where David Moyes gives his pre-match pep-ralks. See if you can handle the pressure of life as a manager with your own post-match analysis in the media theatre.

There’a a Halloween twist at Knowsley Safari Park over half term. Follow the spooky trail around the foot safari in between checking out the regal tigers or Knowsley’s newest residents, two Andean bears. There are also seasonal crafts and interactive challenges mixing conservation and creepiness. Of course, the biggest thrill is driving through the monkey enclosure. Watch cars being shredded by cute little simian vandals and know that you too are going to be calling in at Halfords on the way home. Only wimps swerve this part of the day.

Huge fans will love to go behind the scenes at Anfield. They can pretend to give a post-match press conference or shout instructions from the dugout. Over half term (26-31 October excluding 28 October) Halloween activities are included as part of the package.

The Museum of Liverpool on Pier Head is an eclectic and diverse collection of Liverpool stuff and stories. Part of the National Museums Liverpool group, you’ll find everything including a carriage from Liverpool’s overhead railway which you can climb aboard. Smallsters will love the Little Liverpool interactive area for under-sixes. Parents be warned: their favourite bit will be the Liverpuddles water play. This is free but ticketed and there are Halloween crafts available over half term.

Sefton Park is larger than most city parks, although it’s not Liverpool’s biggest – that title goes to Croxteth Country Park. There’s something for everyone here, from open green spaces to peaceful woodland trails that feel far removed from the city. Forage for conkers or play with sycamore keys, throwing them up and watching them spiral to the ground.

Speke Hall is Liverpool’s only traditional house-and-gardens property which makes it a popular family getaway. Highlights for young visitors include the wattle-and-daub building (comes up in primary school history lessons) and the Priest’s Hole. Outside, the hedge maze and the zip wire get the thumbs up.

Splash World in Southport is an inclusive family-friendly water park. It offers a range of attractions but is perhaps more suited to younger splashers. There’s a shallow toddler splash pool with interactive water play and a larger version too, like an adventure fort, only with sprays, waterfalls and small tube slides. There’s also a tyre ride, a family slide and a fast slide for older visitors but there’s nothing too adrenalin-driven.

A trip to Thurstaston Beach is more like a day in the countryside than at the seaside. Part of the Wirral Country Park, this sand and shingle shoreline is the most unspoilt part of the peninsula. It gets a thumbs up for a windswept half term walk. Flissy’s is our top pick for a post-walk treat. Or hire bikes from Wirral Way Bikes for an easy off-road cycle along the former railway line.

The Walker Art Gallery is always a brilliant rainy day standby. It has everything from 20th century artists like Lowry and Freud to medieval and renaissance Art (there are gruesome works involving saints being tortured – take that as a warning or an endorsement depending on your children’s proclivities). Take a sketchbook and get kids to draw a detail from their favourite paintings. It easily passes a good half hour.

Head to Walton Hall & Gardens for landscaped grounds, woodland walks and a whole host of fun things to do. The orienteering, the alpacas and the mini golf make it a good bet for days out with the kids.

The World Museum, part of National Museums Liverpool, is selling itself short. It’s not a World Museum, it’s an absolutely everything museum – there’s even a full dome planetarium. When you’ve discovered everything there is to know about our world, you can move on to outer space. Stay on earth long enough for the aquarium and the bug house.

Zap’s graffiti art classes have a few more street smarts than other alternatives. Book a two-hour slot over the half term holidays – prices are currently reduced to £25 – and remember to send off your budding Banksys in their oldest clobber. This is great fun but anyone with asthma should give it a miss.