You don’t need to spend a fortune to have fun with the family this autumn and winter. From fireworks to forest trails, science festivals to playing pirates, there are plenty of exciting attractions and events out there that are totally free. Here is our pick of the best things to do without reaching for your debit card.

Taking energetic kids to see an art exhibition can be stressful, but let them run wild at this open-air art gallery while exploring some superb pieces of contemporary art. Set within 500 acres of beautiful parklands and woods, there are many trails to explore and one hundred sculptures and installations to find. Head out on a Sculpture and Nature Hunt or let kids get hands-on with their own projects in the Underground Gallery.

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Harry Potter is big business in tourism but amazingly Edinburgh's Potter Trail – a walking tour around the Old Town – is completely free. So grab your wand and don your wizard robe to set off on a magical tour around some of the haunts that inspired JK Rowling as she wrote her books. 

Calling all wannabe explorers, sailors and pirates: adventures aplenty await you at Greenwich’s National Maritime Museum. The brilliant interactive AHOY! gallery allows kids to dress as sea captains, stoke the boiler of a steamship and go crabbing. Or set sail across the Great Map in an interactive game to explore distant lands and discover treasures around the world. There’s a host of family events on weekdays during term time too.

Discover weird and wonderful instruments, enter a time bubble and throw some astronaut-approved shapes. Between 21-30 October, the Manchester Science Festival offers a raft of free events and workshops to entertain all age ranges. One highlight is bound to be meeting Haile the musical robot who can play and improvise alongside human musicians – part of the Turn It Up: The Power of Music headlining event.

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Leicester’s Golden Mile will be bathed in light as it becomes the focal point for the city’s lively Diwali festivities. It’s one of the biggest celebrations of the Hindu festival of light outside India so it gets very busy, but if your kids don’t mind crowds it’s a joyous event to attend. On 9 October, the lights are switched on, and the festival culminates with a fireworks display and other entertainment on Diwali Day (24 October). 

Get the kids outside and into the joys of rambling or cycling on one of the guided events taking place during this annual festival from 15 October to 6 November. Local experts will lead a range of walks and rides around the national park where they'll divulge secrets of the forest and fascinating historic facts, while helping you spy the local wildlife along the way. Many are free but require booking.

Head out to the fields this year to pick your own pumpkin to carve for Halloween or just to eat. Farmers around the country are now welcoming the public for this fun autumnal activity, while Bolesworth Castle in Chester opens its pumpkin fields over three weekends in October. Entry is free, but you pay for what you pick. 

Dress up as your favourite spooky creature at this festival (free for under-16s) in the gardens of the Horniman Museum in south London on 29 October. There’ll be a fancy dress parade, craft workshops and face painting. Join a spooky Halloween trail around the gardens or let Nyko the Magician dazzle you with his tricks. Don't miss a mooch around the museum’s extraordinary handling collection – 3,700 specimens and artefacts that kids can touch and interact with.

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See your child’s inner thespian released as they rummage in the Royal Shakespeare Company's dressing-up box. Permanently located in the foyer for kids to play with, it’s regularly updated with costumes from the stages. Other free options for kids include adventure bags, which you can collect from the cloakroom for an hour-long exploration of Shakespeare’s plays and the theatre’s collections. On Sundays children can enjoy free entry to the permanent The Play's The Thing exhibition.

A torchlit procession through Penrith brings this lovely celebration of rural life on 29 October to a close. Everyone's encouraged to dress as sheep, cows or drovers so get the kids enthused in advance by helping them make their own animal masks. There are live performances throughout the day, food stalls and an overall magical, carnivalesque feel.

Giant dinosaurs, a maze, a sandpit and a boating lake: there’s a lot to love about Crystal Palace Park in south London. Follow the lakeside trail to spot the extinct beasts – there are more than 30 heritage-listed statues here, which were created by Benjamin Waterhouse Hawkins in the 1850s, and marked the first ever attempt to make 3D models of dinosaurs based on fossilised remains. Head to the playpark for more dino-themed fun, with bones and hatching eggs to discover in the sandpit.

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Follow a magical trail around Lancaster’s centre to marvel at the colourful and thought-provoking illuminations brightening the city’s heritage buildings, squares and shops during this family-friendly evening event from 4 to 5 November. There will be music and dance performances too, followed by a fireworks display.

Autumn is the best time of year for fungi – get the kids spotting different species on tree branches, along rotten logs and among the grass. The Berks, Bucks & Oxon Wildlife Trust has fantastic nature reserves like Foxholes in Oxfordshire, where you can find fairy rings on woodland strolls. Its Big Wild Walk (24-30 October) sees families complete an 18-mile (30km) ramble while younger years can take on the 1.6-mile (3km) Hedgehog Challenge, covering the same distance our spiky friends complete in one night. 

It isn't always easy convincing kids to go to art galleries, but once they discover the Sunday Spot sessions at the excellent South London Gallery in Peckham they won’t want to leave. These free, drop-in immersive art workshops for families happen on the last Sunday of every month from 2-4pm, with changing themes and activities relating to the latest exhibitions. Best for children aged three-12.

Inspire the kids to get sporty by following in the footsteps of the world’s greatest athletes around east London's amazing sporting venue – formerly the hub of the London 2012 Olympics. There are climbing walls, interactive fountains and tall treehouses for little ones to explore, while the Tumbling Bay playground is near the parent-friendly Timber Lodge café.

Play kings and queens on a romp around the walls of Conwy Castle, an enormous fortress with 21 towers on the Conwy estuary. From this commanding position you can enjoy fabulous views across to Snowdonia and continue around the ramparts which enclose the town. You have to pay to go up the towers but the wall walk is free. You can visit other Welsh castles for free too. 

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Wind in the Willows fans will know that Ratty was actually a water vole, and these loveable little creatures were once a familiar sight in Kielder Water until the predatory mink wiped them out. Since 2017, 1,400 voles have been reintroduced and the best places to spot this protected native species are Kielder campsite and the wildlife hide on Forest Drive.

You don’t need to live in the countryside to have a fun day out in the forest. The London Wildlife Trust runs regular free family learning days at Walthamstow Wetlands and Camley Street Natural Park, where all ages can join in with bushcraft, fire-lighting, pond-dipping and shelter-building.

The thrill of seeing a wild pony will stick in a child's mind, especially with the majestic landscape of Dartmoor as a backdrop. There are numerous trails to follow around the tors, moorlands, valleys and forests in this remarkable corner of north Devon, which is steeped in spooky tales. Misty autumn days are a particularly atmospheric time to explore.

Calling all amateur engineers and train spotters: you can experience exhilarating simulator rides, experiment in the play area, hop on board a miniature railway and find out how high-speed travel works at York's wonderful National Railway Museum. There's free entry for all but it's advised to book admission in advance, particularly during school holidays. 

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For a fun and free day out with kids big and little, community farms are great. The people of Bath are very lucky to have Bath City Farm on their doorstep, with its wonderful views back over the picturesque city. The farm has lots of livestock for youngsters to meet and learn about, and a lovely play area too. It's free but donations are welcome.

Dare to enter the Giant’s Lair and you'll encounter an assortment of mythical wood-carved creatures on this delightful story trail in the Slieve Gullion Forest Park. Spot little fairy houses, dodge dragons and creep past ogres for over a mile. There’s an adventure playground too.

Another of autumn’s most impressive spectacles is the annual rutting of fallow deer. Watch as males congregate to groan and lock antlers in this fierce mating competition – that's one way of learning the birds and the bees... You can go deer spotting for free in Bushy Park and Richmond Park in London, or watch red deer in Beecraigs Country Park in Scotland.

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Little knights and warrior queens will love exploring the array of arms and armour, and learning about the military techniques of Saxons, Vikings and medieval knights at this free museum. There are live combat demonstrations, elephant armour on display (the world's largest animal armour) and plenty of cuddly friends to meet in the gift shop.

From a dedicated quiet hour to 'Explore and Draw' workshops, this modern art gallery on Liverpool Docks is a superb space to get kids excited about art. On the first floor is the Clore Learning Centre, a family space to play, relax and talk. The wall displays change depending on current exhibitions and there's a green screen where you can pose for photos with props and costumes.

The pretty Cornish port of Padstow gets into the Christmas spirit from 1-4 December when celebrity chefs and an array of food, drink and craft producers congregate for its annual festival (under-16s go free). Inspire older kids to help out in the kitchen this Christmas at one of the chef demonstrations, and take little ones to the Christmas Market. Live music, festive treats, fireworks and lashings of local ales and cider mean there's something to appeal to everyone. 

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Set in 400 hectares of beautiful countryside, Strathclyde Country Park offers something for all ages. There's a 3.5-mile (5.6km) walk that loops around the loch while outdoor adventure playgrounds provide endless fun. Water babies can splash about at the watersports centre, board a family funboat or hire a pedalo, while guided nature walks teach budding wildlife enthusiasts all they need to know. 

Kids will find it all too easy to embrace their inner emperor at the National Roman Legion Museum in Wales. At weekends and during school holidays children can step inside a full-sized barrack room, don replica armour and experience what it was like to be a Roman soldier some 2,000 years ago. With award-winning educational facilities, a family fun area and picnic spots, there's plenty for all to see and do here, as well as getting a close look at intricate mosaics and artefacts.

Celebrate Halloween this October half-term with a range of events at Barrington Court, from apple-collecting in the orchard to crafts in the cow shed. Between 26-27 October families can join the Ranger team to build a bird box, which is free for National Trust members or £5 for non-members. Younger years may need assistance but all materials are provided, and you can take your creations home with you at the end.

Brighton's Rampion Visitor Centre gives all ages the chance to learn more about Rampion Wind Farm, the south coast's first offshore wind farm. Find out how the nearby farm was built, climb up a wind turbine and even generate your own electricity while discovering the relationship between energy and climate change. Open Tuesdays to Sundays, this environmental attraction offers hands-on exhibitions, interactive displays, games and videos and even a virtual reality experience. Better still, it's totally free to visit.

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