Are half term breaks great family bonding time?

We are big fans of half term holidays at A Thrifty Mum.  The October break tends to have some great weather (not too cold, with dry days) and we are always ready for a break after the first half term at school.

We also tend to focus on spending our half terms in the UK as you can find an array of UK half term breaks even at the last minute.

We love using half term to spend time together as a family and we are big fans of exploring some of the UK's amazing castles, ruins and beaches.

The fact that the evenings tend to draw in quickly makes for cosy evenings where we play board games together or read a book as a family.

Our favourite things to do on a half term break:

1. Take a walk on the beach (wrapped up warm) and collect shells and stones
2. Forest and woodland walks.  We love the colours of the leaves and to look for conkers or even forage. 
3. Visit castles and pretend that we are knights and Princes.  Both the boys are fans of this as much as we are.  English heritage are brilliant for castle entry.  
4. Hot picnics - we love taking flasks of soup out with us or hotdogs in a food flask.  We have even taken beans and sausages.  A flask of hot chocolate is always an essential companion during half term.
5. Board games.  We love LEGO creationary, scrabble, boggle and dominos.
6. Reading books.  Chapter books are great for family evenings together.  We have read Harry Potter and are currently re-reading World of Secrets.
7. Dog walking.  There is nothing nicer than watching the puppy get covered in leaves and the boys running along with him.

I think that half term is a much more relaxed holiday than many of the others, we have lower expectations of them, so they are much more family focussed.

Do you love Half term breaks as much as I do?