Skip to content

South and Vale Holiday Activities

During most school holidays, our Active Communities team offer a range of free and low-cost activities, for young children, teenagers and families to enjoy at locations across South Oxfordshire and the Vale of White Horse.

Bookings open around a month before each holiday period – follow our new Active Communities Facebook page, you can join our mailing list to receive regular email updates, or if you have any questions; please email active.communities@southandvale.gov.uk 

The activities are usually very popular, we encourage you to book early to avoid disappointment.  See below for details of our next programme of holiday activities and how to book. Booking is required to be able to attend our activities.

What’s on, where and when:

October half term

The Active Communities Team are running free and low-cost activities between 27 – 31 October. Please see some dates for your diary below. Booking for all of the Active Communities events are can be done through the provider Bookwhen following this link: https://bookwhen.com/https-www-southandvale-gov-uk-south-and-vale-holiday-activities

Monday 27 October

  • Thame Leisure Centre Fun Day; Working in partnership with Better Leisure to bring you a day of fun, free activities from 10am-2pm.
    • Netball 10-10.30 am, fun football 10.30-11 am, boccia 11-11.30 am, new age Kurling 11.30-midday, Born to Move 10.15-10.45 am, family dance 1.15-1.45 pm, badminton 11-11.55 am and pickleball midday -1.55 pm.
    • Ages and more information can be found on the booking page.

Tuesday 28 October

  • Xplorer, Didcot – A free family-friendly fun navigation challenge that is educational and gives children a sense of adventure as they explore the park to find the markers. At each marker children need to identify what is pictured and enjoy learning a fun fact to tell their friends.
    • 10am-midday, last registration at 11.30 am
    • Edmunds Park, Didcot, OX11 8RF

Wednesday 29 October

  • Xplorer, Wantage – A free family-friendly fun navigation challenge that is educational and gives children a sense of adventure as they explore the park to find the markers. At each marker children need to identify what is pictured and enjoy learning a fun fact to tell their friends.
    • 10am-midday, last registration at 11.30 am
    • Memorial Park, Manor Road, Wantage, OX12 8DW

Thursday 30 October

  • Football Fun at the White Horse Leisure and Tennis Centre, Abingdon, OX14 3PJ. Come along to our football sessions at the White Horse Tennis and Leisure Centre and learn some new skills and have fun.
    • Mini Messi Fun Football 2-4 years, 11-11.40 am.  Brazilian Soccer Skills 5-8 years, 11.50 am -12.50 pm.  Midfield Master for 9-11 years, 1-2 pm.

Art Centre’s Half Term Activities

Saturday 25 and Sunday 26 October

  • Make memories with the whole family at Cornerstone Arts Centre with Spot’s Birthday Party! Every ticket comes with a free party hat and meet and greet with Spot after the show. Tickets are £15, £13.50 Under 16s, Family Ticket £55.

Thursday 30 October

  • Meet some of the cast of this year’s pantomime Beauty and the Beast at Cornerstone Arts Centre! This activity is free – timings TBC
  • Make Your Own Halloween Hand Puppets with local in-house artist Eden! An hour of creative fun where little ones can create and grown ups don’t need to tidy up. £10 per child. More details on the Beacon website.
  • PLAYTIME! A play-along theatre adventure for 2-6 year olds and their grown-ups. Come along for a fun, relaxed participatory theatre session with The Last Baguette Theatre Company. This free event is part of the Wantage Literary Festival with two sessions at 10am and 11.30am. Bookings can be made on The Beacon’s website.

Saturday 1 November

  • Join much-loved children’s writer and illustrator Nick Sharratt in a family-friendly, fun-filled drawalong for all ages. Tickets are £12, £10.80 Concessions. More details on the Cornerstone website

Term Time Activities

We offer a range of free and low-cost activities, for young children, teenagers and families to enjoy at locations across South Oxfordshire and the Vale of White Horse during term time.

To find out more, visit our Term Time Activities page.

Activities for all residents

We also work across South Oxfordshire and the Vale of White Horse to help residents with their physical health and wellbeing, running a variety of weekly activities for all ages and abilities.

To find out more and to see what activities are available near you, visit our pages on Active Communities in South Oxfordshire and Active Communities in the Vale of White Horse.