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Autumn half-term in Berlin 2026 with kids: outings, workshops & holiday programme
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Two weeks off school – but what can you actually do during the 2026 autumn half-term with kids in Berlin?
From creative holiday workshops to museums, nature experiences, Halloween and free outings, Berlin has plenty of options again this year. The Berlin autumn half-term 2026 runs from 19 to 31 October.
So you don't have to rack your brains every morning, we've put together lovely outings, holiday programmes and activities for children and teenagers.
Tip: some holiday courses have limited places and need registration. Before your visit, always double-check availability, times and age recommendations with the relevant organiser.
1. Geisterwelten at FEZ-Berlin
📍 FEZ-Berlin, Wuhlheide
📅 17 October – 1 November 2026
👧 recommended from age 7
Right on cue for the autumn half-term, things get pretty mysterious at the FEZ.
At the Geisterwelten, enchanted rooms, mazes, puzzles and interactive installations are waiting for the children. The FEZ describes the holiday programme as a mix of spooky fun, tests of courage and a playful exploration of themes around life and death.
If you love Halloween, you can also combine your visit directly with the season's highlight: the GeisterGala takes place on 31 October.
Good for: school-age children who enjoy a bit of a scare.
2. Astronaut training at orbitall
📍 FEZ-Berlin
📅 17 October – 1 November 2026
🚀 from age 8
For children who'd rather travel into space than into a spooky world, there's astronaut training during the holidays at the orbitall space centre.
The holiday programme runs across both weeks of the half-term and is aimed at children aged eight and up.
A lovely alternative for children interested in space travel, technology and science.
3. Anti-Asphalt-Aquarelle at the Berlinische Galerie
📍 Berlinische Galerie
📅 19–23 October 2026
Art doesn't always have to be made inside a museum.
For “Anti-Asphalt-Aquarelle”, children and teenagers head out with drawing materials, a handcart and folding chairs to explore the area around the Berlinische Galerie.
In the process, they explore watercolour painting and their urban surroundings.
That's a lovely combination of:
🎨 being creative
🏙️ discovering Berlin
🚶 being out and about
– making it something different from a classic museum visit.
Tip for at home: feeling inspired to keep painting? With a watercolour set, children can put their own autumn scenes or their own neighbourhood on paper: See watercolour sets for kids →*
4. From photo to film at C/O Berlin
📍 C/O Berlin, Hardenbergstraße 22
📅 19–22 October 2026
👧 ages 12–16
⏰ daily 11am–4pm
There's an exciting holiday offer for teenagers too.
In the workshop “Prolog / Epilog – Vom Foto zum Film” (From Photo to Film), teenagers explore photographs by the artist Carrie Mae Weems.
In groups, they then develop their own story around a chosen image and turn it into a video piece. The multi-day course currently costs 70 euros.
Good for: creative teenagers who enjoy photography, storytelling or film.
5. Printing monsters, building sculptures & discovering art
📅 from 20 October 2026
The Staatliche Museen zu Berlin have also announced an extensive children's programme for the autumn half-term.
Among other things, there are multi-day workshops such as:
👹 Monsterdruck! – printing your own fantastical worlds
🗿 Deine Skulptur! (Your sculpture!)
✏️ Der Strich geht spazieren (The line goes for a walk)
🏙️ Mein Berlin (My Berlin)
🏺 Dein Gefäß! Dein Style! (Your vessel! Your style!)
🖼️ Bildergeflüster (Picture whispers)
The first workshops start on 20 October, with more from 27 October. Admission to the Staatliche Museen is generally free for children and teenagers under 18; individual workshops have their own participation conditions.
Good for: children who enjoy making things and trying something new.
6. Making clay monsters and plaster ghosts
📍 Haus Bastian
📅 21, 23, 28 and 30 October 2026
⏰ 1–4pm
In keeping with the season, things get a little monstrous at Haus Bastian too.
In “Tonmonster und Gipsgeister” (Clay Monsters and Plaster Ghosts), families can get creative together.
On other days during the holidays, there's also “Aus Pflanzen gemacht! Farben herstellen” (Made from Plants! Making Colours).
Both formats are offered in both weeks of the half-term.
This is especially good if you're not looking for a multi-day holiday course, but want to do something together as a family.
7. Free creative activities in Berlin's museums
A holiday programme doesn't automatically have to be expensive.
During the autumn half-term, the Staatliche Museen also offer various family and drop-in formats.
These include, for example:
🎨 Bissige Miniaturen (Miniatures with Bite) at the Neue Nationalgalerie
🏺 Scherben bringen Glück (Broken Pieces Bring Luck) at PETRI Berlin
🎨 Open studio for families at Hamburger Bahnhof
🏙️ Berlin geschichtet (Berlin in Layers) at PETRI Berlin
Some of these run on several dates during the holidays.
Drop-in formats are especially handy if you don't want to plan out your entire holiday.
8. Herbstgeister und Oktoberzauber at Freilandlabor Britz
📍 Britz
📅 27–28 October 2026
How does nature change in autumn?
In the holiday programme “Herbstgeister und Oktoberzauber” (Autumn Spirits and October Magic), children can explore, research, play and do crafts outdoors.
It's a lovely alternative to classic indoor holiday courses, and combines well with a day out in autumn.
For little nature explorers: with a bug-viewing jar and similar tools, children can take a closer look at their discoveries on their next outing too.
See the nature explorer set for kids →*
9. Inclusive holiday programme at JeverNeun
📍 Schöneberg
📅 26–30 October 2026
At the TalentCampus in JeverNeun, children and teenagers with and without disabilities can take part together in various workshops.
I find offers like this especially relevant for our Unitee guide, because families have very different needs, and holiday programmes shouldn't only work for one particular group of children.
Check the current participation conditions and registration process with the organiser.
10. Holiday programme for teenagers at the FEZ
Older children shouldn't have to choose between activities aimed at five-year-olds during the holidays either.
That's why the FEZ also offers a FEZblogger media camp, among other things.
For teens aged 13 and up, a three-day media workshop starts on 20 October. For children aged 9 to 12, there's a four-day media camp from 27 October.
It's especially worth taking a look at the programme if your children enjoy photography, filming, writing or creating content.
11. Spending a free autumn day outdoors
Not every day of the holidays needs a booked workshop.
Berlin offers plenty of ways to simply head outside.
How about:
🍂 collecting leaves in the Tiergarten
🌳 a woodland day in the Grunewald
🌾 flying kites on Tempelhofer Feld -> No kite yet? See kids' kites →*
🌿 Natur-Park Schöneberger Südgelände
🐐 visiting a children's farm
🧺 an autumn picnic
🌰 a conker challenge
🚲 a bike ride through a new neighbourhood
Give the children a little autumn mission, for example:
Find something …
🔴 red
🟡 yellow
🟤 brown
🌰 round
🍁 especially beautiful
🪵 unusually shaped
That way, even a walk becomes a little holiday activity.
🐿️ Turn it into a little discovery tour: with a pair of kids' binoculars, you can look out for birds, squirrels and other animals together.
See kids' binoculars for little explorers →*
12. Discovering a new Berlin district
The holidays are also a good opportunity to get to know Berlin beyond your own neighbourhood.
Turn it into a little challenge:
Two weeks off, two new neighbourhoods.
You could, for example, spend a day in Prenzlauer Berg, then explore Berlin-Mitte, or discover new spots in Pankow.
Don't plan ten items on the agenda for it.
A good combination is:
one special destination + a playground + food + a walk.
A successful family day often doesn't need much more than that.
13. Museums for a rainy day
Two weeks of autumn half-term without a single rainy day would be pretty ambitious in Berlin.
Luckily, there are plenty of indoor alternatives:
🦖 Museum für Naturkunde (Natural History Museum)
🌌 Zeiss-Großplanetarium
🔮 Futurium
🧗 MACHmit! Museum
🎨 Berlinische Galerie
🖼️ Hamburger Bahnhof
Our tip:
Don't plan out every rainy day completely in advance. Instead, line up three or four bad-weather favourites and decide on the day, in the morning.
14. Taking a library day
After several outings, things are allowed to get a bit quieter.
In Berlin's libraries you can read together, discover new books and, in some cases, take part in events or story times.
This is especially good for a:
🌧️ rainy day
💸 low-budget day
😴 quieter day off
And maybe some hot chocolate and cake afterwards – and your holiday programme is complete.
15. Celebrating Halloween as the grand finale
The 2026 autumn half-term ends rather fittingly:
🎃 Saturday, 31 October, is Halloween.
That means you can round off the holidays with pumpkin carving, costumes, a Halloween party or trick-or-treating.
At the FEZ, for example, the GeisterGala for families with children aged seven and up takes place on 31 October.
Since several concrete events have now been announced, we've put together a dedicated guide for it:
Autumn half-term with toddlers in Berlin
Not every holiday programme is aimed at the very youngest.
With toddlers, I'd therefore plan the autumn half-term less tightly.
A simple daily plan can be entirely enough:
Morning: a children's farm or playground
Midday: eating together
Afternoon: the library or crafting at home
More simple ideas:
🍂 collecting leaves
🌰 looking for conkers
🐐 visiting animals
🎨 crafting with natural materials
📚 looking at picture books
🛝 trying out a new playground
🚂 taking the bus, train or tram to discover a new neighbourhood
Autumn half-term with teenagers
For older children and teenagers, I'd specifically look for offers that don't feel like a classic children's programme any more.
In 2026, for example, there are media workshops at the FEZ and the photo/film workshop at C/O Berlin.
Alongside that, you could:
📸 do a photo challenge around Berlin
🎬 go to the cinema
🧗 try bouldering
🎨 discover street art
🔐 try an age-appropriate escape room
🏙️ explore a new neighbourhood
What does the autumn half-term in Berlin cost?
Two weeks of holiday programme can quickly get expensive.
That's why I'd deliberately mix things up:
1 paid highlight
free museum/culture offers
nature and parks
the library
activities at home
That way, not every day of the holidays has to turn into a 50-euro family outing.
At the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, for example, museum admission is generally free for children and teenagers up to and including age 17; individual holiday workshops may, however, have their own conditions.
→ You'll find even more in our guide “Free activities with kids in Berlin”.
Finding the current holiday programme in Berlin
The most important thing about an article on the autumn half-term:
The programme changes.
Many family centres, museums, youth clubs, cultural venues and smaller organisers only publish their holiday programmes a few weeks in advance.
Berlin's own overview page describes its current selection as a “list still being built”.
So it's worth checking for current offers again shortly before the holidays.
That's exactly what Unitee is meant to help with.
With Unitee you can discover family-friendly events, holiday programmes, workshops, courses, places and activities in Berlin and near you.
That way you can find not just the big, well-known holiday programmes, but also smaller offers right in your own neighbourhood.
Download Unitee for free on iOS and Android and discover activities for the autumn half-term.
Even more ideas for the autumn half-term
Discover even more with Unitee
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