Lots of things to do this week.

It is, of course, half-term week for schools, but if you don't mind crowds, that means there are a lot of events running which may be worth a look.

Here is a quick summary :

National Museum, Cardiff, St Fagan's, Big Pit, National Wool Museum, National Roman Legion Museum, Slate Museum and Waterfront Museum, Swansea.

They all have events running this week, and the details can be found on their website.

Caldicot Castle has a Medieval Mayhem workshop this afternoon, from 2 - 4pm, and some spooky Halloween events on Friday 31st. More details here

Caerphilly Castle has some Big Draw linked events running this week, and Tintern Abbey has a "Guided Tour with Brother Thomas". More details here

Cardiff Castle is running Big Draw linked events today and tomorrow. See here

Find out more about the Gunpowder Plot at Llancaiach Fawr all week, and on Friday, take part in a children's Halloween party. More details here

For the wannabe cheerleaders amongst us, there is a High School Musical Cheerleader party tomorrow (28th) at the Red Dragon Centre, Cardiff Bay.

Have fun.
If you know of any other events that we might all enjoy, please leave details in the comments.

CADW - HE and free membership options

Home Educators (anywhere) can apply for an educational pass, valid for one year, which allows free entrance to CADW properties, Monday to Friday, term-time only. Get in touch via the website or SWHEN list for more information.

Welsh residents under 16 and over 60 can apply for a pass which gives them free entrance, at any time, to CADW properties. See the CADW website for more details.

Thanks to Rachel for highlighting this.

If you are paid members of CADW, in the first year you also get half price entrance to English Heritage and Historic Scotland properties, and in second and subsequent years, all entrance is free.

Membership can be bought using Tesco clubcard vouchers.

Parkend, Forest of Dean meeting - 23rd October

The Parkend meeting is held in the forest and a stream runs through the site, with plenty of space to play outside. All children remain the responsibility of their parents at all times.

Tea, coffee, milk provided, bring your own lunch.

The meeting runs from 12 - 3:30pm. All welcome. £3 per family.

Get in touch via the SWHEN list or the website for more information.

Cardiff meeting - 23rd October

Heather will be taking things to make autumn window mobiles. She has enough to make the mobiles, but if you arrive before the group starts, you could get some more supplies from the park. e.g. small cones, sticks, acorns etc.

The group meets Thursday, 12:30 - 3pm, and costs £2 per family. Get in touch via the website or the SWHEN list for more information.

Feed the Birds day - 25th October

Saturday is Feed the Birds day, an event organised by the RSPB to get people thinking about local wildlife and how they can encourage and support it in their gardens.
There are several family fun days running around South Wales, so there should be one near you, if you want to go along for hints and tips on what to plant and what to feed.
The RSPB is also keen to get people to sign up for the Homes for Wildlife project, where you can make a real difference to the local wildlife.

Events are being held at:

• Newport Wetlands centre : 12 - 4pm
• Cosmeston Lakes Country Park, Penarth : 11am - 4pm
• Caerphilly Garden Centre, Penrhos, Nantgarw : 10am - 5pm, 25th and 26th
• The Promenade, Roath Park Lake, Cardiff : 10am - 4pm
• Afan Forest Park visitor centre, Neath, Port Talbot : 1pm - 4pm
  
• Wyevale Garden Centre, Swansea : 11am - 3pm

More details here. I suggest contacting the event to check if you need to be so that you are not disappointed.

St Fagans - A drop in session for making bird feeders has been cancelled.

If you know of any other events, please tell us about them in the comments.

It's Apple Day!

A day to celebrate all the different varieties of apple which can be found in Britain. So your challenge is to find some! Try your local greengrocer, farm shop, farmer's market, or check out the supermarket. You might need to hunt for them, but there should be some UK varieties out there. How many can you find?

There are various apple related events going on around the UK, but not many seem to be local. If you know of any more, leave a comment to let us all know.

• Wednesday 22nd - Bristol Farmer's Market Apple Day - Gloucestershire apple displays, juicing and tastings
• Saturday 25th - St Fagans Apple Day 10am - 4.30pm Apple displays, juicing and tasting.
• Saturday 25th - Gloucester Folk Museum 11am-4pm Demonstration of a horse-powered cider mill, tastings, games and activities.

Other apple ideas :

• Cut an apple in half and draw pictures of the inside and outside.
• Use the cut side of an apple to make apple prints - this looks especially good on fabric.
• Take out the seeds and plant them to see if you can grow your own apple tree.
• Gather as many different varieties of apple as you can find and do an apple tasting, to compare the differences.
• People are always throwing apple cores on the ground instead of in the bin. See if you can find any "wild" apple trees growing where you least expect it.
• Cook with them. There are 471 apple related recipes on the BBC Food website.
• Dry apple slices to use in wreaths, garlands and other crafts. Try here and here to get some ideas.
  

Remember you can add photos to the Flickr group of any interesting places or things you get up to.

Gathering seeds and planting trees

The Tree Council has a seed gathering autumn festival which runs from 23rd September to 23rd October. Yes, time is almost up, but there are still a few days left to gather some seeds and plant your own tree. Even if the seeds are past their most fruitful, you'll still have fun gathering, planting and watching for signs of life.
The Tree Council have a couple of publications to help find, gather and plant the seeds, but here are some online sites which may be of use:

• Nature Detectives - everything under S for Seeds! Includes extracts from The Tree Council's The Good Seed Guide.
• BTCV Ireland - all about growing trees.
• The Junior Seed Site - really about growing flowers from seed, but it may have some useful tips.
• Artists Helping Children - links to lots of fun things to make and do with seeds (including planting)
  

If anyone has any other links they'd like to share, please leave them in the comments.

Have fun!

Updated to add:

• Tree Planting Sunday - 30th November. Plant a tree in celebration of National Tree Week. Free. All Children must be accompanied by an adult. At Fairwater park, 12 - 3pm - meet at Fairwater Ski Centre, Fairwater Road. At Forest Farm, Cardiff, 10:30am - meet at the Warden's Centre, Forest Farm.