The first school vacations of the year are shaping up to be ghostly! Pumpkins, spiders, witches, ghosts and vampires are back in our lives, in our cupboards, and sometimes even on our plates, because for Halloween, tales and legends come to life. A nocturnal visit to the Paléospace amidst dinosaur skeletons, a cooking class to concoct spooky dishes and sweets, the metamorphosis of a simple pumpkin into a frightful Jack O'Lantern, a spellbinding immersion in Norman Hogwarts... Here are a few terrifically entertaining ideas for getting out and about.

In Touques, make-up stands and cotton candy put little monsters in the mood before attending the interactive show "The Halloween Miracle"combining magic, ventriloquism, storytelling and balloon sculpture. On stage, Jessica, an ordinary woman who doesn't like Halloween, enters a costume store to try on a witch's costume. On her way out, she realizes she's no longer in the store, but in a show with an audience of children. She can't go home until she changes her mind. With the help of the children, Cradouille the friendly little monster and Chocotte the ghost, she will learn to love this party and everything will return to normal.

 Learn more about "The Halloween Miracle 

They are to Halloween what the Christmas tree is to Christmas: mythical and symbolic! At All Saints' Day, they bloom here and there to the delight of prankster children. With the help of animators and their parents, they compete in creativity to create a fearsome Jack O'Lantern, Halloween's most famous pumpkin. A face with an evil smile, a witch with a pointy hat, a cat devoted to black magic or a bat announcing the imminent arrival of Dracula? simple workshop with Fanny in Deauville with or in a family competition in Villers-sur-Mershow off your sculpting skills!

Visit Paléospaceanimations help children discover the secrets the secrets of Halloween animals. What is the history of dinosaurs? How can you recognize their skeletons? Why do bats only come out at night? And what if spiders aren't as scary as they seem? And because it's Halloween, the museum is exceptionally opening its doors at night on Wednesday, October 26, for the "Skeleton Nights". From mysterious visits and madcap experiments with a mad scientist, to treasure hunts and a terrifyingly captivating tale, families come along to have fun, get scared (a little) and marvel at the magic of science. At the planetarium, Paléospace offers special sessions with quizzes at 7.15pm, 8.15pm and 9.15pm. And to make the magic happen, get out your scariest disguise!

 The entire Paleospace vacation calendar 

"I solemnly swear that my intentions are evil". To all fans of the Harry Potter saga: the hotel Les Jardins de Coppélia**** is transformed into a school of magic and sorcery for the All Saints' vacation! Its slate roofs, numerous windows and imposing tower with an uncanny resemblance to Gryffindor's make it the perfect setting for Halloween. You don't need a letter of admission from Minerva McGonagall to get in; every young wizard from the age of 7 is invited to take part in the magical festivities: a criminal investigation followed by a gourmet dinner, a a life-size Quidditch tournament with the "Caen Muggle Quidditch" team and, of course, a Halloween-style Halloween-style tea party to discover objects and settings from the films!

 Harry Potter entertainment program 

Gone are the raclettes, tartiflettes and other comforting pot-au-feu that greet the crisp autumn breezes. Now, dishes and sweets take on strange shapes and colors! With Joie Maison de Couleursmagical choco-biscuits, Halloween lollipops and wizards' aperitifs are all the rage. A favorite: parent and child cooking classes, where each generation learns how to magnify pumpkin and mimolette waffles with a Machiavellian eye of kiwi grape panna cotta. These culinary creations echo the enchanted creative workshops, where children try their hand at making super-powered wreaths and magical dreamcatchers ! Chez Manouon Sunday, October 30, we'll be celebrating Halloween with a make-up and a contest for the most beautiful drawing with a prize for the winner!

In addition to Halloween, the All Saints' Day vacations feature a host of workshops: making a 100% vegan floral candle with Atelier Hanami, creative week to meet the guests of the Planches Contact Festival, initiation to vermicomposting, special family readings at Les Franciscaines, pottery sculpture, still life creation between parents and children... And for the little monsters staying at theHôtel Barrière Le Normandy*****, the Studio by Petit VIP is full of fun activities: cooking classes to learn how to make pumpkin mousse, Halloween mask creation, Dracula cluedo... The full program just click here.

 All children's workshops for All Saints' Day 

Forerunner in immersive, innovative entertainment on the Côte Fleurie, Dama Factory brightened up the summer of 2022 for young and old alike. Opened in early July, it offers 6 hectares of land for outdoor sports and 1,000m² of indoor experiences, no less. With a dozen activities to choose from, you'll be spoilt for choice between the mini-golf - where holes are connected to score points - a first in France! -, the Action Gameinspired by Fort Boyard, where players take on the role of fellow inmates in a prison and challenge the guards to regain their freedom, and the shuffleboarda must in London pubs. To let off steam in good weather and bad, the outdoor area invites fans of lawn tennis for a semblance of Wimbledon, and why not try THE new sport on the rise: padel. padel (derived from tennis, it is played on a smaller court, 20m long and 10m wide). As for sensations, let yourself be tempted by the connected laser game in a world of zombies or battle royale. The 5-a-side soccer delights ball-lovers by avoiding the disadvantages of soccer: a maximum number of balls touched and a maximum number of goals. And for the younger ones, what could be better than a inflatable parkWhat could be better for youngsters than a bouncy park on the theme of the savannah and the animals that inhabit it?

 Dama Factory, the new leisure space inDeauville 

Every year, theHippodrome de Deauville-La Touques seduces tribes with its unmissable "Family Hippodrome". For the last weekend of the vacation season, the racecourse is packed with activities to entertain children and let them experience the thrill of horse racing. Pony christenings for an unforgettable first time, a carousel for a fantastic ride, sack races or Pony Hop races (small inflatable equids on which children bounce), a "ponycycle" rocking horse, a giant multicolored inflatable structure... A great way to burn off some energy before heading back to school!

 Find out more about "l'Hippodrome en famille" (in French) 

At an age when children's imaginations are running riot, investigative games and escape games are captivating activity ideas, which is why the Deauville and Villers-sur-Mer tourist offices are organizing fun tours for families. Read a booklet of games and steps, find your way around a map, look for clues along the way... With the help of their parents and a guide, they can wander around the emblematic sites like little detectives, discovering the personalities and history that have left their mark on these towns.

 Fun tours for children 

For an experience behind closed doors, the escape games offer total immersion, with each participant playing a key role. The ultimate goal: to get out of the room in 60 minutes flat! Whatever the theme, from a well-known sorcerer's school to theinfiltration of a high-securityprison or the theft of a famous Van Gogh painting, participants don their best Sherlock Holmes deerstalker and lead the investigation to unravel the mysteries.

 Adventure escape games 

Terror on board at the Franciscaines! Le Havre, year 1800. You board the corvette Le Géographe to explore Australia and discover the wonders of the southern hemisphere. Among you are sailors, artists, botanists and zoologists. But a few days into the voyage, strange things happen on board. And in the middle of the night, in the middle of storms, in the depths of the hold, you'll have to redouble your courage and keep your cool. You won't come back from this trip unscathed!

Video games are surely one of the sectors that have evolved the most since they first appeared in the post-war era. If the 1970s were the golden age of arcade terminals, they gradually gave way to portable consoles like the Game Boy, then to consoles connected to the only TV in the house, with large, unergonomic joysticks in hand. Behind the screen, everyone could see their favorite characters evolve, including Zelda, Mario Bros, Sonic and Pacman. The fantastic story of these "old-school" video games is told during this day dedicated to retrogaming. Laughter guaranteed for adults, and astonishment guaranteed for youngsters.

 All about Retrogaming Day