Pumpkin Picking and Painting at Blacker Hall Farm

Picking is only half of it here. Once you have chosen your pumpkin you take it to a painting station and decorate it on the spot, using child-safe acrylic paints the farm provides. The paint may stain, so old clothes are the sensible choice for everyone involved.

The ticket also covers the Little Farmers Trail, which normally costs £4 on its own, so there is something to do beyond the field itself. Fancy dress is encouraged through the season and there are spot prizes for the families who make the effort.

The pumpkins are not included in the ticket price. They are priced by size and you pay for what you pick, so it is worth agreeing a budget with children before they go hunting for the biggest one in the patch. Wellies are recommended, because the ground in the pumpkin patch is uneven.

You pick your date when you book, and the patch runs every day right through October, with 29 bookable dates in all. Blacker Hall is a family-run Yorkshire farm shop, restaurant and events site at Calder Grove near Wakefield, so the Barn Kitchen restaurant and the shop are both there for afterwards. Dogs are allowed on a lead.