Sporting chance

Have your kids got what it takes to become the next Tim Henman or Colin Montgomerie? Find out during a half-term activity week at Bovey Castle on Dartmoor National Park (01647 445016; boveycastle.com).

From 23 October, children's activities include daily tennis lessons and a golf academy which operates from Tuesday to Friday. Family activities include falconry displays, fishing on the lake and archery and pistol shooting while adults can take a break from the kids with a daily round of golf and sampling the local wines. There are also daily kids', adult and family movies, a supervised games room and adventure playground. Horse riding can be arranged.

Adults cost £1,586 for six nights and £705 for a child sharing the room. The cost of a child in their own room rises to £940. Prices include breakfast, lunch, afternoon tea, dinner and all activities.

Norman conquest

Enjoy the French flavour of Jersey with a five-night break at De Normandie Hotel with Channel Islands Direct (0870 889 0817; channelislandsdirect.co.uk).

The location of the hotel could hardly be better for kids - it's directly opposite the beach. It's also a short distance from shops, has two bars, an indoor swimming pool, whirlpool, gym, sauna and steam room.

For departures on 24 October, five nights' accommodation on a B&B basis costs £180 for adults travelling by sea as foot passengers, or £216 if they fly from Gatwick. Children aged up to two travel free by sea and cost £18 each for travel by air. For children aged two to 11, both travel for free by sea but will cost £80 each by air. For the second child in this age group there is an additional charge of £65 for the accommodation.

By the Baltic

Lithuania may not be the most obvious choice for a family break but parents could be tempted by a two-night half-term special with Radisson SAS Hotels (radissonsas.com).

The property, in Klaipeda on the Baltic Sea, lets children aged up to 15 stay for free in their parents' room.

The £115 package, excluding flights, is for two adults and up to two children sharing one room and includes buffet breakfast for two and a three-course seafood dinner for two at Newport Restaurant. Children's menus are available for an extra charge. The package also includes entry for two people to the Maritime Museum Aquarium and to a dolphin and sea lion show.

Sheikh it up

Parents looking further afield - and keen to slap on some sunscreen - could try Sharm El Sheikh, fast becoming a popular destination for couples and families. Although known predominantly for diving, the Red Sea resort is now fashionable as purely a beach destination. The bulk of the hotels are slap bang next to vast expanses of sand while camel rides and desert safaris provide excellent excursions. Water sports are in abundance.

Seven-night stays at the three-star La Perla in Hurghada with Olympic Holidays (0870 429 5090; odysseyworldwide.co.uk) cost £745 per adult and £519 per child under 12 sharing a room with their parents. Includs return flights departing Gatwick on 24 October, transfers and accommodation with breakfast.

Meet Mickey

If ready-made attractions are the aim, Disneyland Paris is just the ticket. The two parks, Disneyland Park and Walt Disney Studios Park, offer an entertainment extravaganza for kids. From Mickey's initial welcome in Fantasyland, it's a non-stop rollercoaster of fun, with Fantasyland the favourite of younger kids and Adventureland and its nerve-shredding rides top billing for the older ones.

Two-night breaks are available with Cresta (0870 333 3303; crestaholidays.co.uk) at Disneyland's Explorers Hotel. A family of four with two children aged three to 11 will pay £642 including breakfast, three days' unlimited entry to both parks and Dover to Calais ferry crossing with a car. Alternatively, two nights with breakfast at the Comfort Inn Trembley, a 30-minute car journey from Disneyland Paris, is £320 including a one-day pass and ferry crossing. Both depart 25 October.

Spanish explorer

An overnight ferry crossing to Santander on Spain's north coast, followed by three nights in a converted farmhouse, is a laidback half-term option available through Brittany Ferries (08705 360360; brittanyferries.co.uk).

Situated on a protected bay, the city offers good shopping and culture, and for the kids an array of beaches and an enormous zoo.

Five-night breaks include the 24 October overnight crossing from Plymouth on board the Pont Aven ferry, three nights for the price of two at Hotel La Arquera - converted from an Asturian farmhouse - and return crossing on 28 October. Family rooms sleep two adults and two children under 16. The holiday costs £514 for a family of four.

Single advantage

Want to take your children away at half term but fed up with paying through the nose as a single parent? Friendship Travel (02894 462211; friendshiptravel.com) has space at Jamaica's all-inclusive Franklyn D Resort, which specialises in family holidays and offers breaks for single parents at no extra charge. What's more, a 'vacation nanny' is appointed to every family enabling parents to take a break from the nippers and indulge in the various water activities. The nanny is trained in baby and child care and is on call from 9.30am-4pm. There is also a supervised children's club for kids aged two to 12. A seven-night holiday departing Heathrow on 24 October costs £1,188 per adult and £770 per child aged two to 11, inclusive of return flights, transfers and accommodation.

Beach party

If beach volleyball doesn't wear them out, perhaps windsurfing will? Or kayaking? Rex Turtle Beach kids' clubs in Tobago features a host of activities guaranteed to keep kids entertained. Virgin Holidays (0871 222 1203; virgin.com/holidays) has seven nights at the Rex Turtle Beach resort for £561 with kids under 12 starting at £261. Prices, which include return flights from Gatwick, room-only accommodation and transfers, are for 25 October departures. The children's club is open Monday to Friday 9am-noon and from 2pm-4pm.

Alternatively, Disneyland in Los Angeles is within walking distance of Coast Anaheim Hotel which is available room-only, with car hire, at £711 for seven nights, departing 24 and 25 October. Kids under 12 cost £467.

Ice cream kids

Activities are top of the agenda in Cyprus with Argo Holidays (0870 066 7070; argoholidays.com). The four-star, all-inclusive Hotel Luca Laura Beach in Paphos is ideal for families where adults can work off the excesses of the night before by playing tennis or squash or taking to the water in a canoe or pedalo. And there's no need to worry about the kids. They'll be kept amused during the day in the Sunsmiles mini club.

The price of £705 per adult and £455 for children under 12 - for departures on 23 October - includes all food, snacks, local alcohol, use of sporting equipment and ... wait for it ... as much ice cream as the kids can eat. Self-catering apartments in Protaras are also available for seven nights from 23 October at £399 per adult, falling to £299 for children. Each apartment has its own freshwater pool. Mountain bikes can be hired.

Sea Menorca

Menorca has long been a popular haunt of families, offering a combi nation of rural Spanish villages and beach life.

Many properties cater for families, including the Hotel Victoria Playa in the resort of Santa Tomas, available through Thomson Holidays (0870 550 2555; www.thomson.co.uk. Part of its Superfamily collection, the property is just 25 metres from the beach and overlooks the sea and countryside. An events programme, including quizzes, skittles and table tennis, is available for kids and parents.

The price for two adults and one child staying seven nights' half board is £1,401 departing 22 October from Gatwick. Alternatively, the Talayot Apartments between the sandy cove of Cala'n Blanes and resort of Cala'n Forcat's costs £1,431 for seven nights' self catering, based on two adults and two children, departing 22 October.