Historic Scotland is allowing free child entry into all its paid attractions in October.

Peter Bromley, director of properties at Care for Historic Scotland said: “The October ‘Kids Go Free’ promotion was tremendously successful last year with children all over Scotland taking their families on journeys into the past.

“It’s so important to get children involved with their country’s history, so not only can they keep it exciting and alive but appreciate the importance of it, and understand why it must be protected for the future.

To coincide with the promotion, Edinburgh Castle is hosting ‘Ghostfest’ throughout October.

The spooky programme features a selection of ghostly and Hallowe’en based themes and encourages children to dress up.

Another element in the October focus on children is the launch of a special competition called ‘Your History!’, asking children to write about their free visit.

Entry forms will be handed out at more than 70 Historic Scotland attractions across the country, and the winner from each region will win a special Historic Scotland prize.

Rebecca Hamilton of Historic Scotland said: “This competition is a great opportunity for us to see our attractions through a child’s eyes.

“Our sites are hundreds, even thousands of years old, so anyone visiting them has to use their imagination to picture what they would have been like in the past. Children are often the most adept at doing this, creating their own stories and adding their own slant to Scottish history.”