Six of the best: half-term events

Things to do, places to go this weekend

National Animal Adoption Week at London Zoo (23-29 Oct) Regent's Park, London NW1 (adoptions hotline 0171-586 4443) open daily 10am-5.30pm (NB times change from 1 November) adult pounds 7, concs pounds 6, kids pounds 5, kids under four free Why not rush along and choose something cuddly to sponsor? Anthony Hopkins adopted a penguin. You could go for anything from a gerbil, ant, assassin bug or black widow spider for pounds 20, right up to a Hyacinth Thine Macaw (right) at pounds 350 or an Asian elephant for six grand. Adoptive "parents" will receive an adoption certificate, a photograph, a badge, a car sticker and a free ticket to London Zoo

Shakespeare's Globe Bear Gardens, Bankside, Southwark, London SE1 (0171- 620 0202) 10am-5pm daily, adults pounds 4, children pounds 2.50, family (2+2) pounds 11 Fascinating exhibition where you can see the Elizabethan theatre being reconstructed using the materials, techniques and craftsmanship of 400 years ago. What you will see varies from day to day at the Globe as plasterers and woodworkers come and go on the site. Kids will be given the chance to buy a brick (pounds 2) so they can say they played their part in its rebuilding

Acorn World 95 Wembley Exhibition Hall 1, London (01933 441448) adults pounds 5 advance, pounds 6 on the day, kids pounds 4/pounds 3, family pounds 16/pounds 20 A family computer show featuring anything and everything to do with the world of technology. The complete caboodle from interactive TV to access to the information superhighway. This year's special feature is a futuristic cybercafe. Other attractions include face-painting, jugglers, magicians and competitions

X-Ray Trail Science Museum, Exhibition Rd, London SW7 (0171-938 8000) daily 10am-6pm Marks the centenary of the discovery of X-rays in 1895 by German physicist Wilhelm Rontgen. Part of the programme will concentrate on hidden rainbows for ages six plus. Learn about the parts of the rainbow that we can't see

London International Circus Festival to 29 Oct, Old Deer Pk, Richmond, Surrey (0181-332 1444) Extravaganza of circus skills from around the world. Try stilt-walking and trapeze (5-14 yrs), and tuition in foot-juggling, clowning, tightrope and the flying trapeze. Or attend a master class in Radical Clowning

Noddy Orchard Theatre, Dartford (01322 220000) 24-28 Oct Noddy is touring the UK, for details of other venues ring (01608 661198)