To not be able to afford to take our dc's to theme parks ,so it will be back to the good old basics in the 6 weeks hol as we just dont have the money ,

[sweetbloom]

I know that most kids get to do expensive days out but it is just so expensive for a family for one day out,so its going to be the following. Even if we could afford it I can not justify all the money sothis is what we will be doing if I have not gone mad by the end of it.
Camping in the garden
Barbecues
Paddling pool
Bubbles
Painting
Play doh
Art and crafts
Walk in the woods
Feeding the ducks
local parks
Baking cakes
Picnics

Please feel free to add any ideas you may have.

[MrsC2010]

We never went to theme parks as kids (still can't think of anything worse) and don't think it is the norm now is it? YANBU!

[GypsyMoth]

garden sprinkler
mini assault course/sports day....in or outdoors

[PestoEatsPasties]

Library
Pick your own
Beach
Sewing
Making necklaces & bracelets
Bike rides

[TeeBee]

These things are all way more fun than all traipsingaround a theme park imo. Done with friends, even better. Mine just tend to want todo things that are a bit differnt to what they normally do - so new parks, rides on bus/train, different beach, friends wehaven't seen for ages, treasurehunts round village. Bloody hate theme parks - soul destroying places!

[agedknees]

All your activities sound like great fun. Enjoy.

Don't think theme parks had been invented when I where a lass.....

[ProzacTheGiggleFairy]

Hide & Seek
Inviting friends over to play

[MrsBadger]

yanbu

also:
rearranging the furniture

[TrinityRhino]

theme parks are crap anyway
waste of money

all the thngs you losted are much more fun and all the things we got to do as treats in the holidays when I was young

[ReasonableDoubt]

YAsoNBU.

Kids enjoy the time you spend together and the freedom of the holidays. They don't need constant 'treats', imo.

We are lucky enough to be going on holiday this year and visiting friends a lot, so not too many days to fill, but the days we do need to fill I can assure you won't be spent at expensive theme parks.

Any sunny day we get is going to be spent in the garden or at the park, with cheapo picnic and drinks brought with us.

For rainy days, we are going to do artsy stuff (DS in a real 'making' phase, which is my idea of hell, but I will succumb just for the holidays!) and we are keeping a 'holiday scrapbook' to keep them busy. I am also arranging as many trips to see friends and vice versa as possible.

And not forgetting the lazy days! DVDs a go-go. That's what the holidays are for!

[Wallace]

All sounds fantastic How old are your kids? We've had 2 (rainy) weeks of holiday already and have been doing similar to the above. Kids are happy

[Snuppeline]

Sounds lovely, can I come? I would try to team up with some local friends with children (perhaps parents of dc's friends?) and do get togethers in other peoples garden too. That makes for exiting adventures for dc and company (less madness) for you!

[OrmRenewed]

Why on earth would that be unreasonable?

[tiredandgrouchy]

I think you need to rethink if you think that will be a bad summer holiday. That is what summer holidays are all about. Fwiw, I don't know anyone who goes on expensive days out more than once or twice in the whole 6 weeks

[ReasonableDoubt]

other stuff:

water fights play

library

nature trails (bring a tupperware box, collect bits and bobs, make a collage or scarpbook when you get home)

free community events

picnic dinners in garden/at park

[going]

nature trail Free and fun!

[Deliaskis]

sweetbloom I am sure your DCs will have as much fun doing all that fab stuff as they would have had at theme parks anyway. For a lot of kids, the amount of money spent or the 'flashiness' of the activity is less important than how fun it is.

As an example, my Brownies, when I plan a really 'structured' activity with lots of things to do etc. or a craft activity that has cost money to prepare, they are less interested than they are when I bring a stack of old newspapers and get them to have a newspaper fashion show (there's an idea for you!). They don't really care about the money spent, they will have fun anyway.

Another Brownie example from just this weekend - big Brownie centenary event with 1,000 girls there, for the finale we had booked and paid a not insubstantial sum for an entertainer who did fire eating and juggling etc. and actually the Brownies were just as enthused (if not more so) by the (free) 'warm-up' act which was one of our leaders singing Brownie songs with them.

I think the cost of some things like theme parks is astronomical and shelling out all that money in no way guarantees a good time.

Sounds like you're going to have a fab summer.

D

[deepdarkwood]

How about a 'park crawl'? pack a picnic, and take bikes/scooters, then choose your three favourite packs & go round from one to the next! Fills a whole day and feels (to mine at least) like a huge treat

[TrillianAstra]

Don't really understand how reasonable/unreasonable comes into it.

You might be being unreasonable if you couldn't afford it but used credit cards that you couldn't pay off to go on holiday or to theme parks.

Went to my first real theme park aged 20-something with money I had earned myself. Children can't go on the good rides anyway.

[deepdarkwood]

Set your own treasure hunts (best done in park with friends): list of things to find (smooth black stone; yellow flower etc) - first to find everything wins

[SulisMum]

Put on old clothes. Get a huge piece of paper and put it in the garden. Do handprints and footprints on it with poster paints. Fun for adults too.

[TottWriter]

Honestly, I can't say I ever did anything like a theme park on my holidays. My mum had a family membership to the National Trust and English Heritage, so we used to visit all the local (and not so local) sites in the area. In the years where we managed to afford a self-catering holiday elsewhere in the country, most of outr days were taken up visiting the various sites there.

The membership itself seems a bit pricey, but I reckon my mum made massive savings, as she could take us to these places all year round with a picnic. We got days out and educational trips (to castles and such) on a very impressive budget. Though she did have a habit of taking us to Leeds Castle almost every weekend for about three years (so it seemed), and that got a little old.

Might not be worth it for you this year, but definitely worth checking out for the future, especially if there are plenty of sites near you.

[OrmRenewed]

And even if you could afford theme parks you would still need to fill in the days when you weren't going. Unless people really spend 6 weeks in them (my idea of hell!)

[thisisyesterday]

sounds great, some of my best childhood memories are of playing in streams and stuff while we were on holiday.

we didn't used to go to theme parks and stuff either, and i don't intend to start with our lot even tho i can afford it, because i can't think of much worse than queueing for hours with whingeing children (and other people's whingeing children) in the hot sun, all day... yuck!

good old-fashioned childhood fun here all the way

[Lucy85]

Papier mache
Painting our feet then printing footprints on computer paper
'Baking'

Theme parks are OK but only occasionally

[muggglewump]

That's what we're doing, without the outdoor stuff as it's freezing and raining, and has been for the whole holidays so far.

I have said we'll go and see Shrek, but I don't know that my asthma is up to the cinema air conditioning.