Free things to do with children during the summer holidays

[Brieonabagel]

Okay, so we’re poor! We both have the first two weeks of the summer holidays off work so we can spend time as a family. But we have school uniform to pay for (ds15,ds5) and eyewatering nursery fees for our youngest(ds2) at the same time. We want to make the most of our family time and at the same time be able to budget sensibly. What can we do?

[Brieonabagel]

Oh crap! My AIBU is that I want to stick everything on credit cards and worry about it later but dp thinks aibu

[ThatchersCold]

Which area are you in OP?

[MobMoll]

Nooo you would absolutely BU to put everything on a credit card! I live in the US so can’t exactly tell you what free stuff is around you, but we find loads of free stuff through out the Summer. Beaches, parks, nature trails, National Parks, lots of free things for kids at our library... try asking around on local Facebook pages.

[musicposy]

If you give a rough area people nearby can advise. I know some free stuff near me but it won't be free for you if you have to drive 200 miles!

[Brieonabagel]

We’re north west England

[stargirl1701]

Reading Challenge at the library.

What events are the local authority running? Any Time2Play events? What is happening at your nearest museum and art gallery? How many different parks can you get to easily? Any cheap swimming sessions at the local pool? Any events on at the local leisure centre?

[Thebookswereherfriends]

Don't get into debt entertaining your kids, that's mad.
Libraries, museums, parks, beach - all free. Take picnics, buy a multipack of ice creams while out so everyone can have ice cream without it costing a fortune.

[Sunshineintheclouds]

Swimming!!

Don't know where about a you are in nw but I am Lancashire area.
The council offer free holiday swims all week thought out the holidays at the local leisure centre. They are great they bring out all the floats and toys for the kids.
We go once a week anyway but we tend to go twice a week in the holidays as it's free sessions

[JustLikeBefore]

I don't know the north west, but when I lived nearer the coast (45mins away) the beach was always a way to feel like we'd done something.

take a picnic or disposable BBQ, buckets and spades for the younger ones, a beach game, cricket/football ect.

give an small amount of change to 15 year old so they can hangout at the arcade, and suggest the 2p machines stretch the money further so more time on their own.

set off early, as most people seem to travel late morning lunch time and then get caught sitting in traffic.

[TwoGinScentedTears]

Rock painting, hiding and finding is huge where I am at the minute. Geocaching is also free.

Local parks, nature reserves, forests and beaches are all free.

Flying a kite, a game of rounders, a picnic are all relatively low cost. Visiting a city you've not been to before can be fun too.

[Dreamingofkfc]

It's not free, but can be really cheap - camping for a few nights? We've just got back and my two loved it!

Mine are preschoolers but all our groups finish so I plan on park trips, woodland walks, sea visits. Will also stay at home a day or two and make use of paddling pool and garden. Maybe host couple of friends over and then swap?

[Sleephead1]

travel to lots of parks take a picnic, country parks for walks / bike rides , do you have and free splash parks near you ? our council does get active days they are free in local parks, beach , lighthouse ECT if you live close by, do you have any free museums lots near us run activities a few times a week, if you go on nature detectives websites you can download loads of free stuff like bug hunts, and nature art stuff, then go on walks garden days with paddling pool, get packets of seeds , veg to grow, water tray with food colouring/ bubbles ECT. Do you have any free community farm type places we have a few and they just ask for a donation and they do things in the summer like animal handling, libarys usually run activities through the holidays, go for games of tennis if you have local court .

[Littleredboat]

Beach, forests, library reading challenge.
Look up local churches and wildlife charities, see if they’re doing any holiday clubs or days.
Local authorities often have discounted activities at sports centres in school holidays.
Geocaching.
Go volunteer for a charity together?
Go for a drive somewhere pretty and have a picnic?
If you’ve got two cars, split into teams and have a scavenger hunt.

[Sleephead1]

oh and camping if you have a tent

[wherehavealltheflowersgone]

Look at www.real-family-holidays.org

[10storeylovesong]

We’re North West - where abouts are you? So far we are booked into a number of free events at our local library, we will have days out at Liverpool and Manchester museums (MOSI have a gamers event on which would probably suit your eldest), we will have days at Walton’s gardens and Victoria Park, we have arranged to meet other kids on the local park for a huge water fight one day, we will take a picnic and spend the day on Formby beach, and we have paid tickets for Gullivers world (bought for £8 each on offer), and theatre performances at Haigh Hall. The Storybarn at Calderstones Park is cheap and really good fun - my 5 year old loves it - and the park is huge to explore afterwards.

[10storeylovesong]

www.msimanchester.org.uk

[10storeylovesong]

thestorybarn.org.uk/booktickets/

The tickets for summer holidays haven’t been released yet but they said they’ll be out in next couple of weeks and well worth a visit.

[Brieonabagel]

Thank you so much everyone! I will have a look into what’s going on locally and will definitely suggest a beach trip or two. Forgot about museums, are they free? Picnics will definitely be a good idea. Camping sounds great but we probably can’t afford the initial outlay (tent and camping gear) this year, I’ll bear it in mind for the future though. I think I just need to plan more really. Usually we are quite spontaneous but our days out/holidays end up costing a lot (the reason we’re so poor is down to previous credit card debt so I know it would be VVU to get into more debt, we’ve got 3 more years to pay off a loan we took out to pay off the credit cards so it’s 3 more years of this)

[10storeylovesong]

Museums are usually free. They’re a staple of ours when trying to keep activity costs down. Art galleries tend to cater for children now as well. If you can get to Liverpool, there’s a couple of museums on the dock which are worth a visit and then the world museum which has the Walker Art gallery and the library next door. The library is huge and has bean bags etc for the kids and sometimes put free performances on and the Art gallery has a section for children. There’s a park opposite the world museum you could eat butties in.

[10storeylovesong]

Download an app called Eventbrite. They have a lot of cheap events on in your local area and you’ll often find things you wouldn’t have thought of otherwise.

NT properties can be great as well. Parking is usually around £6 but places like Dunham Massey or Tatton Park have vast open spaces to run off some energy. Dunham Massey has wide flat paths for scooters etc and gold trees for climbing, and Tatton Park is great to take off on bikes and explore.

[10storeylovesong]

www.whitworth.manchester.ac.uk/learn/family/playtimesummerfamilyactivities/

[10storeylovesong]

www.thelowry.com/events/category/Family%20Activities

[10storeylovesong]

albertdock.com/whats-on/summer-football-on-the-dock

[masktaster]

Hoop is another good app for finding what's on near you (mixture of free and paid events)

West Midlands here - we'll be spending a lot of time at the library, which is putting on some free special events across the summer. Park Lives is near us for free active stuff in parks - might also be near you, it's nationwide. Museums are usually free or small charge, check before you go. Check local papers/online for events - our local council website has a "what's on" page. Children's centres may have a couple of things on appropriate for your youngest two.

Do "cinema" at home - scour the TV listings for a film you want to see, or charity shop DVDs, or Netflix, whatever you have, get some popping corn (or microwave popcorn, but popping corn is cheaper) and make popcorn and all curl up in the living room with the lights off.

Make dens - indoors with blankets and cushions, in the park with branches etc (don't take them off the trees, just use stuff already loose)

Bake! And then take the goodies you make on a picnic.

It doesn't need to be all action, all singing, all dancing. Your kids will just remember having fun, and that you were there - not that everything was free.