To find it expensive keeping preschoolers fed & entertained?

Still not expensive, and they are allowed to eat. Apples are cheap, eggs are 25p, a slice of toast 10p etc...

It's not like they're having half a tin of beans each, or a punnet of blueberries at a time.

They're having what, maybe 2 tablespoons of beans and half a dozen blueberries? 1 egg. A small bit if cod.

Why are you surprised they eat food and you have to pay for it?

Library - just go and read books there. I need for thyme time etc.

Park - go in all weathers. Kids really don't mind the rain.

I tend to spend a lot on entertainment for my dcs but we're in London where there's a huge range from free to eye-wateringly pricey family clubs. I've found that the paid-for activities are usually worth it, for the smaller classes, nicer/cleaner toys and more engaged staff, so I'm happy to pay for that, but I've found the top-tier ones to be poor value for money. But if I couldn't afford to pay, we could easily find endless free entertainment either locally or within a short tube ride (which for me costs nothing although most people would have to pay). The Tate Galleries, Science/RAF/Horniman Museums, Zoo, children's centres, libraries, One o' Clock clubs, tons of playgrounds, pottering around Southbank, Covent Garden, farms, local festivals, there are listing of lots of free things happening every week.

We chose to stay living in central London while a lot of friends moved out, so I don't see us as being lucky to live within close proximity to all the free entertainment - it's one of the key reasons why we made our choice of where to live. It meant we had to compromise on housing and there are various disadvantages like being more crowded and polluted and there being less community and more crime and anti-social behaviour than smaller towns. All things we might not have to deal with in a rural village but we decided that the facilities and lifestyle was more important to us.

I don't find this at all. I think it's dependent on where you live and the temperament of your child though.

My son is nearly 3 and I've often said I'll look back on these days and miss how easy he was to entertain.

He's very outdoorsy and happiest at the beach, in the woods, or on his bike. Our house is walking distance from the beach, the woods, and multiple nice parks. We also have a lovely local library, a few nice church playgroups, and a café with small soft play. I think the more you take them on big days out, the more they'll come to expect it.

I don't find food expensive but I've only got the one child. He eats a lot of porridge, soups, and pastas which aren't expensive. I don't buy toddler snacks as I'm so shocked at the cost of them. He likes breadsticks and rice cakes with humous, cheese, ritz crackers, flapjacks, fresh and dried fruit, digestive biscuits, yoghurts etc. Toddler snacks are so marked up it's ridiculous.

You need to let him be bored. Doesn't he use toys at home. Maybe set a timer for maybe 5 mins and build it up. Set out a cardboard box and dinky cars or a tray with some sand and dinosaurs. I work in a pre school and we have dedicated free play time for a reason. It promotes problem solving skills, socialisation and most importantly imagination.

for my sanity as much as hers

I think this is it really

Toddler will be fine with raincoat, feeding ducks, playground, picking daisies every day

It was me who needed the more varied activities so as not to go mad

Can you go back to work or work more (sorry if I missed this)

I agree, all these activities can be expensive and it must be a pain if you have to drive everywhere too.

My DS is nearly 4 and DD just turned 2. DS goes to preschool 2.5 days a week. On the days when I just have DD I try to keep costs low as she is still entertained by library rhyme time, cheap playgroups (whereas DS seems to have outgrown these) or a little walk around town/park. I'll save the more expensive things like soft play, gymnastics or trampoline park etc on the days I have them both as sometimes it's easier than entertaining them both at home.

My kids do love playing at home though, they can spend ages with Duplo, magna tiles, cars, role play sets, making dens. What kind of toys does your DS enjoy?

Can you get passes to somewhere in your area? And make the most of term time.
I had a toddler legoland pass for example. About £45 for a whole year for them and you. We went once a week in the summer.

National trust for the weekends.

We signed up to toddler gymnastics so that was once a week.
Then a £2 group once a week. Another day seeing friends. childrens centres round here tend to have a free stay and play session on.

Then it’s the weekend!

Dunno, my DD once played with a lawnmower box for about a week 😂

Not RTWT, but has someone suggested a flask and a puddlesuit, OP 😉.

Parenting during the Covid lockdowns was fairly cheap. We were all merry as larks staying home, putting rainbows in our window and going on one socially distanced walk a day.

Well, that's if you ignore the long-term consequences in terms of stress, depression, increased social isolation, increased economic deprivation and damage to carers' (mostly women's tbh) careers.

No and not everyone can afford to fund endless paid activities and outings and nurseries every day, so it's okay to stay home and encourage your kids to be content to stay home and play sometimes.

All the posters saying how many free things one can do within walking distance, can you please just stop and consider that life might be rather different in sparsely populated, rural areas? I thank god I'm not raising a child where I grew up - nearest library 30 minute drive away, ditto swimming pool, nearest supermarket 25 minutes, nearest cinema 40 minutes. I can think of 10+ soft plays within 20 minutes drive of me now; where I grew up there is one small one within 30 minutes. Not everyone lives in an area with a different cheap church-run toddler group for every day of the week.

and I think therein lies your problem. Children, well humans really are meant to be both physically active and social. But you can accomplish both by slowly walking to the shop to buy apples/ getting the bus to the library. All for minimal outlay if literally everytime you leave tge house you get into the car then have to pay for parking it will cost you a fortune.

My toddler is endlessly entertained walking down the road with a stick. Didn’t realise this was so unusual.

We go to pets at home for a day out to kids love it 🤣🤣.

OP, in a nicest possible way you are starting to sound a little surprised that children cost money.

Entertaining toddlers can be done very cheaply in the many ways that have been mentioned, but it’s not for everyone. I think the need for people to go out often and go to different and paid places is possibly more due to parental boredom. Totally understandable. It’s whatever works
for each family.

Five meals a day? Blimey well done.
I struggle to think of three!😂

@Neurodiversitydoctor haha it's ok it was a joke, I don't buy 3 coffees a day.
Usually it's just the one and I do also have a nice coffee machine at home that I could use to make a coffee that I suppose I could put into a thermos mug but I can't be arsed. It's the simple pleasures in life that keep me going in the pre-school trenches. Having someone make me food and drink instead of me making it for everyone else, including the cats (who are also fussy f**kers but that's a separate thread)

I agree after the initial outlay a sandpit and water tray kept mine occupied. A bucket of water and an old paint brush to paint the fence. A pack of chalks to scribble on the garden path. I was skint when mine were small though so I couldn't really afford paid for activities and going out every day.