To find it expensive keeping preschoolers fed & entertained?

At that age what you need are friends who are in a similar income bracket. All of the cheap and free things are so much better with company. I found that sticking with the same groups and parks helped as you get to know everyone who is regular

@pirateblue do you have a garden? Maybe he'd like something like a swingball to whack at (a possibly free one if you look on Freecycle or similar).

I think that's why it's costing you so much. Most people don't do a paid activity every morning and then sometimes pay for something else in the afternoon.

Why is it that they are so unhappy at home? Do you need to set up some more interesting activities?

You keep saying you have to get them there. Is there nowhere you can walk to from your house?

Clothes from eBay. Keeping certain things as a treat eg soft play. Lots of things are a choice — not medically indicated shampoo, but other things. Strawberries were a treat when mine were younger!

I do sympathise OP but the trouble is that kids’ costs only get higher as they get older so as a mum of older ones I have a different perspective.

I agree though they do eat a lot of food, there’s no way my dd would just eat one slice of bread sandwich with some ham and be full. I try to keep the cost down by making things like flapjacks, cutting up apples for snacks as they’re cheap and bananas for snacks as well, cutting up cubes of cheese instead of buying kid cheese, big tubs of yoghurt, peanut butter on toast, pasta salad, rice salad, garlic bread.

@pirateblue what does your son like to do?
What's his favourite things?

My dd goes crazy with a day at home, but the libraries all have colouring and activity sheets and somehow that’s more interest then colouring at home.

I have one child who is brilliant in the house and one who drives me mad, so it does depend on the child. It also depends on the parent because I feel the need to get out the house every day and I get bored very quickly of certain pre-schooler activities which frankly is why I go out to work. Some parents really thrive in the toddler stage but I think I could only properly enjoy it as a SAHM if I had plenty of money!

It’s only expensive if you make it expensive. Go to libraries for storytime, play dates and the park. Some museums are free. I tend to pay for various things but I wouldn’t really need to. What’s costing you the most money? Are there other options?

You can buy cheap food and bring packed lunches. What are you feeding your kid? I know cheaper food can be less healthy but there’s some cheaper stuff that isn’t.

Um...no, not really. Once they are teens then it is expensive!

play dates are free.. activities, clothes and food can differ greatly depending on what you choose.

i spend more than necessary for sure. Not that much on clothes or toys but if they like to eat expensive fruits like strawberries, rasberries etc i‘ll buy it for them even though i wouldn’t buy it for myself (regularly).
Same goes for activities, your kids can have just as much fun at a playground if you interact with them but i think as an adult you‘d rather go to the zoo/swimming center/dinosaur parc/.. every now and then..

But it's true isn't it - we had the park, the garden, helping with the dusting , a trip to the library and the shops. What is 'better' about spending ££££ entertaining toddlers?

Things like soft play are a fairly recent introduction with the aim of parting parents from their cash. When you really think about soft play and similar, they're fairly miserable places yet for some reason parents now think they're a necessary part of childhood.

This!

Cardboard box, homemade playdough. Pots and pans with wooden spoons and a bag of pasta. Brio, sand pit, Duplo, paint brush&water on fence, park- jobs a goodun.

I think it must be where you live. I have a dd the same age, on the says she’s not at nursery we go to free toddler groups at the community centre (she made friends with other kids there so she doesn’t get bored), go to the garden centre and look at the fish and plants, go to play parks (loads round here so we do different ones), go to the library (they have children’s sections with colouring and kids books to look at), meet friends with kids her age for play dates, go to local country parks for walks and play park. All free, and we can either walk to them or a short 5 min drive which doesn’t really cost much). Then we do some paid activities sometimes like a cafe for lunch with a play area or soft play.

I think that’s a snarky and unnecessary response op. Children are still the same. It’s good for them to be bored occasionally. It promotes creativity, independence and resilience.

Totally agree. My 9 year old isn't as keen on the free/cheap activities anymore! Much, much easier and cheaper to entertain as toddlers. You don't need to do a paid activity everyday It's the childcare/working part time/not at all that costs the most for preschoolers

What's the bus service like in your area?
Most buses (in England - not sure about the rest) are currently capped at £2 a journey - so there and back to somewhere would be £4 (kids are free).