To be dreading the summer holidays

Get a routine in place that also includes reading time, and free time for him to play alone. Get outside every say.

I did Paw Print badges with mine.
M

Lots of books!
None of this constant activity thing happened in my childhood. I was an only child so just made up my own games and read loads.

Stuff I did with my DC when they were little (and still sometimes do!):
Playdates
Picnic in park
Have a look to see what free days out/events are available in your area (again, take packed lunch with you).
Bike adventure (plot a suitable route, take picnic and off you guys go).
Tent in garden (I used to do this with DC - we still go camping though).
Walking adventure (plot a route and take picnic)
Forage for berries/fruit picking
Library trip (ours often has great exhibitions there)
Museum trips
If you're close to the beach, have a day at the beach (take picnic etc)
Swimming

EDIT...on crappy weather days, we'd have a movie day, or a gaming day, or do some colouring and crafts.

I feel this! Tomorrow is day 1 of 7 weeks with my 5 year old and 2.5 year old. I don’t see the point in paying for holiday clubs since I’m off anyway but the thought of trying to find ways to entertain them every day is filling me with dread!

Work through some Beavers badges

I find the less you do with them in that first week, the better the rest! I have a six yr old and he will play for hours once he gets into it (granted he does have siblings), but he creates wonderful games - however they have to get out of the directed time that he has at school.

Let him be bored, keep the TV off, put water in the garden, build a train track outside. Trust me, the first couple of days are hard but it isn’t your job to entertain him 24/7 for 7 weeks. A couple of activities during the week, a couple of larger fun trips over the summer.

Check your local council website. Most offer free or at the reduced rate summer holiday clubs (usually sports related).

For wet weather, I used to have loads of craft stuff - paint, glue, cereal boxes, buttons, cardboard tubes, coloured paper, just things like that, to make things. Son had a little friend who lived in the same street so they'd be together a lot, either at our house or his friend's house. It's easier when there are two children as they amuse each other a lot of the time.There were swings in our garden, a slide and platform which became a tent by draping an old sheet over it. I'd walk them to the park for the afternoon, often took picnics too. It made the outing last longer. Even simple things like the paddling pool and hosepipe kept them amused for hours. They also loved playing with the train set and garage, We visited granny one afternoon a week and never missed story time at the library.

If you can, invite a school friend over for the day. Ours loved having fish fingers and chips in a bag outside in the tent - kept mess in the house to a minimum!
And I did let them watch some tv every day but not for hours on end.

As other people have said, check out the library and local museums for holiday activities, and see if your local council has anything on offer. Also check out local sports teams - both the rugby and football teams here run free sessions for children in the holidays.

What holiday clubs have you looked at? The full-day ones can be expensive, but it varies - my closest one is £50 per day. There are also some clubs that are more ‘entertainment’ than childcare round here - running mornings only, or 10-2 - not great for childcare but are usually cheaper than ‘proper’ holiday clubs (£15-20 a session).

I also have an only child, and agree with trying to get play dates arranged - she’s got two weeks at home with us (both working the rest of the time so she’s in clubs), and I’ll try and book play dates for those weeks so she has a bit of company.

Why does he need entertaining?

He's 6, he's old enough to entertain himself and then get a once or twice a week "activity" with you.

Too many children aren't learning to be okay with their own company, because adults insist on a million activities..

We are also doing all our boring jobs this holidays like dentist, opticians, hair cuts. I had a light bulb moment when I thought why am I rushing round trying to fit them all in during term time.

Make a daily routine.Get up early. Pack a lunch. Go out for the morning, park, bus journey to a free museum, library etc Eat your pack up out. Back home in the afternoon. Indoor relaxing stuff (film, reading, drawing) you get on with home jobs. Giving a day structure and purpose helps us cope!

Make a den in the garden/house then have your lunch in it together.
What about a bit of a project - we’re tidying out bedrooms together and adding some cheap wall stickers.
Could you do another short trip to visit family to break up the hols a bit more?
Our local library has free workshops on but you’ve got to get in quick.
Movie (make a den to watch it from) and popcorn for a rainy day.

I don’t think my parents ever really organised anything for me. I just entertained myself. We put so much pressure on ourselves now to constantly provide a source of entertainment but it’s not necessary. Let them be bored, they will be more creative/imaginative for it!

Make a planner and start looking up local events to go to. Invite friends round for play dates, use things like Tesco vouchers to access cheaper days out. Get the train/bus with a picnic and go on an adventure, do baking, have a home film night, sleepover in the lounge, go camping/glamping, join the library book scheme, visit the beach/woods.

I'm jealous that you have the beach as an option, we're in the Midlands and it feels too far for a day trip or I'd take DD(5) every week!
I'm a teacher so have the whole holidays off and happened to ask her earlier what she wanted to do over the summer. She just said play at home! She's finishing reception and its been so busy with school in the week and many many class parties at weekends that I think she'll really benefit from down time at home with a regular sprinkle of parks/library/play dates/odd day out here and there. I'm planning on making two lists - one of places we could go and another of toys/activities she can do at home so I've always got some ideas to hand. I'm looking forward to it but I'm the kind of person who needs some sort of a plan each day (even just 'have a bike ride') so I'm hoping that will help.

Oh I missed the library off! Lots of library’s do summer challenges and things so look at what they have on!

I hear you. Especially having one child. Are their other families with one child in the class? They might be similarly motivated to meet up so their child has company. 6 is a good age for trips to different parks.

I agree that it is good for kids to be bored sometimes. This is when they use their imaginations. Get him to invent a game to play - you’ll play it with him. Suggest he look for a different way to play with existing toys. Find a new tv show for him to watch (maybe look up something from your childhood and tell him that mummy watched it when she was a little girl).

other ideas for more structured plans:

Board games (don’t be afraid to go for something with an older age on it if you have the patience to teach him the rules. My youngest started playing “Ticket to Ride” at around 6 and he loved it, even if he needed help!)

Colouring

Arts & crafts

dot to dots

reading

watch a film (set up like a home cinema with lights off, popcorn, etc)

Paddling pool

just playing in the garden

Walk to a different local park each day

museum

swimming

cinema

Lego afternoon (set a challenge to make something)

baking together

he chooses dinner and you teach him the whole process - he writes out a shopping list, go to the shop and he finds the items on the list, help him to prepare and cook the meal, teach him how to serve it up)

chores day once a week - my word 6 year old loved cleaning the toilet at that age (admittedly he’d use a ridiculous amount of cleaning spray but at least he wanted to help)

make ice lollies

make chocolates

local walks

if he likes Pokemon, download Pokemon go on your phone and go for a walk together catching Pokemon

beach/reservoir/lake/river/woods walks

if there are activities he really enjoys do them again!

have fun!

Are you entitled to free school meals? If so check out the time2move programme which is Cornwall based. Even if your not, there are some really reasonable priced options which generally include a hot meal and a few hours childcare usually including an activity. I think I paid £2 for 4 hours once at the local church holiday club with meal.

If you can mention which end of Cornwall, some others may have suggestions. We spend most weeks in the holidays at Heligan as the locals pass makes it fairly good value and there’s lots of kids in east lawn (play area) for my DD to play with

Whilst I work, I fix my holidays to be off Thursday through Sunday. As such we do one of those Pinterest type summer holiday planners - Thursday arts/craft/play, Friday field trip, Science Saturday, Spontaneous Sunday etc
This helps us have a loose routine, which works well for us

Is it possible to do half of that time in holiday club if they offer a weekly option (I think some are week-by-week)? I know OP, you say you can’t afford it, but taking into account the money you may spend going out, maybe it will turn out to be roughly the same and just half the time.

Pair that with week visit at the family’s house, then you only have two or three weeks left to fill. With playdates and your own outings that would fill in the time and go by fast.

Even at a younger age my dad was always saying we had to spend a little bit of time studying on the last few weeks of holidays. Maybe there could be some project you could set up to get back in the mindset of learning? Half a day of that and then fun but low key such as local options.

Also your DS is not too young to learn some basic cooking skills which also opens up a range of options to try and learn some things during the holidays.

I also agree he should be able to entertain himself with books, toys and games.

I like the comment by the previous poster about grabbing a huge calendar and write down the plan together. I think time will fly.

When my kids were small, we didn't have much money and some of the things we did are:
Paddling pool and sandpit in the garden, a few plastic tubs/jugs and a couple of small spades for digging. Invite friends with children/neighbours over to play

Visit parks/woods/playgrounds, take a picnic and stay all day. Does he have a scooter/bike?

Making dens in the lounge and playing camping (you can both sleep in there!)

Movie afternoons with homemade snacks and popcorn.

Jigsaws/painting/junk modelling/lego

Museum visits (free) library (often have activities in the holidays)

Remember you don't have to fill every day with activities and he can have a lazy afternoon watching tv while you get stuff done. It won't kill him! Invite friends over as much as you can so he has someone else to play with and you can have a coffee and catch up - other mums will be feeling the pressure too and will appreciate the invitation.

Also remember it doesn't hurt kids to be bored - often a period of boredom can galvanise them into finding something to entertain themselves. You are fostering independence by letting him work it out for himself!

If you’re in Cornwall can you do a beach day every week? To be honest I was glad to be working most of the holidays, we took a couple of weeks each and rest was holiday clubs. I love my kids but when they were little I definitely didn’t want 7wks off with them.