Places to take the children and things to do before they grow up?

[Greenbutterlfy566]

What places would you like to take the kids and things to do with them before they grow up?

I Have one 7 year old and would love some inspiration of where to go and things to do before they grow up.

OP we took DD to London for the first time when she was 8, she loved the dinosaurs at the Natural History Museum, the Princess Diana Memorial at the Serpentine and also the "paddling pool" at the V&A - in summer the courtyard pond is filled with water! She loved the tube and checking off the stations on the map as well............

Euro Disney or Florida Disney at Christmas is amazing

My DS only ever remembers what he had for breakfast in each hotel/ campsite/ greasy spoon.
DD remembers the ‘disasters’ - breaking down, 9 hour traffic jams, car alarm breaking, leaking tent, etc.

And also what he bought from every gift shop - almost always unrelated to the trip itself and most definitely the highlight.

@ SquashedFlyBiscuit
Thank you! My local library has some of the Katie books, great recommendation :)

I'm going to answer the question asked rather than get into the idea of whether it's about money or not. Of course there are lots of cheap/free things like going to the park and playing pooh sticks/backing/arts and crafts...

@Greenbutterlfy566 we have a teen and child similar age to you.

The highlight last year was body boarding in Tenby followed by an amazing pizza meal after

Things on the list for this year: Tower of London and National History Museum (been to both before)

General things over the years: National trust membership, bucket and spade holidays, lots of in and outdoor play areas, zoo, farm park, water park, theme parks (Merlin via Merlin passes and others e.g. Paultons), steam fair, Bonfire night, going in a camping pod and being able to roast marshmallows over the fire, Portsmouth Dockyard, train trips to London, steam trains, Days out with Thomas, taking the Hovercraft to IOW, castles, art galleries (Tate or Buck Palace or Royal Academy of Arts, National Gallery).

Hope you have lots of fun!

I've just asked DS who is almost 26.

The best things were the everyday things.

Damning the stream and flooding the road. Building dens in the woods. Climbing trees. Driving around the fields age 11. Lawnmower racing (cutting decks removed from old ride on mowers).
Incubating eggs and rearing the chicks.

We lived on a farm so not everyday activities for most people.

He also enjoyed going to a particular NT property, not for the house etc but to look for newts in a pond there.

On the whole it was time he spent with his siblings entertaining themselves. He said he had a great time doing nothing important .

Sorry for the late reply. Thanks everyone and yes we hope to enjoy

My favourite thing when I was a child was when we camped in the back garden and my mum dished up dinner of fish and chips in newspaper cones so we could eat outside. She'd also give us "rations" for when we went exploring in the garden which were nearly always just raisins and nuts etc but we thought it was brilliant.

The other day my 4 year old had a pretend birthday for daddy and I gave him a cupcake with a candle (unlit) in to give to him which he thought was the best thing ever.

The things I remember are picking bluebells - picnics by a river - and bucket and spade beach holidays. There are days I can vividly remember from half a century ago. More vividly than the expensive holidays that came later.

The basics seem to triumph everything.

We did Lapland this Christmas and then came back and booked a holiday lodge in Devon for our summer holiday, DD (6) is as excited by this as she was about Lapland. We’ve been to Devon before but she loves the beaches, building sandcastles and ice cream.

We have also done EuroDisney and she loved that but she enjoys camping, going to London and really enjoyed a break in York as well.

We try to give her a range of experiences and I honestly think she enjoys most of it. She is getting very excited about going for a picnic in Stratford Upon Avon which I have promised her and that is going to cost pennies. We don’t need to spend a fortune for her to have a great time.

I used to take my kids on farm holidays at Easter. They would help bottle feed lambs, collect eggs, feed all the animals. We returned for several years and it was like a second home.

They remember all that as well as random things like finding a sheep's skull in the woods, playing dominoes at the local pub, rescuing tadpoles from a puddle after the rain and getting lost on a walk and a random lady giving us a lift.

I thoroughly recommend finding a 'hands on' b&b farm. They don't have to be expensive and are great for making memories...

Our favourite things we have done with DS7 so far:
Lapland. It was utterly magical. We went to Luosto which is small and unspoilt for 3 nights.
Disney Florida
Harry Potter studios tour
Centreparcs
Hampton Court
Various NT places including Cragside and Isaac Newton’s house
London eg British Museum, Chnaging of the Guard etc

Things I want to do with him:
Universal Florida now he’s into Harry Potter
Tower of London
Legoland
Holiday to Italy
Egypt if it’s safe
Safari
Explore the US - New York, Washington etc
Lots more new NT places now we have life membership