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Please help me to entertain my kids for free!

42 replies

SpinnetySpin · 08/08/2024 20:56

The summer holidays so far this year have been rubbish. Our finances are squeezed in ever direction with everything creeping up in price, and we have now reached the point where there is nothing left over for going places or doing things.
My DC are 9 and 11 and I can’t think what to do with them that doesn’t cost anything. We have done the usual parks, free castle grounds, movie nights and even device days, but the eldest is getting to an age where she doesn’t really enjoy those things.
We don’t have a garden so those outside sorts of things are out too.
Anyone got any inspiring ideas?

Thanks!

OP posts:
Beamur · 08/08/2024 21:25

Penny hike - flip a coin at every junction to decide left or right
Cooking on a can (can be done in a kitchen) uses an empty drinks can and a tea light candle
These are ideas from Guides, their website has others, Scouts might have similar
Treasure hunt? If you are near an IKEA you can find some on the internet that use the store (plus cheap snacks at the end maybe?)
I think IKEA also have activities on over the summer too https://www.ikea.com/gb/en/campaigns/welcome-to-ikeas-summer-funhouse-pub7d2c3640
Or these?
https://www.heritageopendays.org.uk/

Welcome to IKEA's Summer Funhouse

Join us over the school holidays, where we’ll show you how building play into each day this summer can be easy, cost-effective and great for the whole family’s wellbeing. Enjoy a host of free arts and crafts, games, and competitions – and kids can eat...

https://www.ikea.com/gb/en/campaigns/welcome-to-ikeas-summer-funhouse-pub7d2c3640

Keepingcosy · 08/08/2024 21:29

Another +1 for geocaching, the app is free, you could also design and register one as a project. Another one similar to caching is benchmark spotting - it's super nerdy & not for everyone but free.

Learn how to do a Rubik's cube / juggle - ok that involves buying stuff but it's cheap, great tutorials on youtube & diverting, will take time to do.

Learn party dances on YouTube.

Museums sometimes have free town trails where you spot things. You could make your own trails e.g.find and photograph all the street art in your town.

Baking is a great idea.

Beach days / nature walks - you can borrow OS maps from the library and teach your kids to read them.

Beamur · 08/08/2024 21:29

Stargazing app on a phone
Learn to knit/crochet? Cheap starter basics from charity shops or somewhere like B&M
Up cycle something?

Snacksgalore · 08/08/2024 21:34

Also swimming, out council gym does family exercise sessions.

John Lewis has some free craft sessions for kids.

FloatyBoaty · 08/08/2024 21:37

Oh yes also-

Home spa day - let the girls take it in turns to have candles and music in the bathroom with bubble bath/bath salts/ whatever you have in, in the bath, mani/pedis on one another, hair in bendy rollers/rag rolls whatever you have already. If you have any old face masks etc lurking, let them use those up (as long as okay on their skin).

Customising old clothes- let them loose on old clothes with whatever you have to hand. Glue gun sequins to shit, sew on buttons, try tie dye if you can afford a Dylon pack in the shop.

NellietheNumpty · 08/08/2024 21:39

If my children were bored at that age one think they liked was being given loads of paper and writing down all the things they wanted to do. All the things that they had as resources.
Then we rolled them into tiny tubes and put them into 2 boxes. Next pick one from each box. So for example we created a holiday in Switzerland from the dressing up box.

NellietheNumpty · 08/08/2024 21:40

Also your local library might have a reading challenge.

Frith2013 · 08/08/2024 21:59

Make an escape room (take it in turns to make it for the other two). This can involve hiding clues, making a maze etc. Themes we used were being stuck in a museum (so clues were in hieroglyphs) or escaping from a ship. (See below).

Learn semaphore and send each other messages.

Learn Morse code (you can change your message to Morse online so your phone sounds it out then you put it in English)

Look online for the ship flags that mean different things and draw them and raise them on a "flagpole" (string loop going up to a curtain pole).

If you have enough Lego, get them to brick up their bedroom door.

Clean anything metal with Brasso.

Make yoghurt, if you have a Thermos flask.

Grow cress, mustard etc.

Audio books.

Origami.

Learn how to do a Rubik's cube (online)

Learn to juggle. Cut the neck off a balloon, fill the round bit with rice. Take the neck off another balloon and put that one round the first balloon to seal the gap (easier to do than for me to describe!)

Go to the library

Geocaching

Paint/find pebbles

Use chalk to decorate the step or path outside

If you have tissue paper, put fairy lights on the floor and cover with red tissue paper and then make steps out of books so they can walk without falling in the lava

Any game that includes running around in the dark (in the house)

MsCrawford · 08/08/2024 22:47

I'm in south wales too! Free splash parks in Swansea, port talbot- beach days, I do lots of walks with the dog (my two DC are the same ages as yours) Tesco clubcard vouchers for folly farm, having friends over is always fun- do a film afternoon and face marks etc cheap, and the children entertain themselves. My nine year old is keen on bug hunting in the woods at the moment. If you follow the local libraries, village groups etc there are lots of local free things on- what sort of things do they like doing?

Treesnbirds · 08/08/2024 22:48

BlackBerry picking! Our 13 & 8 year olds had a good (competitive 😁) time doing that today.

caringcarer · 08/08/2024 23:13

They could grow some salad leaves. You can use an empty shoebox and fill with soil.

Make popcorn. Eat it at movie night.

Swimming is usually quite cheap.

Visit to woods/beach whatever you are near to.

Take tennis racquets and ball to park to play. Try to get them to serve properly.

Do the Park Run it's free.

Learn Spanish online.

Cooking 3 meals well. By end of holidays they'll be able to cook a family meal.

Baking cookies.

Frith2013 · 08/08/2024 23:56

2 games I made up years ago for zero outlay which are remembered fondly:

Your Car, My Car. Sit near a road (!) Take it in turns and look at the vehicles coming in one direction (too confusing to include both directions). So you know who is going first, second and third. The first person would "win" the first car, the second person would win the second car to drive past etc. This always cheered us up when someone won a Jag then the next person had a dustbin lorry! Can be played anywhere where you are stuck waiting in a car or by a road.

Bed game. This is a bit bonkers. Get 2 people to lie in a double bed under the covers. The third person has to dress up or think of something scary to do and creep up on the bed people then throw the covers off them and they look up and are frightened! 😂Awful things we thought up were lighting your face from underneath with a torch, wearing a cyberman mask, wearing my dressing down up over the head like the grim reaper etc. You can also make creepy sound effects as you walk towards the bed.

Make lanterns from jam jars with coloured paper glued round.

Turn off the electricity and sit in the dark with lanterns going and cook on a camping stove or on a tin over a candle.

Treasure hunt with post it notes. Number the notes in case they find them in the wrong order. The first would say something like "the coldest place in the house" then they would find note 2 in the freezer etc.

Let them sell their old toys or anything you want to clear out on FB marketplace.

If you have a village show locally, enter all the children's classes which will be things like drawings, sample of handwriting and so on.

Make a timelapse video (can't remember the software now but it is free) with lego or playmobile figures. You can build a jig for the phone to stand on out of lego.

Make an actual video where they are the actors. My children liked making props.

Make a cardboard box dolls house but go completely over the top and paper it with wallpaper samples and make curtains from old clothes cut up.

Scottishdreams1991 · 09/08/2024 00:03

Look at local church activities. Quite a few here have done summer fairs etc

Back to school next Wednesday for us !!

SpinnetySpin · 09/08/2024 08:01

Some lovely idea here, thanks everyone. I’ve been feeling like a rubbish mum this week because it’s like my imagination has completely dried up!

@Frith2013 I think you win for the most imaginative ideas! My youngest will love your bed game, so I’m definitely going to try that one, thank you.

OP posts:
Tumbleweed101 · 09/08/2024 08:10

If they have phones/cameras you could give them a theme and let the get the most imaginative shot/ angle when you go for a walk.

Black Berry picking and making a crumble or pie.

Reading/writing stories.

Room make overs - declutter and rearrange depending on space.

Must be harder without a garden. I used to stick up a tent in the garden for them to sleep in (invariably they’d be in again before midnight though lol).

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