Help entertain 3 primary age kids no budget

[Hattieandcake]

We are seriously broke, no extended family and no one we know seems to be around but we have over a week to go till kids go back on 7th Jan. Please help! Mine moan about cold walks also.

Museums and galleries. If you’re in London there’s plenty on - I’ve just pencilled in a free art session at the Tate modern. The National Gallery does lots too.

Swimming - I know this is very area dependant but in my area it’s £3.20 for us all.

Cooking. Just the stuff you’d be eating usually so no extra cost, but get the kids involved. Make them write menus out and set/ decorate the table. Rewatch the Bluey ‘fancy restaurant’ episode first!

Thank you letters for Christmas presents.

Also following for ideas, though.

and edited as I clicked post too soon!

Have you got boxes and tape left over from Xmas? Mine love building stuff (I don’t but hey).

Movie afternoon - what streaming services do you have? Mine will watch a couple of Julia Donaldsons on iPlayer, even my year 6. Do you have a bag of popcorn in the cupboard, or ingredients to make some cookies, or a couple of £ for snacks? Chuck some crisps at them.

Early evening walk/drive round the neighbourhood to look at Christmas lights - this was my kids’ favourite thing this year.

Park trip.

Indoor assault course, den building, skipping rope challenge if you have a garden. Cinema night with homemade popcorn, tickets, duvets downstairs. Sleepover downstairs ( less fun for the adults!). Baking bread, homemade pizza. Lego big build or any other toys not played with for a while. Watch a rock/ pop/ classical concert online. Find old cartoons from your childhood - my kids find this hilarious, they are so basic! They need some downtime too. Have dinner with candles. If they struggle to read books, all sit together quietly, bribe if necessary. Indoor Disco.

Thanks some good ideas, did gingerbread house and thank you letters today. Very late to bed however due to sugar and maybe not enough exercise

Swimming is a good shout although it’s about £16 I think here !

Den building is always fun- or a sleepover in the sitting room gets mine stupidly excited! Treasure hunt around the house. Or take turns hiding a small object in a room and getting the others to come in and hunt for it. Dust out the old board games. Make collage pictures if you have some old magazines/ adverts etc. and some paper and glue. Paper mache models with newspaper and water are cheap messy fun.

Get them to cut up old Christmas cards and make tags for next year, or use the pictures in them to make collages.

And surely they have presents to play with?

Buy pizza bases, make some tomato sauce and let kids decorate their pizza before cooking it.
Play a game. Did none of them have a game for Xmas eg. Top trumps, Ludo?
You can print off free Xmas word searches online.
Make a list of Xmas things then go and look for the things around the neighborhood in lights or Xmas decorations. Eg a reindeer, snowman, Santa, Xmas tree etc. then home for hot chocolate.

Plain naan breads are often cheaper thsn pizza bases, but check they don’t have mustard seeds in.

Roughly whereabouts are you

Make salt dough decorations for next year. You just need flour and salt, and some cookie cutters. Add glitter/paint/ googly eyes as desired. Poke a hole through with a toothpick to put some string or ribbon through.

Go out after dark by foot or in the car to look at people’s decorations.

Get them outside even if for a short period. Do you have a garden?

Silly races / bleep test
Dance-off

Geocashing. I know you said no cold walks, but a treasure hunt in half decent weather isn't a walk or is it?

www.geocaching.com/play

Do you belong to a library? My local ones are open between Christmas and new year. They may have activities going on, and books to take out, obviously.

Boredom. I say that seriously, plenty of evidence to show how boredom develops creativity. Chuck them some old cardboard boxes and tell them to get on with it!

They need fresh air and exercise to tire them out a bit. I know that kids moan at first but usually they come round after ten minutes and enjoy it.
Is there anywhere you can drive them to for a more interesting walk? Woods with play area?
Set up Taskmasker type challenges and you judge them.

Are they not playing with their new toys/gifts??
Thats what I did all Christmas holidays. It was amazing having that time to play with my new things.

Would they help you put some of their old toys and clothes on Vinted or Marketplace? We do a couple of hours with cleaning them, photographing against a white background. Then you might get a bit of cash for a future activity.
Is there anything on at your local library?
Build a pillow fort.
Depending on their age, teach them some simple cooking.

When I was young, there was no “entertaining” of children.

We made our own entertainment, whether that was playing with siblings, reading, playing alone, watching TV.

It is a good life skill for children to learn to be bored, and to learn to entertain themselves. And sadly it’s a skill that very few children seem to have nowadays.

I agree, children need to learn that if they are feeling a bit bored, they need to go and find something to do. Toys, games, crafts, jigsaws, books, making a den under the dining table, you name it. If all else fails, get them to do some housework. 😂

Board games
Card games
Classic films
Jobs - for a treat/pocket money at a later date
Treasure hunt

There are extra parkruns on at most events on New Year's Day. Running isn't compulsory - you can walk them, and as long as kids are 4yo they can be registered in their own right and get a time. Walking a parkrun takes about an hour. It's a nice way to start the New Year. You can also offer to volunteer - marshal or scan barcodes.

Active videos on YouTube if you’re after active time indoors. Coach Corey Martin and Cosmic Kids Yoga are good here.

I agree they need a decent amount of time to entertain themselves, but that doesn’t mean you have to leave them to it all day every day.