To not be able to afford to take our dc's to theme parks ,so it will be back to the good old basics in the 6 weeks hol as we just dont have the money ,

[sweetbloom]

I know that most kids get to do expensive days out but it is just so expensive for a family for one day out,so its going to be the following. Even if we could afford it I can not justify all the money sothis is what we will be doing if I have not gone mad by the end of it.
Camping in the garden
Barbecues
Paddling pool
Bubbles
Painting
Play doh
Art and crafts
Walk in the woods
Feeding the ducks
local parks
Baking cakes
Picnics

Please feel free to add any ideas you may have.

Kitchen Science!

Can you get theme park tickets through any of the supermarket schmes (eg clubcard points). I remember using Sainsburies vouchers years ago and saving quite a bit. (kids were young teenagers rather than "kids" so could go on all the rides.)

Too right! Can't stand theme parks! DH can't either but unfortunately being a teacher he does school trips and one was to Euro Disney and he has decided never ever again (private school in foreign country where he decides what the kids do as extra curricular stuff). Apparently it was hell.

Anyhow this is what he did as a kid: play in haystacks, go to the local country fete/farm shows, dress up, go on village walks etc. This is what I did as a kid: pooh sticks, collect golf balls for the golfers on the course (sure that's illegal/health n safety now!), collect foil bottle tops and make necklaces (showing my age now), play with dolls, sew (esp cross stitch), and generally run around knocking for friends and play in the park. Once at a trip to the beach our parents took our baby bath with them and filled it with sand and took it home so we could have our own sand pit in the kitchen (lived in a flat)! Both of us loved reading and spent an extraordinary amount of time in the mobile library or in our rooms doing just that! Oh yes and I also used to write plays and make my sis star in them! Good on you for your ideas - they sound brill! Can I come round and play?

Mine (even the big ones) love to play "Bubble Houses". Half fill a big bowl with water mixed with washing up liquid. Provide each child with a straw and get them all to blow. You end up with a massive mountain of bubbles Also will keep one child occupied by themself

There are some great ideas here,some dont cost a penny.
Sorry if some people were upset about me posting here,but anyone with children will truly understand that the 6 weeks can be a very trying time,especially if you want to to treat them,but these ideas are great for sharing and good on your pocket.
I dont like theme parks,I hate queing think they are over rated, and you end up feeling sick from the rides,the tat and the cost.
Bring on the summer!.

playing with their toys?
Its been really nice today ( 1st of his hols) to listen to DS up in his room playing with trains and lego .

I was a bit grumpy earlier in the thread.
I am a bit grumpy, as the weather is shit, and due to health I can't venture far from home, and I'm skint.

Oh the joy.

Anyway, we're on week three here, and so far, we've baked lots, camped in the living room (popcorn and sleeping bags, and a scary film),
walked through the woods at midnight (the rain doesn't matter if it's midnight, because it's a novelty), made up dances to Justin Bieber songs and filmed them, ditto JLS. Collected insects in old tupperware, and snails.
Learned how to do housework so Mum can nap on the couch all day....
Oh, not the last one

Another vote for National Trust.

theme parks just tacky and nasty.

I'm with katiestar.

I don't think that bubble houses and picnics in the parks would cut it with the tens and ups.

So, what could we do?

Have you got Surestart in your area? I've picked up the timetables for our local centres today and there's stuff going on the whole holiday, all free and for a variety of ages. Worth a look.

forgive me being old fashioned. BUT, I'm sure I remember spending much of my school hols as a 10+ child reading. In garden if hot, in my room if not. Obviously there were occasional (regular) trips to the library for replenishment .

we went to visit grandparents and I read a lot, on the beach, on exmoor and in my room or in the dinning room. I paddle in the stream or the sea depending on the location, we took a picnic with us and a treat was an ice cream. We only went south as grandparents lived their so free bed and board for a month with my mum

One summer I 'did' all the castles round where we are. One castle a week, it's free to get in and take a picnic and do your research on who lived there and make up stories as you go along.
Sometimes events are held so that could be exciting.
They still remember that one.
Another one was a diferent beach a week.
Another one which was quite cheeky was to go visit a relative each week. Yes stay at least one night, killed two with one stone as did the duty thing re: family and had several little mini breaks so to speak.

do you know I have taken my tow to camp in france and they don't remember the blardy holiday - just the trip home when I drove from Dover and ended up driving through a cycle tunnel with a transit following me at heathrow....

Lat year we went for a day trip to Hampton Court and on the way home my eldest - goodness knows what she did with the sat nav but we drove all the way around heathrow again lookin at cargo exits...they loved it?

So really don't bother with the holday just drive around heathrow and the dc will love it!

A lot of museums are free and do great stuff for kids in the holidays.

I think you may find that the "free activities" in musems and libraries are now being chanrged for as the funing that enabled them to be free for some years has gone.

my local museum are charging £30 for a day - whereas a morning or afternoon activity used to be £5 - whereas now they are completing for business with the two private school which lay on day and week long activities for working parents - the museum is tryig to do the same - it is £100 for the week.

Really ivykaty that's terrible. I am in London and I think most of the museums I use are still free. I bloody hope they are as I am looking after a friends dd for 4 days and am hoping to take her to a couple.

Outside of London museums are not always free... some small local authority or Army museums are still free but the bigger ones certainly charge. Example Milestones

My teen ds mostly just sleeps in the day and sits in front of a screen at night interspersed with rowdy get togethers with his mates and very loud guitar playing

Deliaskis, I had a newspaper fashion show for my 10th and 11th birthday!! Was really good fun!

Camping in the garden, toasting marshmellows on small fire are great fun.

Our DCs have spent hours playing cars on mats we drew on cardboard/ paper and get a new version most days

Hide and seek (version depends on ages of DCs, chalk arrows for older children around local area)

Films? with movie feel.

Have a go at Geocaching. It's great hunting for them, sometimes you don't find them but it is a laugh looking. Some are hiding in plain sight in the middle of town.

GEOCACHING

We have a museums pass which gives us unlimited access to all the county council museums - about 10 in all. It costs £58 a year for 3 of us and under 4s get in free. Does your county council do something like that? We find it fantastic value for money and there's always somewhere to go if it's raining or you just don't know what to do. Ok it's not free but I worked out that it pays for itself if you only visit 5 museums during the year. Maybe worth thinking about?