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.

MrsBadger - I love re-arranging the furniture in the house!!!!

We have drawn up a list - dd1 has copied it out and stuck on fridge. It includes:

Cinema - Saturday mornings £1
Park
Cotswold Farm park - we have two free tickets
Swimming
Grandma's house
Painting
Day at the seaside

My dds can't wait.

Theme parks = hour long waits in queues for three minutes on a ride. So, its not a good summer holiday day out anyway - unless 6 hours of queueing for 18 minutes of entertainment is your thing.

Crazy golf.
Swing parks
Swimming
playing with the wii
playing with the DS
trips to visit people
making their own pizzas for lunch
playing tennis/ football in the gardan
hunting for fossils
visiting museums

sweetbloom I would love a summer holiday at your place any day .

I have only ever been to a theme park once in my entire life. I had amazing summer holidays.

Sweetbloom - the activities you are suggesting sound 1000 times more fun than days out at theme parks, imho.

No theme parks here. We have ten pesky weeks to fill, and it's the only time of year we get a break from school fees, so the last thing I'm doing is spending money. We are:

playing in the garden
going to the library
going to the 'pick your own'
squabbling
bumming around aimlessly
making things out of cardboard boxes
having people round to play
playing at other people's houses
going on bike rides
watching tv
doing anything local that's free

Um, that's about it. DCs are happy, and I am not spending money so I am happy too.

We have a NT membership, membership for Eden, an aquarium and a local kiddies theme park. Sounds a lot but DH is away 11 months a year, so this fills my weekends year round.

Extra for hols:

Swimming (kids were free last time we went, until new Gov repeals that!). Especially outdoor pools.
Beach
Trips to visit friends/family
Family holiday
Trips to park.
Cinema (Vue is £1 ish in hols and at weekends for old kids films)
Have just bought 2 man pop up tent so may take kids camping for a night mid week when DH is at work
Waterplay/fights/paddling pool
Exchanges with friends for a break!

At 10 plus I read all day long / went off on picnics to the woods with friends. When I went to the local outdoor pool there were loads of kids aged 10+ by themselves as they now get in free. At 15 my parents bought a pool membership and I went every day of the summer!

All in all it will go too quickly ;-(

what a brilliant thread.

I was going to suggest making up your own nature treasure hunt - go to a large country park or even just a town one, and give the children a list of things to find - make them specific enough to be a challenge, according to age - leaf with five points, feather with blue on it, acorn cup, stone with a sparkly bit, etc. And then you can bring the loot home and set them to making a sculpture/monster/alien with some air-drying clay and incorporating all the bits they've found.

Or have I been watching too much Mister Maker with DS?

Love this thread, btw.

I'm not sure " most kids get to do expensive days out" all the time. Our have had two visits to theme parks ( Alton Towers and Drayton manor) in the last 10 years. Its a very rare and expensive treat

most kids i know spend their time doing things on your list

Anyone who lives near me in Southampton is welcome to meet up with me ,it would be nice actually.
By the way this is the first thread I have done thats had loades of response's im very happy.

Theme Parks are crap.

National Trust properties are free around here on the 11th September try that?

Our nursery gives out a magazine called Families-not sure if it goes out to other areas but the last 3 pages are chock full of events and actvities and some of them are only a £1 or 2 a pop. Usually held by museums and schools or country parks.

some examples include

Mini architectural dig
Making a hobby horse
Creepy crawly actcity days/nature trails
pottery
scarecrow making day
batik
collage days
paper lantern days
meet animals

My nan used to do treasure hunts for us-she would bury a biscuit tin or jar with little toys, coins or sweets in and draw a pirate style treasure map and we used to get to dig it up!

national trust do/ did a family of 4 annual membership for £64 online. It gets you into everywhere for free. We find that it is quite liberating because you don't feel pressurised to get value for money out of each and every visit, so we do more than we would otherwise e.g. we can turn up, find that its raining and not bother doing the walk around the grounds after all.

Next year I am going to get the royal palaces one instead and maybe the RHS one too.

Theme parks are dreadful places!

don't forget just doing nothing and letting them get a little bored, getting bored every so often is good for kids!

I'm liking this thread! Some great ideas. Am bookmarking for future ref.

OP - I think your dc's are going to have a very memorable holiday

We like getting a long length of paper and laying it along the garden path then getting out the glue. I let them pick whatever flowers grass etc and make great pictures. Obviously, I'm not too precious about the garden but we have a rule that you can't pick all the flowers!!!!

There's no harm in letting them get bored now and then - I seem to remember spending most of my summer holidays reading, round mates houses amusing ourselves with games we'd made up or pootling in the garden.

Last year, the best days out for the kids (and me!)were picnics in the park/nr the lake with other kids and mums and just taking along some balls/bats and kites.

If you are near a railway station then getting a day return to a near station (a couple of stops is fine) and taking a picnic is good. Not quite free but fairly cheap. Most children like going on trains -- and I know some (not mine bu then we don't have a car) that think it's wildly exciting to get on a bus and go to the park that way.

Any hotels/leisure centres/pools which might have a trial membership? We have a month's membership nearby and the kids are swimming nearly every day.

I spent hours playing pooh sticks when I was on my summer holidays.

oh bookmarking to read later, and steal lots of ideas.

I take mine for a wander round poundland (they think it is fabulous for some reason) Each kid gets £1 to spend. We then go to the fishmongers and look at all the fish. Takes up at least two hours.

I find it is the simple things they like the best.

If anyone is in London head to Southbank, outside Festival Hall. There is this fountain thing that you can play in. We spent ages there today getting soaked. Much fun had by all

tomorrow dd and ds have friends coming, they are going to make pizza and decorate cupcakes and play.
also planned,
£1 day trip to france (for ferry ride and picnic)
picnic with work friends and their children,
picnic with school mums and kids
local museum free activity sessions
outdoor cinema eve[free]
busride and picnic
trainride and picnic
camping in garden
we are going away for 5 days to scotland but apart from that it will be great just to get out of the school routine rut for a few weeks.
no theme parks for us this summer.