To ask what you do as a family?

[GlossyGlossy]

Both DP and I work full time - He works office hours and I do shiftwork so not always off together iyswim.

Our area is a bit shit and DS goes to school in a different catchment so I can't let him out to play in our street. Sometimes feel he's a bit lonely and would like to do more with him.

Life's a bit hectic and we are skint, what do you all get up to as a family thats cheap, fun and doesnt require too much forward planning?

I know there's the obvious - park, beach, ballgames, picnic but would like to hear some more ideas?

We do try to spend time with friends who have kids the same age too so he has someone to play with, but I have an anxiety disorder and a customer facing job and sometimes need to spend my time off having a rest from being social.

6 x dc here!! We go bowling, cinema, picnics /bbq down the beach, dog walks, film nights with popcorn /sweets!
Xbox night with mates round, search for vouchers for days out!!

We do a lot of walking, mainly forest walks. Only about 3-4 miles as our daughter is only 4, but we enjoy getting out and spotting wildlife etc.

Walking as well. What about geocaching?

Yy to walking. Long walks along the canals, rivers or in the forests.

We also love to play in the garden.

Movie night is a big hit.

Sometimes we splash out and do dinner out combined with a movie or bowling or swimming.

And our favourite thing to do is to get together with our friends.

We play cricket alot (we have 2 x dd) and picnics, dog walking, cycling and cinema if it is rains (ark at me IF it rains never thought I would utter those words in England!)

We like to play board games and makes crafts. Cooking and baking.

Book canopy and stars adventure weekends, love them!! Treehouses, camping etc and all for a reasonable price even on a low budget.

Just lately dh and dc play tennis together. We try to have hobbies altogether.

I haven't got any children (yet) pregnant due December
But I have younger siblings, and we go for long walks on Pokemon go that Dosent cost anything, just take some sandwiches out with us, or feeding the ducks, that's cheap only cost you a loaf and you can drag it out for as long as you can haha!

Camping

We used to camp in the garden when I was a kid too I loved that!
Lots of food and board games.. lovely!

My parents used to take us on long country walks and play games (Monopoly, 21 etc) with us. It was SO dull!

I spend a lot of time strategizing with the DC about their future. They live this.

Parks, pinewoods, beach, museums, softplay that sort of thing mine go gymnastics as well so perhaps consider after school activities?

Camping in the garden and Geocaching are brilliant ones, thankyou.

We do Pokémon as well but DS isn't half as keen as DP and I so unless his friends are there he gets bored quickly... and im trying to pull away from screen time a bit.

I'd love to get him into cooking too, he's a fussy eater so this might be a good way of getting him to eat more.

These are great... thanks everyone. Keep 'em coming!

Collecting rocks, painting them and hiding them.
A lot of our time is in woods and parks and so on, building dens, finding stuff, having picnics.
Picnic in the car on rubbish days.
Driving to any old shit landmark, like the smallest operational lighthouse.

There's a craze in our village where people paint rocks and hide them for other people to find and rehide, it's really popular with the kids who like painting them , there is a Facebook page , maybe one near you?

Park, playground, swimming, baking, camping in the garden, indoor picnic, party games with poundland prizes, treaure hunt/nature trail/scavenger hunt with sheets I make with things for him to tick off/find on a clipboard when we go for a walk, science experiments (v cheap on amazon) sensory play in the garden.

Have you thought about a National Trust Membership? Just over 100 a year for family membership- entry to loads of attractions for 2 adults and up to 6 (I think) kids - they don’t have to be your own. Depends on what is near you and your transport options but we have loved ours - just pack a picnic and go for loads of great days out - everywhere we have been had stuff for the kids - ours are 8&4 and love it!

Board game night!! Some popcorn and treats, turn all devices off and gather round the table for boggle, scatorgaries, monopoly, cluedo. So many can be found in charity shops too.

Also - there's a website called Sporcle which has loads of trivia quizzes on - we love a "name all the Disney songs you can in 10 minutes" allocate one typer and everyone to shout out see if you can get them all as a group. Covers a HUGE variety of topics, literally everything so there's something for everyone.

Mountain biking
Parkrun
Movie nights
Cinema
Geocaching

Shouting
Yelling
Fighting
Arguing

We pay £10 per month for national trust membership, some of them have great grounds with rope swings etc

Depends on age but cinemas do cheap showing on weekend mornings, mine have outgrown most of the films now though!!

I look out for freebies eg open farm Sunday (just happened as is always the beginning of June), or open days for local castles (normally once or twice a year) etc

Swimming
Castles (I get English Heritage membership through work)

Mine are older now, but den building used to be a favourite, either in the house and garden with rugs and anything else they could find, or on the fell, in the forest.

They loved the river on warm days too.

We do swimming at the local leisure centre and itison voucher deals, unlike other websites there aren't usually hidden costs and you are getting very good value so we have been to deer centres etc which are all so much cheaper than a zoo and the animals have way more space.

Where do you shop op? We shop at Tesco and always use vouchers for days out. I also got a family & friends railcard with Tesco vouchers and we go on day trips on the train.
Keep a look out on Groupon. They recently did 5 odeon tickets for £20 and we used that to see Black Panther. Also, for meals out.
I also got the dcs to try for Blue Peter badges. They just got them in the post and are thrilled. They can go free to loads of places with those but you do need to buy an adult ticket usually.

As for really cheap or free things we do -
Walks
Bike rides
Tennis/frisbee/kites in the park
Swimming
Museums and art galleries

Chess
Monopoly (all variants)
Museums (free in London)
Walking
Geocacheing
They enjoy making dinner for us sometimes of their choice
Film/Documentary

Oh here’s another. Bacon sandwich for breakfast at Sainsbury’s cafe is a cheapish treat we do sometimes.

We play a lot of crazy golf and pitch and putt, not getting any better though. English Heritage is great value where we live and we save our Tesco points for days out and meal vouchers. Lots of walking, usually with an aim ie hill, sculpture, picnic spot, nice cafe.