Half term!

[tummytickler]

So, what are you all up to for half term? I have 2 weeks off work, but we are monumentally impoverished at the moment so our budget is £100 max for the week of half term.
I need some inspiration to keep 4 dcs 8 years and under occupied, but my Dad has been having a go because we do not take them away enough and we are not creating memories for them (his parents never took him on holiday, so he used to take us 2 or 3 times a year).

So cheap and creating memories! Any ideas I can steal???

Any child relatives they can visit? We are doing that Tuesday.

Local sports centres run multi-sports and other activity sessions in school holidays, mostly these are quite reasonable prices (like £8 for 5-6 hour session for age 6+). Mine are doing sessions on Mon, Weds & Thurs.

Swimming (if your pool allows, ours would, thank goodness).

Trip to big city children's library (we are doing that today, with meal out, but could just be a little cafe run or picnic).

Walks in the woods/heath.

Playgrounds, just bundle them up warm and bring towels to wipe down the slides!

I have 5 dc's ranging from 2 to 15 and am completely skint this week.

However, I have already paid for ds2 to do a hip hop day at his dance school , cost tenner.

ds1 is doing football school all wekk, cost £40, already paid for some weeks ago so again not so bad.

that leaves 3 dc's

Today we are gonna do some painting, I have roll of old wallpaper so am getting that out, we draw around each child, then paint on the clothes they are wearing that day. (free)

we have season tickets to a farm with an indoor play area so tomorrow we will do that, cost, prob tenner for coffee for me and picnic stuff

Wednesday will cost a few quid cos going to play area with friends and tis fiver each to get in at half term. Plus friends have only one child and I know they will want to get lunch after.

We will do baking one day, usually have all the ingredients, might get some sprinkles or something, couple quid.

Will have a dossing indoors day, maybe watch a dvd and eat popcorn

It does cost alot but I try and pay for the activities that I can in advance so don't feel it all in the one week.

Teenager will entertain herself mostly, that'll cost me about a tenner.

my friend and i are going to some woodland and lighting a bonfire with ours tomorrow. marshmallows on sticks. hot chocolate in flask. building den with branches etc. cheap but fun - we hope!

Do you mind a mess ? My 4 like nothing better than making a batch of fairy cakes and making up several bowls of different coloured icing sugar and decorating then eating. I get a couple of hours activity for a couple of pounds but it does then need a couple of hours of tidying up .
Or slightly less messy would be crispie cakes or just a bowl of melted chocolate with fruit or mashmallows to dip in.