Summer holidays - kids upset

[summersbysea]

I'm taking the kids for most of the summer as the ex is away on his hols and other stuff he's got on.
Just managing the food costs is impossible let alone anything else nowadays. Bills coming out my ears and uniforms they need as the school has changed its bleedin design again !
Kids being kids are saying they want to go to the beach, Alton towers that's impossible! We have a gym that does activities in the hols but they want more ?
Any advice like where to go on hols ?

Can you manage any day trips to the beach? Local beauty spots, out to a good park on bikes? It's hard this year OP. We're struggling too holiday wise

Will you be getting more contribution from ex if he is not having them in the hols?

If you can give us a rough location and ages of the kids it would help. Also are you sure they need new uniform? Normally if school changes the uniform you can use old uniform for at least another year.

I’d definitely second trips because it breaks things up. If cost of petrol is an issue see if there are some cheap train deals.

Also trip to London if carefully planned can be pretty cheap with all the free museums.

The summer holidays can be a long daunting time to fill with fun cheap activities. How old are the children? Can you team up with a friend to share cost?
day trips can be very expensive. Look out for deals - sometimes you can get rail travel deals, Clubcard deals are good too if you have them.

Only if you are near London to start with.

It sounds pathetic but no. Even getting to the beach and then they always want stuff is way too much. we'll have to catch the train and ticket prices are just mad.

Let us know which area you're in and maybe someone can help with suggestions

How old are they? Roughly where are you in the country? I personally think people have got into the habit of doing way too much in the school holidays anyway.

Tell them they can go to the beach but have to take a packed lunch and their own buckets and spades? I find food when out really hikes the prices up! I've found an adult and toddler (under 5) ticket for alton towers is £25 but if I bought food while there would cost me twice as much! So I'm taking sandwiches 😃

are your children enfitled to free school meals? There should be free activities locally if they are

In the Midlands both under ten.
I'm at least 2hrs away from the nearest beach..

Only if you are near London to start with.
I live in Nottingham and I take my dc to London all of the time on the train. If you book in advance it's really cheap. If you don't it's hundreds of pounds. We went a week ago and DD's ticket was £3.20 and mine was £17.50. We don't have a railcard either.

Yeh local gyms are offering free activities this summer and I also take them swimming which they enjoy.
But kids being kids they always ask for stuff like a stop at the chippy on the way back, all adds up. They do get free dinners. But they got their heart set on a beach trip and Alton towers.

Look at local area for free activities. I know our local library are doing some craft days ect. Have you got parks or woods near. Go to local shop aldi or even the cheapest range of food in supermarkets are fine for a packed lunch and go adventure once a week? Google local area

Seriously tickets that cheap ? Aren't they at weird times please send us a link

Yeh we've done that too. Thanks

Depending on the age of the kids and if you have any outdoor space...
'beach' at home - cheap paddling pool (which will get lots of use) towels to lie on, make a sun canopy with chairs and sheets/towels.
Make mocktails with squash, freeze different colour squash into ice cubes. Play 'sea sounds' on your phone, play in the pool.
If you're very lucky you might be near a lido. There's one near where I used to live which has a big field as part of it and you could stay as long as you wanted - take a picnic, etc. Even if no lido some city centres have nice water features that kids can play in.
Other free/cheap ideas - camp at home, cheapest tents can be bought from supermarkets or, if you have a secure garden, you could even camp with just a tarp and some cords. When I was a kid my granny used to keep us entertained all day by rigging a blanket over the washing line to make a tent and we played in there all day.
Blanket fort indoors.
Go for a walk at night and go star gazing.
Camp fire at home and toast marshmallows (an old baking tin on bricks works fine for this.

I can't believe your ex is going on holiday without them!

Yeh. Food costs more than the entry fee sometimes.

I managed to book a trip to Barry island for £17 and £13 for kids with this company based in Brum.
For a day out there’s loads of free events going on for the commonwealth games this summer. Festival sites at different parks etc

I think oddly enough tickets to and from Nottingham are super cheap - my dd is at university in Nottingham and when she comes home to Norfolk she can often get return tickets for about £5! However, when I try to book tickets weeks until advance to go to London from our station in Norfolk the price never changes - it’s always £150 ish return for 4 of us (3 adults, 1 child with two discount railcards)!

For cheaper day trips you need to plan ahead with food.

Take your own packed lunch and snacks.

With my two we give them a spending budget before we go to anything. Usually it's about £5 but sometime less if there's less to spend money on.

It stops them asking for lots of stuff / accepting they can't have lots of stuff.

I get theme park tickets using my Tesco clubcard vouchers. If your ex isn’t taking them in the holidays, he is going to be saving a lot of money, ask him if he can pay for at least one day or take them, surely he’s got sometime free.