What do you do with the kids of a weekend?

[xxxJess123xxx]

Hi all just curious as we have got into a bit of a rut.

DD is 7 and DS is 4. Weekends consist of mainly tablet/tv and homework and not much else.

Its too cold to go to the park. DS doesn't walk anywhere and walks end up in a winge fest.

But im feeling guilty that we don't get up to much on the weekends.

Summer is different. Kids play out with the neighbours (supervised of course!) and is generally more productive.

What do you do with your kids at the weekend?

Are you in a very urban area ? Just getting to the park is the hardest bit then they can run free and tire themselves out without you having to interact 100% of the time.

stimulation of the TV can be hard to break but is so worth it. I use the tv in between activities when I want to sit down and have a tv but always have at least one outing a day otherwise i feel quite low by the afternoon .

you need a handful of free things that you rotate in your local area . Sometimes they seem boring but once you get out and about it’s better than watching tv

library
park
a different park
soft play - ask family to buy a pass for the kids for the year ?
cinema - only if you can get a deal
search Facebook for events - even if they look rubbish just go and chat to other parents

Sorry for my stupid post op I missed your update about the budget. I should have rtft. Apologies.

There are some great websites with creative ideas for young dc that don’t cost much:

-Happiness is home made

~Good Housekeeping 40 Fun crafts for kids that are easy to make all season long

~Pinterest

~DLTK kids

~And Dorling Kindersley publish good cooking books for children

I was going to suggest library as I can see pp have- totally free, lots of time to look at books and ours has a little toy library too. Also on sat morning I believe they have a story time session.
Also our local museum is free- I used to love going to look at the dinosaur bones and dolls house as a child. We were never there very long but got us out. Plus I believe they now often have a little kids trail or activity.

DD7 has theatre school on Saturday mornings. DS9 has a football match most Sunday mornings. One DC usually does their homework whilst the other is at their activity.

Typically we'll have one afternoon/ evening out (visiting parents or friends, a long walk and pub lunch, a trip to the seaside or a museum, etc).

The other day we're usually at home either lazing around or catching up on chores whilst the kids have far too much screentime entertain themselves in between the odd board game with us or maybe a quick trip to the park or something.

Cheap/free ideas
Find a new walk, take snacks to cajole them along!
Park visits, take scooter, bikes, ball etc Dont have to be out for ages but it’s good to get out
Go looking for animals, rspb do a big bird watch about now, feed the ducks

Time limit on tablets then away
Junk modelling, make something for a toy e.g. a bed for a Teddy out of a cereal box
Cutting up supermarket magazines to make posters
Messy play in the bath/shower
Baking
Making den then having movie afternoon

Visiting the library
Museum

They both do sports at the weekend on one day so on the other we sort housework, do homework and have lazy time. Probably once or twice a month they see family or friends or we do a day out. Days out are definitely more in summer. I usually go for a walk so they are always welcome to join me but don't often take up the offer in winter. We try and do some home activities like crafts or baking or boardgames but don't always.

My DH and I work full-time so a lot of tidying and admin ends up being done.

I think we are in a rut too but actually the kids seem fine. It's me who finds my weekends repetitive and a bit boring.

I used to take my children to free places, such as museums, petting farms, art galleries, canal or railway museums etc. living near a large city ( Birmingham then Manchester) there are quite a few free places and I used to spent hours researching them. If possible, we got the bus or train there which the kids loved and took up extra time!

Wednesdayschild-we have zero spare cash at the moment so all these suggestions are not applicable to us that cost money

eg soft play with my 2 at their age is £15 straight away without a drink

so I get 100% where you are coming from, its so tough

Swimming and dog walks mainly. £21 a month here for a weekly lesson and unlimited swimming. It’s always nice and warm in the leisure centre too so we bring a picnic lunch and chill afterwards on the sofas.

January is skint month! This weekend we made and decorated biscuits which took most of Saturday afternoon. Today we went for a walk with scooters and came back for hot chocolate and said biscuits.

They are 9 & 5 and play endlessly together with various pretend play games, so keep themselves amused on a cold/wet day quite easily.

But at least one walk a weekend is a must. Small children are similar to puppies and need their exercise.

We prefer outdoors to structured experiences, but we'll go visit the local climbing wall when funds allow.

Surely you can still go to the park, with the right clothing?

I think you should do whatever you and the kids enjoy - forget all worries about what you SHOULD be doing, what other people are doing etc.

My good friend has a DD the same age as mine (10) and spends the weekends driving her to a load of activities.... Dd and I would HATE that! Horses for courses. It's fine if you mainly want to relax at weekends - it's what they are for after all! (And we are also skint).

In terms of what we actually do - we do spend a lot of time walking/gardening, but I see that is not your thing. We also:

Go round the shops, especially charity shops, and hunt for bargains - not free but very cheap, especially for kids toys/books/DVDs (if you have a player). We can get 10 DVDs for £1 in some places near us for example.

Watching said DVDs - we watch loads of films together, many of them older ones I had forgotten about.

Cooking together - DD is really into baking especially, but also helps with dinner prep. Her involvement in this also means she is more interested in helping with the big shop.

That's it mainly! When she was a bit younger she spent a lot of time playing with her toys, and we would occasionally do craft but she was rarely that into that.

Oh and we go and visit extended family quite often - it's nice to see them and also a free outing in a way! (I honestly don't mean that badly - I know it sounds bad!)

Most important thing is, as long as you are all happy and healthy, don't compare yourself to others and don't feel obliged to live outside your means or do things you don't enjoy!

• dance class
• swimming lessons
• sometimes an extra “fun swim” with me and/or DH
• softplay
• bike rides
• National Trust place or similar
• we go outside and to playgrounds in all weather, except for extreme weather conditions like hurricane force winds or torrential rain
• visit cafe for cake / ice cream
• library
• play dates
• cinema
• baking / crafts / Lego /pretend play at home

Mine are 9, 7 and 4. The older 2 go to dance class on a Saturday morning, then after lunch we’ll all go out for a walk/scoot/bike ride for an hour or so then maybe pop in to see my mum. Otherwise just at home playing with their toys/doing crafts/baking etc.
Sunday morning is homework for the older 2, then we usually go out somewhere for a couple of hours. Nowhere exciting, just to a nearby country park or something. Try to go to places where you only have to pay for parking, no entrance fee. Youngest is severely autistic, sometimes either DH or I will take him to an SEN session at the local trampoline park and the other one will spend some dedicated time with the older 2.
We’re all quite happy pottering at home while the weather is awful though; the kids have so many toys/activities/crafts from Christmas that they can all mainly amuse themselves.

We made cake and watched films under a duvet today. No desire whatsoever to drag them out in the freezing cold even though it bothers me more than it bothers them.

Totally this. @Help14235 is much more realistic that many of the Mary Poppins type responses on here. I'm sure these mn family weekends are not as idealic as they sound. They're enough to make many parents feel guilty.

We muddle through the weekends quite often. Don't have plans quite often and just make it up as we go along.

I'm not a huge fan of going to the park but will do for the children. A short burst is enough. My dcs are 4 and 2. We usually go to a Toby carvery on a Friday evening as neither us want to cook after a week of work. Pretty decent, good value meal.

I've found January particularly difficult for finding things to do. Our eldest also has special needs and behavioural difficulties which can make options a little limited sometimes.

Sometimes it's just the simple things that are enough. We often go to a Costa at the weekend, even a drive thru and get babycinos for the children. Milk ones are free, chocolate ones are 60/70p I think. Our dcs love doing that.

We’ve done:
Ballet lessons
Park
Cupcake baking and decorating
Building lego
Painting
Watching the Chinese NY parade
Science museum

The ballet lessons we pay for termly, I bought some bits for the cupcakes and had to pay for the tube for DH and I to get to the parade and museum. The rest was free.

Also, it really properly too cold for the park where you are? I had my eldest in Chicago so I definitely get that there’s too cold but I’m yet to encounter it in the UK. Anything in positive temps and not pissing it down is absolutely fine IMO!

Whereabouts are you located op?

I meant to add in my previous post that we love a free museum and we're quite fortunate to be near enough to London to access those ones.

Also, keep checking social media for what's going on. Follow local parenting pages. Lots of places are doing Chinese New Year activities next weekend and for free.

The other thing we love is a boot sale. We'll I love boot sales and I've converted dh and the children. We give ourselves a budget. Like £5 or £10 and see what we can find. More enjoyable when the weather's nicer.

I made salt dough with mine (4.5) the other weekend, if you bake it it doubles up as an activity into the next weekend too as then they can paint it.

there are a few fun cheap experiments you can do with cupboard ingredients- like skittles/floating eggs, etc… mine likes stuff like that, an experiment kit from The Works is about a fiver and gives a number of free and easy to do experiments plus a load of things you get in the kit.

otherwise tbh I just let her treat the living room like a soft play, she can spend hours walking along the back of the sofa, leaping off stuff and trying to teach herself to do hand stands. Sometimes I feel a bit guilty so I ask if she wants to do cosmic yoga or mindfulness (which she does the same videos of in school). If her dad is home they get all the cushions off the sofa and build a den or play the floor is lava. You could also have a movie and pjs day where you choose a movie and get them some sweets/popcorn.

I’ve reached the conclusion that often kids don’t want to do activities all day, school is tiring through the week and the luxury of no plans is just as enjoyable for them as it is for us as adults, so don’t beat yourself up about it - the reality of doing planned stuff with them often bites anyway - especially if you have a child who gets overwhelmed easily.

Free / cheap ideas-

Make dens in the house
baking
make your own pizzas
treasure hunt around the house
obstacle course in the lounge / garden
wrap up warm and go for a walk / feed ducks
bath toys / paints / sensory toys/ glow sticks in the bath

These types of replies are so unhelpful to parents on a low budget!
RTFT at least or OP perhaps amend your title to include low budget ideas?

Sports sports and more sports!!!

walks are just so unenjoyable its not even worth it. 4 year old winges the whole time and tantrums.
Park is absolutely freezing, my local big park has actually been closed all weekend (see on Facebook) as it was so badly frozen.

Thank you for the free suggestions and easy bits to do at home.

Im in Essex

xx

My kids are teens but I don't remember ever not going out on a weekend. Swimming, indoor play park, movies, whatever, if the weather was poor.