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?

Get a national trust pass OP.

I miss my dc being that age and exploring for the cost of petrol and sandwiches that I'd take with us.

Winter is rubbish, but you've had loads of ideas on here.

Library, park, museums, etc are all free. Tbh it sounds like there are parents on here who do absolutely loads, but getting out of the house is easier than staying in and dealing with bored dc. It really is.

Also - most unmumsnetty but favourite thing me and my friends did - sleepovers and wine. The dc would run riot upstairs with my friends dc and we'd drink wine, eat crisps and have a laugh. Life doesn't need to be boring. - obviously not completed wasted!

Nothing more exciting than a day out at Tesco. If they're lucky we might also go to Home Bargains and Iceland. Otherwise they play with their friends either here or at their friends' houses. We don't do much to entertain them. They're 10 and 11.

Aged 8 and 5.

swimming, drawing/crafting, games like monopoly all played together. Film night which involves sharing a large bag of supermarket popcorn and all sitting together to watch the film. Scooting or skating (got roller skates for Christmas), visiting friends or having them over or meeting for a walk/park. Kids will often walk if with other kids and not taking them walking perpetuates it. Offer a bribe like hot chocolate afterwards at home if he hasn’t moaned and if he does genuinely don’t give it so it really is a reward/treat. We also bake, play in the garden, sometimes the cinema, library which has colouring and sometimes events. There’s usually a lot of free things going on and now a lot of warm hubs are putting on family activities at the weekend which saves on putting the heating on!!!

@xxxxxJess123xxx I'm in Essex too. Depending where you are, Chelmsford museum is OK for a free outing and it's indoors. Braintree museum are doing free Saturdays at the moment and children's crafts in the mornings. Braintree library is nice too and has a Lego club every Saturday afternoon which my 4yo enjoyed. Lathcoats farm - small, manageable with little ones, free, nice tea room.

We actually live more towards Southend but tend to venture out a bit to look for the free or indoor things to do. I don't love soft play so try to avoid them whenever possible. Canvey cinema is really good value and Burnham too I believe, although I haven't been yet.

I believe Colchester has a Chinese New Year parade on next week which is free.

If you're on Facebook, there's a good page called Really No Such Thing As Bad Weather. It's a mum from Essex giving her ideas and reviews on days out in the county and surrounding areas.

Today we went around some free local museums with a packed lunch to save money. The kids ran a bit wild and were hard work at times but I am hoping some culture went in!

FromtheSoul- thank you I never knew Chelmsford and Braintree had a museum. Ill certainly have a look x

We love walking so getting DC on board with that was important. So we tried to make walks more fun.
Eg take food for birds / squirrels; play various games such as I spy, spotting animals, colours (eg of cars, coats etc); bringing snacks / hot chocolate; various hunts you can find for free online. Obviously if you don’t like waking this probably doesn’t apply.
In that case I would second free museums, libraries, getting DC involved in cooking and other household tasks and inviting their friends round for play dates.

Our local library has board games, Lego, often some crafts so we might go there for an hour.

Scavenger hunt in the local park/wood (I print suitable lists off Pinterest for my two to find things as we walk)

Free museums/gallery if you've got one nearby.

We've got a couple of good garden centres near us - there's always a free families having a wander round. My two love looking in the sheds for some reason.

Baking
Crafting
Sofa soft play or make a den with some blankets

I envy you.
please don’t feel guilty , it soon disappears as they get older. My weekends are spent driving to sports places up to 2 hours away for 9 o clock meet both days. I literally get home school uniform clean the house ready for the next week 🙄 do what makes you and your kids happy , what works for one family won’t for another x

Teen who does lots of Sport so driving him around. Friday night 1 1/2 hour cricket nets, Saturday 1 hour cricket net in morning and swimming in afternoon. Sunday a run in morning then 2 hour cricket nets in afternoon. We drop him off, go for a pub meal, then collect. Sports most weekday evenings too.

Another vote for checking out your local library. Ours often has free things for the kids, DD has done junk modelling, lego, learnt coding, board games etc. It's also worth checking local Facebook pages for any free events running nearby - we've found a few gems this way. We're lucky to have a new Youth Club where we live. DD at 7 is just old enough to go now, do you have anything like this? Or community centres quite often do things for kids for free or very little. Charity shops - for books/toys/films etc. Baking - or even just icing and decorating biscuits is another low cost activity. We often pop round to friends, or to grandparents just for a change of scene.

Do the kids have scooters/skates/bikes that they could be persuaded out on instead of walking?

Yes kids have bikes but nothing really in biking distance. Can’t fit both bikes in the car unfortunately
ill definitely check out the local library though it is very small

I work weekends so my wife has our daughter. From what I gather they stay in, my wife signed her up for football classes, but she hasn't been feeling well enough to take her.

During the week (I'm a full time father atm), I used to take her for walks in our village, to the play park, and 3 days a week to a play group in the next town over. My wife doesn't want me taking her out in this cold, especially as I can't drive. Although I did manage to get her to the play park this last week.

I try and make the most of staying in, I largely let her our play, but we play instruments in the kitchen, we dance and sing, we draw, play football, play with cars etc.

Once I can take her out again I really want to take her to the museum. She'll be taken by the dinosaurs. Although she starts nursery soon.

Sports both days (gymnastics and rugby, both work out about £20-30 per month). Sometimes we swim after gymnastics. Bike ride there and back, maybe have a pizza or pub lunch on the Sunday. Then tv, homework, bath and bed.

In summer we go to the park after gymnastics/rugby, and basically spend the entire day there.

i have a six year old boy who needs to burn off energy though, and we have no garden. If he stays in all weekend he is literally jumping about on the sofa by Saturday night.

Hmm, we live abroad so winter is actually good cos of all the snow.

This weekend we have been ice-skating, library, out for donuts. Also watched Beethoven

Lots of lego and colouring too

I’ve got 5 children and my youngest is only 2 weeks old- so I feel our weekends are spent at home a lot just now while I’m feeding the little one. I picked up a laser tag set for Christmas which my older two love (8 and 6 year old). They all seem to really enjoy arts and crafts, magnatiles etc. they visit my mum and sister at the weekend. We normally do things like softplay but I’m avoiding them just now with the amount of viruses that are rife since we have a newborn. Movie nights are always fun.

Does your wife have anxiety issues? What is the problem with taking her out in the cold? I assume your daughter owns a coat/hat etc?

Hi OP. We are also on a budget but try to get out most weekends. Not sure if this works for you but when grandparents ask for ideas for Christmas presents we ask for money towards days out eg one set of grandparents pay for national trust membership. We take a picnic and it's a "free" day out. We got food flasks from aldi so can take hot food and we have a car picnic! Lidl also have their waterproof trousers etc in a the moment and they are well worth the money they are excellent quality, or look on vinted.

We often go to the library, ours has colouring set out and a Lego club once a month. They allow you to eat there too so can spend a good chunk of time there and it's warm!

Nature reserve? Free to get in and ours has an indoor visitor centre with colouring etc.

At home what about playdough?.Can make your own quite easily I use a recipe from a website called nurture store.

Or baking? We love the £1 or so baking kits you can buy

i too struggle on bad weather weekends. What I found that helps me if on a Friday is if I know the weather is going to be rubbish and I am prepared i look at local communities pages for events happening and I reach out for play dates etc. I feel like crap if I spend the weekend on the tablet and mopping around the house and I feel terribly guilt if DC is on technology all weekend