Hoping for some Ideas (that don't cost too much money) on what to do with the DC's over the summer??

[user1496589862]

Single mum here with 3Dc's 4, 9 and 12.
If the weather is lovely we usually pack up a picnic and go to a park. The weather isnt always lovely.....but my eldest 2 are getting a little too old for parks these days. They seem to moan when I suggest it. Im trying to get them to be a little more energetic and they moan about that too. Walking is boring apparently.
Just wondering what you lovely mums have planned for the summer?
Also, do you feel you should be doing something every day with them?

We still do parks, ds 13 down to ds 3, they use ds phone to time each other on the activity bits of the park!! Picnics still a hit, kite down the beach (where we live) bbq on the beach after 6pm!, bmx track nearby - free. Our council have free swimming on this year - with bus to /from!,
We are camping in a few weeks in Scotland. .

Single mum of 2 dd's (age 11 and 13), we still do parks, dd2 sometimes plays Pokemon go when we are out and then she moans less about walking. We visit nature reserves as they are often free to get into, dd2.has discovered 'eye spy books' so can tick off bugs and birds when she sees them. We also go paddling in the river and take a picnic, we go swimming a couple times a week ( when it's raining ). Dd2 is now old enough to go to the cinema with a friend which is great as it means I don't have to pay for me to go.

We don't do something every day as I work but sometime I will squeeze in a trip to the swimming pool after work. They have days where they stay in and play on their tablets if it's wet outside. They don't need to go out every day, we try and plan one good day out once a week.

I try and get out the house every couple of days or so to try and keep the costs down. We do crafts in the house, play in the garden, have a board game day, a film day with treats such as popcorn and chocolate. We do baking cakes once a week and go the library every couple of weeks or so. When I do go out its to the park with a picnic. We go the cinema and see a cheaper kids club film. We go swimming or soft play area both of which are cheapish. How about local museums? Those are normally cheap or free.

We don't go out every day but try to have a couple of days out a week at least, and we tend to go for a couple of shorter breaks over the 6 weeks rather than one holiday - we camp so it's cheap and easy to get away for a couple of days, and SIL lives by the coast so we usually head over to her for a few days too.
We go swimming, to the cinema for kids club, local parks, do the library challenge, free museums...
Ds1 (11) goes out with his friends now too but I like to plan plenty of days out so I actually get to see him!

Geocashing
Water balloon fight
Cooking
Baking
Movie days
Put on a talent competition
Charity shop challenge for the older two (give them a few quid each and they have to see how many items that can buy with it)
Ikea on a weekday. No buying just playing. Hot dog treat at the end.

So today.....

Had coffee and cookies at Costa Coffee.
Shopping in Tesco for ingredients.
Skate park for fun. Skateboard, scooter, bike
Made pancake mix and made pancakes for lunch
Made jellies for fun and eating later
Picked weeds from front drive. Paid £1 for the effort.
Watched Wild Kratz on Netflix.

Geocaching!!!!

A firm favourite here, even the older teens love it!