Tell npower your top tips and ideas for enjoying the summer school holidays - you could win a £300 Love2Shop voucher NOW CLOSED

[AngelieMumsnet]

The team at npower would love to hear about your top tips and ideas for enjoying the summer holidays.

npower say "We know that the summer holidays can often be stressful and finding activities to keep your children busy can be a challenge so we’d love to hear your hints and tips for a fun-filled stress-free summer. We can’t wait to hear your great creative ideas for getting through those 6 weeks come rain or shine."

With 6 weeks or more off in the summer, finding ways to keep your DCs entertained can sometimes be a challenge. So, what are your top tips for planning summer holiday activities? Do you like to do some research and advanced planning? Or do you prefer to be spontaneous? Does the weather affect your plans at all? What top tips do you have for having fun whatever the weather?

Please note, your comments may be used - anonymously of course - by npower on their social media channels, website and possibly elsewhere, Please only post if you're happy with this.

Everyone who posts on the thread will be entered into a prize draw to win a £300 Love2Shop voucher!

Standard Insight T&Cs apply.

Thanks and good luck

MNHQ

[spiroo]

Go to the park and walk in the woods.

[HelenSw4les]

Do lots of research in the winter months of free and/or cheap days out, these could include the beach, local parks where you can have a picnic, feed the ducks etc. ££ doesn't equal fun.

[funkyfish586]

I love spending time with the little ones but have struggled with entertaining them as everything costs so much money. We recently joined the National trust and you can now pay monthly so for £8 a month for a family you can go to any of their properties which are always great just for running about. We also do lots & lots of geocaching

[DrSausagedog]

We try to plan a mix of low cost and more expensive things. I always check the calendar of events published by the local council before the holidays start, to use that as a starting point.

Tesco boost vouchers get used a lot for meals out, cinema trips etc.

[Trudyla]

I think a mix of actively doing things and just "being a bit bored" is nice.

We do trips to the beach, museums, cinema, puppet theatre, etc. but also let the kids get on with things. They might moan at first but then mostly come up with the most amazing games, building space ships with every available chair and old car seats or building all kinds of dens.

We also try and do a little bit of reading/writing/counting. They love that though, so it's no hardship.

[ElectroNymph]

Cinemas, arts and crafts, farm trips, joining sports clubs, and of course, holidays!

[tishist]

Find out about workshops at museums and galleries and have some educational fun!

[jacqroberts68]

We take it in turns to do one activity a week that costs no more than £20 and a free one. Makes it fair and interesting

[dandanrawlings]

Take the kids to the park and go on mini adventures with them i.e the climbing frames are a jungle

[el2606]

Do the reading challenge (read 6 books) at the local library - fun, educational, and free! :)

[Pinktilgate]

We try to vary our summer activities and make use of the good weather...though we haven't had much of that in Northern Ireland! We have been doing our weekly feeding of the ducks and swans at the park, going for lots of ice creams, having water fights in the garden and some DIY around the house!

[12LuDo]

Plan ahead. Whether it's a day in playing games, a walk or a picnic, or even an organised trip somewhere, planning what you are going to do, prevents the days from just drifting away with good intentions!

[FrenchieMum2Be]

I work through the summer holidays so we cram the family time at weekends. The beach is a family favourite as well as weekdays evening barbecues.

[alison991]

Check out what is going on at the local sports centre and library, they often have things on for kids. Craft activiites are fun as are days at the park

[carpathian]

we try to use the many free things around us so we spend a lot of time down our local mere i have boys so they love it getting mucky climbing and exploring it has the bonus of having a bike park so my boys love using that i find if i tire them out doing physical things in the day they flake at night so its win win :)

[marymanc]

My DC are now 10 and 6 years old and do not need that much of entertaining than when they were younger. I used to start in June to make plans for the Summer holidays and pack so much in...

Now we just live a day at a time and if the weather is nice we go to the beach, if not we visit the cinema, arrange sleepovers with friends, go to the library and museum. Also we have days out on towns nearby by train and go visiting parks. So far we have really enjoyed each other company and we are pretty happy also to read a book or watch a DVD.

[SoupDragon]

Children do not need to be actively entertained every hour of the day. Just relax and enjoy not being tied to the school run or regular out of school activities. Have a few things up your sleeve for wet days, some day trips for sunny days and spend the rest of the time relaxing.

[feeona123]

Don't plan too much - make a few special days out, but have plenty of free days in case the weather changes so that you can make plans at the last minute.

[lisajordan]

I recently bought my son a kite for about £10. He has played with it all summer holidays so far! Great bargain for hours and hours of fun.

[bluebubblerose]

picnics even in the garden

[GeorgeW78]

Geocaching is great fun and you may even find some places you didn't know were there! Combine with a nature hunt and a picnic, maybe a bike ride too! Fun, free & fresh air, what more could you want?!

[Lydia30]

I start looking a couple of months before for all the free activities that are around and book in. Also if you haven't got one buy a family and friends railcard and have days out at a reduced cost

[JoCar72]

Inspired by the Anniversay Games, we've set up our own mini Olympics where we have fun competitions ranging from sport to art to cooking to quizzes. All the kids get involved including their friends...each choose a nation to represent and if they break their personal bests or make something really good they get a 'treat token' which add up to a DVD, magazine or little toy. x....it's amazing what you can get in the poundshops

[emily13]

Get on Google and find out what's going on in your local area. Also look up the museums etc. that have free entry and save yourself some money.

[buckley1983]

A big bucket of water provides hours of entertainment for my little one! He spends hours rooting through his doors trying to find ones which are dunkable & them runs round the garden trying to find other items which can be added to the 'soup' - stones, twigs, mud, pegs.
We break for lunch which is a picnic in the garden & then do some den building which basically consists of some garden chairs & a sheet!
If the weather is bad, we head to the library - but a rainy day walk is fun too :)