kids summer holls help

earwig · 21 July 2006 at 12:55PM

hi has any one got any ideas for cheep days out for the summer holls i dont drive and my weekly buget is 30.00 :eek: to keep two kids happy they are seven and two and i dont drive and i want them to do stuff this summer hoilday as last years one we just sat about the house playing psp games so any help would be great sorry if this is in the wrong place

lynzpower · 21 July 2006 at 1:07PM

:wave: hello stranger

If you have a look in the moneysaving families relatioships bit theres a "free stuff to do with the kids hunt that martin started- have a nose theres bound to be stuff on.

What about your local childrens centre or council- theres usually a load of activities on there

We used to go to council playschemes... maybe for your little girl they might be OK?

nic82 · 21 July 2006 at 1:11PM

How about involving the kids in making sandwiches, biscuits, cookies, etc and then going on a picnic to the local park? Take a football or frisbee too (and keep your fingers crossed that it doesn't rain!).

earwig · 21 July 2006 at 1:22PM

thanks my local councill are crap all they do is take our money and cut our srvices so i dont think they will be doing anything but will give them a ring and i would love it to rain the weather here is just relentless the nights are muggy and the days are to hot so rain would be good right now lol

susie76 · 21 July 2006 at 1:23PM

In nice weather it's usually bike rides, or the park with my kids (a girl aged 9, a boy aged 3 ), although i live in the middle of the city, there are loads of nice parks within walking distance (good, as i don't drive or have a garden) - i take a blanket to sit on, loads of drinks, picnic stuff, and balls, racquets etc for them to play with. If i take a book to read, we've been known to stay all day. If you have bikes, seek out traffic free cycle routes near you (sustrans can help you), local museums (free i think?) sometimes do fun days, art stuff etc for when it isn't so nice out, If you live near any big parks etc, you can do nature/ scavenger hunts - make a list of things for them to find (pine cones, feathers etc), if you are at home, you can put lots of newspaper down and let them do junk model making.Do you have any city farms/ working farms near you that you can visit? Local fire stations will often let you visit and look round if you phone in advance. All that stuff is pretty nmuch free so you ca save your budget for one big treat outing a week, like the zoo etc.

angelface · 21 July 2006 at 2:32PM

there was something in one of the papers about this the other day they included:

Car boot sales - A cheap weekend way to kill time. Give your children a few pounds and see what they buy.

Garden activities

Put on a barbecue, treasure hunt or a fight with water-filled balloons. 'Paint the garden' by putting down a roll of cheap lining paper and letting the kids do their worst with hands, feet or brushes.

My mum used to take us all to park just for football and picnic and also she had a big box full of her old clothes and makeup - it was messy but we used to stage plays, looking like mini drag artists, clomping round in her high heels with glitter in our hair.

I also found this on the web - How to make your own play dough! INGREDIENTS
1 cup flour
1 cup water
1 cup salt
1 tbsp. cooking oil
1 tsp. cream of tartar
Food coloring

Combine all ingredients into a pan. Cook approximately 5 minutes, stirring constantly until dough begins to stay together. Cool for a few minutes.knead dough, Store in covered container or plastic bag.

Make lots of different coloured dough the children love it.
Have plenty of shape cutters childrens rolling pins and a board would come in handy so you dont ruin your dining room table as the colouring can stain.

Never mind the kids - i might try this myself!

LookingAhead · 21 July 2006 at 4:38PM

I'd be really surprised if your council isn't doing something. I don't know why but I thought all councils laid something on.

You could have a look on their website maybe? Where are you in the country?

wannabedebtfree_2 · 21 July 2006 at 5:39PM

I dont know where you live, but if its near the coast then obviously the beach might be an idea, we're lucky to live on the "Jurassic Coast", so we do a lot of fossil hunting in the summer, go rock-pooling etc....If you live near the country then lots of nature walks through the woods, a few quid on a picnic! If you live in a city, theres usually large parks, or city farms, museums, fun days at the local sports centre, which can be expensive, but as a once a fortnight treat they could be worth it.

Craft days - spend 15 of your budget on a load of paints, lining paper, glitter, glue, felt, fabric(what ever you can get for £15!!) and then split it up to last for several sessions, lots of finger painting, puppet making with old socks......you can have a right laugh, papier mache piggy banks....anything really!!

Orange Wednesdays for the cinema is BOGOF, if you dont have an orange mobile ask a friend who does to text for the code, and then they forward the code to your phone, you get the BOGOF (never done this myself as OH has Orange, but I know a student friend who swears by it....probably fraudulent!!)

Check out the internet for vouchers for local attractions, as quite often you can find lots of places offering half price of BOGOF, which can save a fortune!

Our local swimming pool has a GoGo card, which for a family is £25 a month, (for people in reciept of certain benefits) and covers all swimming, any classes, even lessons for the kids, so at £6.25 per week, for as many sessions as you like, I think thats a good deal!! Maybe your local place has something similar, you'd only have to go twice a week to already have had your moneys worth!

Will come back if I think of any more!!

xx

LookingAhead · 21 July 2006 at 6:19PM

Not sure if there is anything free on http://www.daysoutuk.com or not but it may give you some ideas for places close-ish to you where admittance is free or very cheap/BOGOF vouchers. I went to a castle last weekend (admittedly I had to drive there) and the grounds were free, we just paid as we wanted to go up and around the upper floors of the castle. A picnic in the grounds on it's own would have been lovely though and if we'd had kids with us with a ball/frisbee, it would have been fine as loads of room.

bikerqueen · 21 July 2006 at 6:42PM

nip into mcdonalds and they have vouchers for one free child swim with each adult.

plumpmouse · 21 July 2006 at 7:49PM

Do you shop at Tesco's

I've just swapped some clubcard vouchers for days out voucher.

We're going to Camelot (cost about £4 of vouchers)

And to the zoo with another couple (cost £10 of vouchers)

kids summer holls help

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