holidays

bonnie_2 · 6 July 2005 at 5:48PM

anyone got any ideas for school holidays fast approaching. cheap or free.kids are 13, 9 and 7.

greenlogo · 6 July 2005 at 6:18PM

how about some kind of ongoing crafting/project? If there are any good free museums or castle type places near you you could maybe base it on that? Like -

a medieval project -

get books from the library and articles from the net on what life was like then for all the different "classes" of people

Colouring in pictures of knights and so on

building castles out of lego (fun with crenelations, moats, shoots for hot oil etc) and siege weapons (siege towers, trebuchets, ballistas, that kind of thing)

tape any relevant films (Robin hood, that kind of thing) to watch on rainy days.

Looking at food from the period (actually eating chicken drumsticks off a big bit of bread, no plate and only a knife can be an amusing way to have dinner when you're small...)

They can make up "project" books (sugar paper sewn together?) and stick in pictures, leaflets from castles or whatever, piccies of whatever they make, things they've written down or printoff.

we did this kind of thing once or twice - it's a bit of a faff to set up but quite absorbing as well as educational and adaptable for different ages.

squeaky · 6 July 2005 at 6:21PM

Hiya

The Travel Board is probably your best bet, and they even have a sub-board for days out.

To skip over to Days Out just Click Here

Queenie · 7 July 2005 at 5:44AM

Hi bonnie

You could also try doing a search on the Marriage, Relationships & Families board too, you'll find this thread: Cheaper Family Days Out

Finally, take a peek at this website: Real Days Out (I saved that link when it was posted a few weeks ago)

HTH

Penny-Pincher!! · 7 July 2005 at 6:34AM

Hey

On bedrest till Monday then being re-admitted.....long story :mad:

It is difficult for me to get out being a wheelchair user and have extreme tiredness and pain all the time, but these are some things we try and do as a family or just hubby and dd:

Picnics
Saturday Cinema (kids are £1.00 and adult is free)
Hubby & DD go on a bike ride
Go to Colchester Zoo (dd has an annual pass £15, I go in free and DH pays £4 a time as he is my carer-we take a pack lunch etc)
DH & DD go swimming (£1 each)
Go to the park
Have themed days (dress & cook like they did in other times)
Drive to the nearest beach (picnic, bucket & spade etc, bag of 2p's)
Library (reading & colouring time)
DD is doing a portfolio on all animals which she adds to when she gets new info (she wants to be a zoo-ologist-shes 10 :eek: )
Scrap Booking
Baking days (dd choses and helps)
Sort through her room with her (dont sound exciting but we bring a tea set and biccies/cakes upstairs and she loves sorting out bits for ebay-kill 2 birds with one stone!)
Taking dog for walk over the fields
Go to the coast & visit family (45 mins away £10 petrol-but get free drink and meals whilst we're there..lol

)

We are on a very limited income so money is tight, but if we go anywhere I look for vouchers to make it cheaper. Everything is based around costing but that doesnt mean you cant enjoy yourselves. We rarely eat take-aways or go out for meals, but if we do treat ourselves through the holidays and have a take away dd prefers sausage, chips & bread roll from chippy(£1.50 for a huge portion) she prefers this than a macdonalds & i think better for her! There is a restaurant near us targeted at families called "hungry horse" they do huge dinners cheaply. Roast dinners £2.49 kids, £4.50 adults-they have a website. We can normally have a starter, meal, pud and drinks for about £25 and we do this maybe 1-2 times a year.

There lots more but brain dead at the mo.

Regards

Penny-Pincher!!
xxx

Aril · 7 July 2005 at 1:42PM

I go to the library and stock up on children's craft books and cookery books for inspiration. Our local museum is holding two free afternoon sessions where the children can play board games and local nature reserve also has weekly nature sessions for £2.50 per child. One friend with a young teenager set up a Lord of the Rings afternoon with making the scenery for those LOTR games they play [sorry don't know the name] aswell as watching one of the films on DVD and perhaps something similar could be done with Harry Potter?
Other than that as previously suggested bike rides, ball games, walking etc etc
Aril

Pink. · 7 July 2005 at 11:54PM

Hi bonnie,

Our school holidays are longer than the rest of the Uk (nine weeks) so we've already been busy :rolleyes:

I don't know if you live near the sea, but I have just spent a fantastic afternoon with my two youngest fishing! Elder boy (11) inherited a rod and the youngest (5) used a line thingy (£2.75). We only caught two tiddlers between us, but it really was great fun......we all enjoyed it, even me!!!

Other things we've done so far:
Strawberry picking
Swimming
Baking
Camping in the back garden
Pic-nic

I'll enjoy watching this thread for lots more ideas.

Pink

16011996 · 8 July 2005 at 9:16AM

try your local sports centre, one quite near to me is offering free trial sessions of different sports throughout the summer. and they have other activities on as well which are for a small charge.

Spendless · 8 July 2005 at 7:46PM

Over next few days I'm going to make a list of activities that are free. eg park, museum (is doing 4 days of free activities, sticking,board games). I've got one free adult and one free child swim cos I got them each time I book a course of swimming lessons for son and save them for each hols.

I've also got a free play at a pub saved from goodie bag when son attended birthday party. There's a park with a manmade beach and lake to paddle in about half an hours drive away just £1 to park.

Then I'm going to add to my list inexpensive trips eg to local farm, and to the local ballpool/bouncy castle play area.

As my youngest is only 2 I keep an eye on when admission charges kick in, so I don't have to pay for all 3 of us at minute. I've found places not charging kids till they're 5. One of the local swimming pools doesn't charge at all till kids are 5 and another still does cheap rate until child reaches 6.

squeaky · 8 July 2005 at 8:01PM

There's a thread on free museum visits etc listed in the MEGA Index somewhere. I think it's currently in the Miscellaneous section. My brain is turning into grey flupp having seen so many threads lately.

PLEASE READ BEFORE POSTING

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