How do I cope with the school holidays and no money?

ubamother

other children? seriously - if he has friends in the area can you invite them over? I had his best friend for a sleepover at the weekend, a couple of kids over on Tuesday, my boy went to a friend yesterday for a sleepover. Taking two kids to the park/beach/woodland is much easier than taking one, as is having them over to play. Their bedroom can happily be turned into whatever their current obsession is (army training camp is the now thing at our house for no apparent reason!) which usually doesn't involve mum until they get hungry.

Sublime_2

Very little effort involved in my activities. I open the back door first thing, and let the children play in the garden. They have a play centre and toys outside, and they can do nature spotting, climb trees, etc. They can run in and out of the house when they please. Inside there's art stuff, books, toys, and tv for when they want to chill out.

We also have gone on bike rides to the park, nature trails, visiting friends, and swimming. Next week, library, messy play sessions, and childrens parties. Maybe a day out with friends.

babyshoes

Museums are often free or cheap to get in, and aren't always the stuffy boring places we imagine them to be! Most towns have a 'local' one focussing on the history of the area. It is worth an outing just to see what it is like, perhaps take a picnic to have afterwards on a nearby bench.

If your son isn't keen on reading, perhaps it is a chance to read a book with him, and discuss it afterwards.

Pink.

Hi studentgirl,

There were a couple of previous threads on Old Style that have some good ideas for entertaining children inexpensively:

How do I cope with the school holidays and no money?

OS things to do with children. CHEAP

There are also some good threads on the MoneySaving in Marriages, Relationships & Families board:

easter holidays - CHEAP ways to entertain the kids

What are you doing today with your children? (school summer holidays)

What are you doing to entertain the kids xmas hols?

I'll add your thread to the first link later to keep the suggestions together.

Pink

Rummer

Gardening? It is the right time of year to get the garden sorted and if you post on freecycle you might be able to get a few bits and pieces even if you don't have them at the moment. We gave our DD her own section of garden and she was tickled pink when she ate the veg she had grown herself!

katylou6180

Hi all, you've all been great in the past and I'm not really too sure if I am in the right place......as I have progressed as an oldstyler(kinda) I have got the measure of feeding family on a budget, and cutting corners here and there to save pennies....but today with DS on school holidays at 10 years old the dreaded question came about..."what can we DO today?"
I realised I have no idea about how to amuse a 10 year old boy on a budget!! We did weed my rather unruly front garden and then I hear "well now the chores are done can we do something fun?"
I must admit he has consoles and the like at home, but everything that seems to involve "going out" costs rather a lot of money, we have recently had a crash in earnings due to me, and can't afford to spend a lot on days out and amusing him!
I just wondered if anyone has any suggestions, I must confess to not being the best parent in the world sometimes, when Nanny and Grandad take him out and treat him he gets more or less everything he wants- but then they tell me "well if we can't treat him..." and "we were the lucky ones, jobs and things were plentiful in our day and now we've retired we have a good income" which quite frankly makes me feel inferior!
Any suggestions appreciated

Thanks

xx

sazzy6

bike rides, feeding the duck, going to the park, killing a football around, baking/cooking, invite a friend around, give him loads of old blankets to make dens in the back garden, trip to the library or free museums (even in my neck of the woods there are 3 free museums with 3 train stops)

Having fun is more about time than money IMO

Have fun!

jennet1

mine is only 3 but likes feeding ducks, baking, making pizzas, planting seeds, local park, free museums in town, free swimming at local baths, football in garden, bike rides, painting/glueing

zippychick

Hi Katylou:hello:

I found a whole list of threads Pink-winged quoted recently, so thanks Pink! :j

There were a couple of previous threads on Old Style that have some good ideas for entertaining children inexpensively:

How do I cope with the school holidays and no money?

OS things to do with children. CHEAP

There are also some good threads on the MoneySaving in Marriages, Relationships & Families board:

easter holidays - CHEAP ways to entertain the kids

What are you doing today with your children? (school summer holidays)

What are you doing to entertain the kids xmas hols?

Already you have some great ideas. Even picnics in the park , painting ,crafts, baking/cooking, puddle splashing, bird spotting, are all simple free and fun. Do you have a bike the family could go out with the bikes?

I'll add your thread to the first link later to keep the suggestions together.

Thanks:)
Zip

katylou6180

zip..you keep coming to my rescue!! one day ill learn to post things in the right place or use the index properly!! I will have to have a look at the ideas, I have someone who when trying to learn to ride a bike, it didnt go right so chucked it on floor and stormed off (my temper) and wouldn't try again as he has no patience at all! Park is ok but you have to pray for kids around his age (only child) He can't be dealing with nature and things, it's just there...and I am now truly believing he is a spoilt brat and that's down to my poor parenting...and something that I have to nip in the bud before I breed the next generation of "i want it...if i can't have it...ill steal it or get it by underhand means" I never realised until I just wrote all that down in black and white!

Thanks
xx