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Great Free Things to Do With The Kids Hunt

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  • seven-day-weekend
    seven-day-weekend Posts: 36,755 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    Dare I say somethig as mundane as visiting the local park?
    (AKA HRH_MUngo)
    Member #10 of £2 savers club
    Imagine someone holding forth on biology whose only knowledge of the subject is the Book of British Birds, and you have a rough idea of what it feels like to read Richard Dawkins on theology: Terry Eagleton
  • aloiseb
    aloiseb Posts: 701 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture Combo Breaker
    Brighton: 3 v good playgrounds:
    1) Saltdean Oval park: free parking, good swings, sandpit, slide, funky roundabout etc next to Lido, which isn't free but good value for a whole day. £4 adult £3 child (they only open when it's fine though) and also handy for the beach - v free

    2) Peter Pan playground - includes water fountains, so take swimming stuff + towel. by the sea half way down the Volks railway, or you can walk alongside the line on the beach. Parkign in the Marina (near the Black Rock station for the Volksrailway) is free and there's Asda there too to get a picnic, if you don't fancy forking out for the paninis at the cafe.

    3) West pier: has a BIG paddling pool. with a shady bit by it. Lot sto play on esp for under 5s. Nice cafes and boardwalk posy shops too. No free parkign nearby - it's about £3.50 for 2 hours in the Prince Regent underground car park, then you can walk under the tunnel. (Or just move to Hove...)
  • magpie-c13
    magpie-c13 Posts: 20 Forumite
    Glasgow is a great city for free things to do with kids. There are loads of parks, and almost all of the museums and art galleries are free to get into. The newly-refurbished Kelvingrove Art Galleries and Museum is particularly recommended. The only problem is that unlike many other cities the best attractions aren't concentrated right in the city centre, but spread out across the city, so there might be some travel costs involved.

    The best thing to do is plan where you want to go (the city council website is good for this: http://www.glasgow.gov.uk), then work out how to get from place to place using travel sites like Travel Line (http://www.travellinescotland.com) or First's bus and train sites (http://www.firstgroup.com/ukbus/scotland/swscot/home/ and http://www.firstgroup.com/scotrail/index.php). First offer a good value all-day bus ticket for use throughout the city, and for about £1 you can buy a very good bus map (the 'mapmate') from travel centres.
  • gooismeid
    gooismeid Posts: 283 Forumite
    For those of us who live in or near Manchester, the Manchester Museum of Science & Industry is a FABULOUS place for kids - loads of interactive things to press/pull/make noises with, a whole hangar full of planes and bits of spaceships, a really old steam train (this does cost extra to go on), etc.etc. It's huge, we've been 3 times with our kids and we still haven't seen everything. The best bit is that you can take a picnic because they have a tables & chairs inside where you can sit and eat your own food.
    http://www.msim.org.uk/index.asp?menuid=723

    There's also the Manchester Museum (at the university, on Oxford Road), which has dinosaurs and mummies and often has interesting activities for kids -
    http://www.museum.man.ac.uk/
    Before you criticise a man, walk a mile in his shoes. Then, when you do criticise him, you're a mile away and you have his shoes.
  • Rachie_B wrote:
    Margam park - Port talbot http://www.neath-porttalbot.gov.uk/margampark/ ( free entry just pay car parking £2 a day )

    Bryngarw Park - Bridgend - http://www.bridgend.gov.uk/Web1/groups/bryngarwhouse/documents/marketing/003622.hcsp as above for parking charges

    Tredegar park - Newport http://www.ukattraction.com/south-wales/tredegar-park.htm

    Amelia Trust farm - no fixed entry ,but donations welcome http://www.ameliatrust.org.uk/

    Cardiff Bay barrage - sand pit & play park http://www.cardiffharbour.com/barrage/todo.htm

    St Fagans museum of welsh life http://www.museumwales.ac.uk/en/stfagans/ car parking £2.50 a day


    we are saving money by house swapping with my parents in pontypool - great big thanks to Rachie as you have given us lots of great day out tips - Cheers:T
  • http://www.field-studies-council.org/publications/foldout.aspx

    check out the FSC website and purchase a fold-out chart. these are laminated recognition guides to indentify: what ever takes your fancy, depending on the season, eg mushrooms, flowers, trees, birds, butterflies, pondlife, or even hedgehog poo. we love them, my seven & four year olds are gettting really good at naming trees etc.

    Next pop to poundland and buy two fishing nets for a £1.00 and visit your local country park, stream or pond - with your FSC pond life chart (£2.50) in hand - you will all soon be experts at spotting 'lesser-boatmen' or the difference between a caddis fly larvae and a twig.

    for £3.50 spent you could have years of fun

    have fun :)

    Lou
  • just thought of another thing we always do at the end of the holidays

    we pick elderberries and make - dare i say it- wine

    i have picked berries with my own for years and they love it and also with a small group of kids when i childminded. Then we pick sloes from the blackthorn after the first frost - now im wishing the summer away.- cant beat home made sloe gin at christmas.

    back to the here and now - it will only be a few weeks until the blackberries are ready. This is the best of all, a nice and cheap activity, find some brambles and pick wide blackberries - great with homemade yoghurt for breakfast.

    cheers
    Lou
  • Baz@rr
    Baz@rr Posts: 216 Forumite
    I found a site on this very forum a few months back which was great for ideas for my son's birthday party. After digging around I've found the site again - it's https://www.theboredombuster.co.uk

    There's a load of general stuff for keeping kids entertained on there.

    Off to look through all the other sites listed above now!

    Baz
  • Queenie
    Queenie Posts: 8,793 Forumite
    The following list I've had on file for a number of years now and came from an American Newsletter written by, Debbie Taylor-Hough, founder of Simple Times (http://hometown.aol.com/dsimple/)


    I am making a Boredom Buster Jar with each idea on a slip of paper (adapted to suit England, children's ages/sex) and putting them all in a kilner style jar. I'm using different coloured paper for different types of activities, ie: outdoor, indoor, group/solo activity etc. so that there is still an element of control depending on weather/circumstance when drawing the slip. I'm also including slips of various organised local activities too. Some of the ideas need a supply of craft items so I have a box put aside to decorate and add bits to and will adjust the list below to take that into consideration.

    #169 is an important one ... one year, my boys came up with ideas/suggestions I wouldn't even have thought of and definately were not on the list :laugh: but do-able! (Design their own pillowcases with fabric pens was one).

    Copy and print off the list and adapt it to suit your needs, obviously, not all the ideas will be appropriate.

    200+ IDEAS FOR SUMMERTIME ACTIVITIES
    In no particular order, here’s our current (but continually growing!) list of activities:

    1) ride bikes
    2) roller blade
    3) basketball
    4) play board games
    5) make a tent out of blankets
    6) squirt with hoses
    7) run through the sprinkler
    8) jump rope
    9) read books
    10) blow bubbles
    11) make homemade play dough
    12) play with play dough
    13) press flowers
    14) do crafts with pressed flowers
    15) write a letter to a relative, friend or pen pal
    16) clean bedroom
    17) vacuum living room
    18) clean bathroom
    19) make a craft
    20) draw
    21) color
    22) paint
    23) pull weeds
    24) watch a movie
    25) write stories
    26) use binoculars
    27) use magnifying glass
    28) use microscope
    29) bird watching
    30) write a play
    31) act out a play
    32) invent circus acts
    33) perform a circus
    34) play card games
    35) make art on the front walkway with sidewalk chalk
    36) play catch
    37) play baseball
    38) collect rocks
    39) collect leaves
    40) collect feathers
    41) play Frisbee
    42) make Frisbee’s out of old plastic lids, decorate with markers
    43) dust the house
    44) brush the pet
    45) write letters
    46) read a magazine
    47) play dress-up
    48) play Cowboys
    49) pick vegetables
    50) play outside with the pet
    51) build a fort in your rooms
    52) build a fort in the backyard
    53) do a jigsaw puzzle
    54) play on the Geosafari
    55) play on the computer
    56) listen to a story or book on tape
    57) do extra schoolwork to get ahead
    58) do brain teasers (i.e.: crosswords, word searches, hidden pictures, mazes, etc.)
    59) cook
    60) prepare lunch
    61) surprise a neighbor with a good deed
    62) play store
    63) prepare a "restaurant" lunch with menus
    64) hold a tea party
    65) have a Teddy bear picnic
    66) play with toy cars
    67) play dolls
    68) play house
    69) chase butterflies
    70) collect caterpillars and bugs
    71) plant a garden or a pot
    72) collect seeds
    73) hunt for four-leaf clovers
    74) learn magic tricks
    75) put on a magic show
    76) plant a container garden
    77) sprout seeds or beans
    78) make sock puppets
    79) put on a puppet show
    80) make Christmas presents
    81) make homemade wrapping paper
    82) make homemade gift cards
    83) make picture frames from twigs glued onto sturdy cardboard
    84) crochet or knit
    85) make doll clothes
    86) sew buttons in designs on old shirts
    87) run relay races
    88) make bookmarks
    89) take a quiet rest time
    90) take a shower or bath
    91) bathe a pet
    92) feed the birds or squirrels
    93) watch the clouds
    94) organize a dresser drawer
    95) clean under the bed
    96) empty dishwasher
    97) vacuum under the couch cushions and keep any change found
    98) write these ideas on pieces of paper and pick out one or two to do
    99) whittle
    100) whittle bars of soap
    101) practice musical instruments
    102) perform a family concert
    103) teach yourself to play musical instrument (recorder, harmonica, guitar)
    104) fold laundry
    105) sweep kitchen or bathroom floors
    106) sweep front walkway
    107) sweep or spray back patio
    108) sweep or spray driveway
    109) wash car
    110) vacuum car
    111) vacuum or dust window blinds
    112) clean bathroom mirrors
    113) clean sliding glass doors
    114) clean inside of car windows
    115) wash bicycles
    116) clean garage
    117) play in the sandbox
    118) build a sandcastle
    119) work with clay
    120) copy your favorite book illustration
    121) design your own game
    122) build with blocks or Legos
    123) create a design box (copper wire, string, odds-and-ends of things destined for the garbage, pom-poms, thread, yarn, etc.)
    124) plan a neighborhood or family Olympics
    125) have a marble tournament
    126) paint a picture with lemon juice on white paper and hang it in a sunny window and see what happens in a few days
    127) finger paint with pudding
    128) make dessert
    129) make dinner
    130) give your pet a party
    131) paint the sidewalk with water
    132) start a journal of summer fun
    133) start a nature diary
    134) have a read-a-thon with a friend or sibling
    135) have a neighborhood bike wash
    136) play flashlight tag
    137) play Kick the Can
    138) check out a science book and try some experiments
    139) make up a story
    140) arrange photo albums
    141) find bugs and start a collection
    142) do some stargazing
    143) decorate bikes or wagons and have a neighborhood parade
    144) catch butterflies and then let them go
    145) play hide-and-seek
    146) create a symphony with bottles and pans and rubber bands
    147) listen to the birds sing
    148) try to imitate bird calls
    149) read a story to a younger child
    150) find shapes in the clouds
    151) string dry noodles or O-shaped cereals into a necklace
    152) glue noodles into a design on paper
    153) play hopscotch
    154) play jacks
    155) make up a song
    156) make a teepee out of blankets
    157) write in your journal
    158) find an ant colony and spill some food and watch what happens
    159) play charades
    160) make up a story by drawing pictures
    161) draw a cartoon strip
    162) make a map of your bedroom, house or neighborhood
    163) call a friend
    164) cut pictures from old magazines and write a story
    165) make a collage using pictures cut from old magazines
    166) do a secret service for a neighbor
    167) plan a treasure hunt
    168) make a treasure map
    169) make up a "Bored List" of things to do
    170) plan a special activity for your family
    171) search your house for items made in other countries and then learn about those countries from the encyclopedia or online
    172) plan an imaginary trip to the moon
    173) plan an imaginary trip around the world, where would you want to go
    174) write a science-fiction story
    175) find a new pen pal
    176) make up a play using old clothes as costumes
    177) make up a game for practicing math facts
    178) have a Spelling Bee
    179) make up a game for practicing spelling
    180) surprise an elderly neighbor or relative by weeding his/her garden
    181) fingerpaint with shaving cream
    182) collect sticks and mud and build a bird’s nest
    183) write newspaper articles for a pretend newspaper
    184) put together a family newsletter
    185) write reviews of movies or plays or TV shows or concerts you see during the summer
    186) bake a cake
    187) bake a batch of cookies
    188) decorate a shoe box to hold your summer treasures
    189) make a hideout or clubhouse
    190) make paper airplanes
    191) have paper airplane races
    192) learn origami
    193) make an obstacle course in your backyard
    194) make friendship bracelets for your friends
    195) make a wind chime out of things headed for the garbage
    196) paint your face
    197) braid hair
    198) play tag
    199) make a sundial
    200) make food sculptures (from pretzels, gumdrops, string licorice, raisins, cream cheese, peanuts, peanut butter, etc.) and then eat it
    201) make a terrarium
    202) start a club
    203) take a nap outside on your lawn
    204) produce a talent show
    205) memorize a poem
    206) recite a memorized poem for your family
    Credit to: Debbie Taylor-Hough

    HTH :D
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    PMS Pot: £57.53 Pigsback Pot: £23.00
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
  • sugaJen
    sugaJen Posts: 475 Forumite
    I save all the junk mail that falls through my letterbox, my youngest 2 love playing postman and filling in all the forms if you make a postbox from a cardboard box they can "send off their letters" using the envelopes that come with most junk mail.

    Sounds abit daft compared to everyone elses ideas, but its a good way of keeping them entertained while you get a bit of housework done, and better than the telly :D
    Good enough club member number 14
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