Frugal school holiday activities

desperate2save

Something I saw recently and am going to make is a simple craft where you get lolly pop sticks or could even write on a piece of paper different activities from days out you may have saved for or activities in the home or garden, local park, walks, beach, cooking etc then each evening get the kids to choose one (pull the lolly pop stick out of the cup or pick a piece of paper out of hat) and that's their activity for the next day! Homemade play dough is great (and cheap) or even something as simple as board games or old toys they have played with for ages. Can be as simple or as extravagant as you like. Something can start researching and planning now

PasturesNew

Aged 2-5 I'd have mostly played in the back garden: making tents with blankets and sitting in them to draw; having a blow up lilo paddling pool; having a scooter to scoot up/down the path; painting/drawing, including gluing toilet rolls and egg boxes into things.

Away from the home there was an outdoor paddling pool half a mile away - mum'd pack up tomato sandwiches and orange juice and we'd go and sit on the grass there all afternoon if it were hot.

Blackberrying, when in season - walkable areas, so a walk to the nearest common (a mile or so).

We had a bag of sand up against the house to make sandcastles. We also had a sheet of metal and some magnets to toss at it.

I remember collecting caterpillars from bushes in the street: jam jar with a lid on it, with holes poked in the lid - chucked in a few leaves from bushes and then went off looking for caterpillars to put into the jar. Ditto with ladybirds.

Apart from that it was just playing with our toys.