The school holidays are upon us! Yay! But when you’re skint or saving for something important it’s so easy to slip up at this time. The mum guilt I think a lot of us get means we’re more likely to blow our budget to make sure our kids have the best time. In reality the best things you can give are actually free, so I decided to list (with the help of both my children) the top free (or super cheap) things you can do with the kids over the holidays!

Go to the park

The first thing the kids came up with was ‘go to the park!’ which is completely free unless you have to drive to your nearest park. It gets them out of the house, running about burning off all their extra energy.

Have a picnic

At the park, at the beach, in the woods, in the car, in the garden or even in your living room! Kids usually enjoy just eating their dinner in a different location (apparently).

Woodland walks

We have a few woodland areas nearby that are great for walking with the kids. We play games as we go around such as writing our names with twigs in the dirt, hunting for pine cones and bug/nature spotting. This is particularly beautiful during the October school holiday where all the leaves are changing colour.

Go for a walk

Just going for a walk around your local area can be interesting for young ones, and for older children there are some great apps! Try Geocaching, Pokemon go or Snatch which are all free to download and play.

Go to a free museum

There are so many free museums for all interests, just google search for ‘free museums in (your location)’. You may have to pay for fuel or bus/train fare but it’s still a relatively cheap day out.

Use Clubcard vouchers

If you have some Clubcard vouchers you can exchange them for free entries to theme parks, cinema tickets and bowling! Just check out their website for a full list.

At home cinema

Rainy day? Make some homemade popcorn, make some ‘cinema tickets’, grab a dvd and enjoy a film from your living room.

So there we have it, our top ways to keep entertained through the school holidays. What are your favourite cheap/free things to do through the holidays? I would love to know, feel free to comment below.

Enjoy some craft time together

Crafting is a great low cost way to keep your children entertained through the school holidays and it doesn’t need to be expensive either. You could design handmade cards together, these paw print svg would help create a perfect personalised pet lovers birthday card. Or these bear svg would make some great childrens birthday card.

Finger painting usually goes down well with younger children and doubles up as sensory play. During autumn you could collect leaves and twigs from a walk and make a collage when you get home. If you’re ever stuck for craft ideas its a great idea to Google or Pinterest for new ideas.

*This is a collaborative post.