A list of 50 free and cheap things to do in the summer holidays with kids
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The summer holidays are in full swing and we are already two and a half out of six weeks in to them in Gloucestershire. One thing a lot of us worry about in the holidays is the cost of days out and keeping the kids entertained, but it doesn’t always have to be expensive. Kids love the simple things and have fun with very little using their imaginations.
Here are a lot of mostly free activities you can do with your children in the summer holidays and a few low cost ideas, with some input from my five year old.
50 free and cheap things to do in the summer holidays:
- Junk Modelling (save recycling, clean it out and let the kids have it with a stack of paints and glue)
- Jumping in muddy puddles (there will definitely be rainy days in the UK)
- Playparks
- Make the most of your garden
- Hide and Seek (indoors or outdoors)
- Walk in the woods
- Neighbourhood walk
- Self portraits (or even better, draw each other!)
- Read a story
- Watch a Disney film
- Go to the beach
- Walk up a hill
- Feed the ducks
- Do a jigsaw
- Play catch
- Go to the soft play
- Get books from the library
- Make cardboard box cars
- Have a picnic
- Camp in the garden
- Make an obstacle course in the garden
- Try a Toucanbox kids craft box
- Pick and press flowers
- Make a bug house
- Spot butterflies
- Blow bubbles
- Have a water fight
- Play in a sand pit
- Model playdoh
- Grow your own veg, herbs and salad (cheat with a cheap plant from a garden centre)
- Plant some flowers
- Make 3 ingredient healthy ice lollies
- Build a den
- Play Twister
- Go swimming
- Build with lego
- Walk along a canal path
- Fly a kite
- Go trampolining (or trampoline in your garden if you have one)
- Collect pebbles and paint them
- Make and send postcards
- Go berry picking
- Eat outside (and cook outside if your kids are old enough to help with a BBQ)
- Make a summer holiday scrapbook
- Play rounders in a field
- Turn up the music and have a kitchen disco
- Visit a charity shop for cheap toys and games
- Draw on the patio with outdoor chalks
- Fill up the paddling pool
- Create a treasure hunt in your home or garden
Hopefully this list will inspire you to find something free to do to entertain the children and perhaps spark some ideas of your own!
