Free or cheap activities to keep your kids busy over the summer

It isn’t long before the kids break up from school for the summer and I know that my bank balance will soon be suffering after trying to find ways to keep them entertained. I wanted to pull together a list of free or cheap activities to keep my kids busy over the summer.

Cycling – Most kids have bikes rusting in the shed, I know mine do. Taking the kids for a bike ride is great exercise and a great day out. If you are going cycling it is very important that the kids are wearing the correct cycling safety clothes as otherwise, a fall can be dangerous.

Beach – heading to your nearest beach if a brilliant day out on a sunny day. You will need sun cream and some activities for the beach. The best thing to do is head to your local pound shop where you can get buckets, balls and even sun cream at a great low price.

Parks – Your kids might be bored of your local park but heading a little bit further out and the joy of the park will be fresh. You could even ride your bikes there if you wanted some extra exercise. Some parks even have a skate ramp, duck pond or splash zone which are the perfect way to keep the kids busy over the summer.

Museums – We are very lucky as we live in Manchester where we have access to so many amazing free museums and art galleries. These make for a great day out and during the summer holidays, there are usually some additional activities taking place.

Picnic – Wherever we go for a day out, taking a picnic with us will really help us to save money. Just one day out at a theme park can cost a fortune in food and drink but taking some sandwiches, crisps and drinks with us can really help our money stretch further whilst keeping the kids busy over the summer.

Den building – A great free activity, Den Building can be done in any wooded area. This is a brilliant family activity as you can all work together to create the ultimate hideout. You could even put together your own den building kit using a sheet to make it even better.

Slime making – The current trend and one of my daughters’ favourite things to do is to make slime. As slime is easy to make with just a handful of ingredients this is something cheap and easy to make. You can make Slime with just glue and contact lens solution or add shaving foam, colouring or even glitter.

Kids cinema screenings – Lots of cinema chains offer deeply discounted kids movies during the summer holidays. You usually have to get up early to take advantage of the low prices but the kids will be getting you up early anyway so that shouldn’t be a problem.

Baking – Kids love nothing more than getting messy in the kitchen so whipping up a sponge cake or a batch of cookies together is the perfect way to spend some time having fun.

Hopefully you will be able to use this list to help to keep the kids busy over the summer holidays whilst keeping some money in your wallet.

6 thoughts on “Free or cheap activities to keep your kids busy over the summer”

  1. Great list of activities here. I I have only made slime once with the kids so I may brave it and try it again sometime through the summer!

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