With the school holidays fast approaching, and our first holiday abroad booked, I am looking for some cheap or even better free activities to do with my family over the summer holidays. I knew I couldn’t come up with lots of ideas by myself, so I got in touch with the world of bloggers to see what they suggested too!
Please feel free to comment with your ideas, too. I would love to hear them.
22 Cheap Summer Activities For Kids
Visit the National Trust
We have been a member of the National Trust venue for over a year now. We thought we would give it a try, not thinking we would love it as much. However, you can see some of our days out on my blog, so far, Stourhead is my favourite Renovation Bay-Bee
Bubbles
We all love bubbles, right? Something I would recommend to any parent.. toddlers love bubbles especially my toddler! Alyssia thinks it’s absolutely hilarious every time I blow the bubbles & now that she’s that little bit older, she tries to catch them. Bubbles are very cheap too! Mummy & Liss
Foil River Run
Use Bacofoil, tearing longish strips off, and folding up the edges before filling it with water. Baby Foote
Giant Chalk Drawing
Chalk in the garden! Or even in the park. Only takes a little bit of space. We do hopscotch and draw big cars and buses, the little one pretends to drive. He loves it. One Small Human
Visit Your Local Library
Visit your local library, they usually have activities, crafts and reading sessions throughout the holidays. Boo Roo and Tiger Too
Make Sensory Dough
We tried a straightforward, 2-ingredient sensory dough. Check out how to make it. My Family Fever
Explore Your Local Area
Utilise your local parks, splash parks and National Trust areas. They are usually free and offer endless hours of entertainment. My Family Fever
Science Experiments
Can you make an egg bounce? Not only did he have loads of fun, but he was also learning at the same time – never a bad thing when they’re out of school! Go and see how he got on, and give it a go yourself. Twinderelmo
Visit Friends and Family
Rather than making your own house untidy, visit family or friends and let them mess theirs instead! It is free to visit, you can get a coffee, and the kids can explore a new environment. The Mum Diaries
Make Paper Kites
To make these paper kite birds, which will not only bring your little one fun while creating (age depending) but also in playing with them afterwards, you only need a handful of things. Scandi Mummy
Glow Stick Lanterns
We just love these glow stick lanterns. They’re so quick to make, gorgeous bright colours, and make a great little decoration for when you’re camping or out in the garden on summer evenings. Daises & Pie
Make Your Own Treasure Hunt
Make your own treasure hunt, great to keep kids interested on a walk, and I love that there was a treat hidden for them at the end! Emily and Indiana
Throw Sticks and Stones
Find a river, practice their throwing skills, and get throwing sticks and stones into the river! This is just one idea out of 100 ideas on Life As A Mums Blog
Dobbies Garden Centre Free Activities
If you’re near a Dobbies garden centre, they run a monthly Little Seedlings club which is free for 4 to 10-year-olds on a Sunday. You need to book, and a parent must attend. It lasts around 45 minutes to an hour. Midwife and Life
Make Nature Brushes
I love this idea, because it keeps them busy creating the brushes, what materials they can find, and which ones work best. Then, seeing what patterns and materials they can use to paint! Pink Pear and Bear
Rock Pooling
I remember doing this when I was a child; I have very fond memories. How about purchasing a net, bucket and head off rock pooling. Family Travel With Ellie
Create A Fort Out Of Pillows and Blankets
Making a fort appeals to kids both old and young. Lucas is 16 months and has started gathering the cushions from the sofas. Gather up any materials you can find, such as pillows, blankets and cushions. You can set these items up any way that you want; the sky really is the limit. Once you have your fort ready to go, gather up some books and toys and play inside. Chilling With Lucas
Create A Cardboard House
Make a DIY Cardboard house with a car seat box (or similar). The Happy Weaner
Grow Vegetables
I love the sound of growing vegetables; it is a simple but rewarding task for kids to do with you. Mummy Times Two
Use the ‘I’m bored Printable’
I spotted this ‘I’m bored printable’ that I think is a perfect addition to your family! Frugal Family
Nature Art
We started the day by going on a short walk, collecting sticks, leaves and flowers to create a nature collage. We even found a feather and a couple of pine cones (we saved these for another activity). The ladybird loved hunting for suitable things and collecting them in her little bag. We also collected a few bits from our garden when we got home. If you have more plants in your garden than we do and time is short, you might not have to go on a walk at all. The Ladybirds Adventure
Thank you to all the fantastic bloggers who put their ideas forward. They are all great ideas, and I will be sure to try some of them out over the summer holidays!
40 Comments
We are debating joining the national trust. I think we will go for it, there are some amazing places to visit!
There are so many lovely places, I think you should! We have made so much use of ours
Fab list. I’ve saved this as this is my first summer holidays so i’ll be searching for ideas x
Great, glad it will be helpful
All kids love bubbles! We live right near a river so plenty of nature walks and picnics!
Oh how lovely to live near a river, great walks
These are such fab ideas Steph! I love the national trust idea. I might get a membership for us and visit a few over the summer holidays. There is so much to do in the summer even exploring around your local area. Last year we did that and found some little hidden gems. xxx
Look into the National Trust membership, as we really love ours, and I didn’t think I would!
Such fab ideas I’ll have to bookmark this page to refer to when I’m stuck for ideas.
Glad you liked them!
Some great ideas 🙂 I love National Trust places, always so pretty x
Thanks, National Trust places are becoming so popular now for families, I love it!
You have given me great ideas for summer activities. I will bookmark this for the summer holidays.
Glad it gave you some ideas, always great to get fresh ideas isn’t it!
You have some amazing ideas here. Love the flower one and the foil river.
I’ll be doing the flower one for sure!
some fab ideas! We love getting the chalk out and creating pictures or games!! We made a massive hop scotch once! Summer doesn’t have to be costly
We made a big chalk board for outside, and the kids loved it
Some fabulous tips here. We are National Trust and English Heritage members so have lots of day trips planned for the summer holidays
I am tempted by the English Heritage one too, my son loves history so it would be great fun for him
Some great suggestions! We’ve just got a National Trust pass and will be going on our first outing this weekend!
Have a great time!
These are all great ideas. National trust has got to be one thing that we’ll be making the most of over summer x
It’s is great for families isn’t it, lots of places to explore
A great list! Stourhead is by far my favourite National Trust property. There’s just something so atmospheric about it. I love the idea of making a cardboard house.
It is SO nice there, I could spend many many days there
I think that visiting national trust properties or grounds is a great way to spend summers. Plus many of them are free as well x
There are so many lovely places to explore with National Trust
What a fantastic post! I’ve saved it to my favourites to look back on over the summer – thank you 🙂
Glad it helped!
A lot of nice activities. Have you tried the website Geocaching for treasure hunt?
No I haven’t, we keep saying we must try this out…..this is a must this summer holidays!
With a massive summer holidays ahead I really needed these ideas some fab ideas here love the river running pinning this for later!
Thanks! Pull out the big guns when the summer holidays arrive!!
Fab ideas. We love rock-pooling too 🙂 We’re also members of the National Trust and English Heritage, during the summer holidays, when finding something to do, we always search for any of their properties around 🙂 So worth the membership, especially when you have young kids 🙂
We have used our National Trust memberships so much, even when going on holiday to explore new places
You have some fab ideas here. The science experiments one is something I am sorting for when my son is off school, he loves anything to do with science. Ive already started to buy bits and bobs for different experiments we are going to try. The rive run is a fab one, my 2 boys could have races so i will 100% be trying this one as well.
I am planning on doing that one for sure, my 3 kids would love them, aged 8-12!
Brilliant ideas – love the foil river one! x
Super idea isn’t it!