Entertaining Children in the Holidays on a Budget

As a parent who has struggled for money at different stages throughout her life, I am fully aware of how tough the Easter holidays can be for keeping your children entertained during this time of school where they get irritated and moody even easier than usual. With the added stress of planning for the coming of the Easter bunny cash is not so easy to come by and I share my favourite tips for entertaining younger children at this time of year with few coins to rub together. Love can cost you!

• Do something creative

If your children are anything like mine then they will look to show their creative side and it does not have to be all fancy coloured cardboard, pricey marker pens and ridiculously priced decorations that need to be used. I’ve found that they’re just as happy with some crayons and cereal boxes or printer paper for creating posters, cards and doodles. With the whole family participating in this activity the fun, and the children’s focus, lasts for hours!

Another great creative idea is designing pictures that can be painted onto their bedroom walls as decoration for their places of personal solitude, and then helping them with the actual painting of the designs. Again everyone is involved, it can fill up a day or two and it helps them feel like they’ve done the hard work.

• Get out and Exercise

Not only is exercise great for getting yourself and your children out of the house for an hour or so each day just by going for a walk, it is good for you and makes you feel better about yourself. I’ve found that if you throw in an incentive to your children to go for the walk, such as a hour at the park to play on the swings and slides or to feed the ducks, then there is never an issue in getting out, fit and healthy.

• Game Time

Whether it be a simple game such as playing ‘Snap’ with a packet of cards or one of numerous board games, such as snakes and ladders, junior scrabble or even monopoly if they’re old enough to understand the rules correctly, although very competitive in my house, game time is the perfect way to fill an afternoon. Many games can also be used to help boost learning for when they’re back at school and I play bingo with my six and seven year old and it has massively helped them comprehend their numbers in school much better. However, it does have the adverse side effect of when I’m trying to some play online bingo games at Butlers in peace during the evening that they both want to stand over my shoulder or be sat on my lap to watch as I play!

• Go Camping

When my husband was younger he was part of the scout movement and he spent many weekend’s away with his troop as a child, and this is something that we involve our children with now too, especially during the holidays, as we pack up our tent and our things and go for a long weekend away to a camp site for a short break. Camping fees are incredibly cheap these days and as we have a large enough tent and we are away from the daily grind everyone enjoys their time away and comes home refreshed and rested. If you are in Scotland go camping quick as they are thinking about banning wild camping.