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Every parent knows that having children can get expensive. There always seems to be something new that they need. Whether that be new clothes, new school equipment or a new sports item.
The school holidays, in particular, can get expensive. Parents feel pressured to provide daily entertainment for their kids.
Being a thrifty family we are constantly looking for ways to have fun that doesn’t cost the earth. Having fun as a family doesn’t mean you have to spend money. There are lots of activities that you can do for free.
50 Fun Things to do for Free
Here’s 50 fun things to do for free to get you started…
- Go for a walk.
- Do tree rubbings.
- Go to the beach.
- Have a movie night.
- Go to the park.
- Have a picnic.
- Go rock pooling.
- Go fossil hunting.
- Make a den.
- Make your own treasure hunt.
- Grab a blanket, lie on the grass and make pictures with the clouds.
- Get baking.
- Dust off your helmets and go for a bike ride.
- Bird spotting.
- Climb a tree.
- Make cards for all of your friends upcoming birthdays.
- Try your hand at origami.
- Dig out the old board games.
- Grab a hairbrush a have a sing song.
- Teach your child a skill that you can do such as cooking, sewing, playing an instrument.
- Get your colouring pencils out and make your own comic book.
- Visit a local museum, many are free entry or some ask for a small donation.
- Have a pillow fight.
- Download some free games online.
- Have a thrifty BBQ. Dig out any meat from the freezer and use it up.
- Visit your local market.
- Go foraging. Read my 10 Tips for Foraging with Kids.
- Upcycle an old piece of furniture.
- Make a fairy garden.
- Write a letter to a friend or family member that you haven’t seen for a long time.
- Get on Google and find out what is going on in your area for free.
- Have fun with food.
- Make your own playdough.
- Create your own masks.
- Have a game of charades.
- Find you local toy library and borrow a new toy to play with.
- Have a game of I spy.
- Make a journey stick while you are out walking.
- Take a trip to your local library. Choose some new books to read or why not join in with an activity like bounce and rhyme or story telling
- Wash the car.
- Read a book.
- Make you own marble run out of old toilet rolls.
- Hold a toy swapping party and swap with your friends
- Make paper aeroplanes. (There are lots of free tutorials online)
- Do some junk modelling from old cereal boxes, toilet rolls and egg boxes.
- Flower pressings. Pick flowers from your garden and press them between heavy books.
- Feed the ducks.
- Swim in a river or the sea.
- Roll down a hill.
- Do some stargazing. (There are free worksheets online that map out the stars for you)
Fun for a Fiver
This post was inspired by a box of goodies that the lovely people at Wilson Field have provided us with for their ‘Fun For A Fiver’ campaign.
We’ve had great fun the last couple of weeks testing out all of the great products.
Some were easy to use…
Others not so much! I have decided that I am officially rubbish with origami so I drafted in my nieces and nephew to have a go…
and as you can see they had great fun…
We still haven’t got around to making the cakes yet (too busy packing) but I’m hoping to make them tomorrow so the kiddies can have them for pudding. I’ll tweet a picture with the results.
I’m saving the egg heads for the kitchen windowsill in our new house, not sure they would survive the move.
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The #FunForAFiver kit is fabulous – some great things to do.
#Tried/Tested
Great list. Family fun doesn’t have to cost a fortune
There is some really good ideas here my daughter would love this
That looks great. Well done to you nephew and nieces, that origami is fantastic!
#TriedTested
Thank you for sharing these great ideas 🙂 x
This looks like a great kit! I’m a firm believer that you don’t have to spend a lot of money to have fun and there are some brilliant ideas here.
some fantastic ideas there, just in time for the easter hols coming up …eek!
What a great looking box of fun!
Thanks for linking up with #TriedTested
What a great kit with some fabulous products! Thanks for linking up with #TriedTested
ahhh this is brill! I’d do well to refer to this when I’m (constantly) complaining I can;t think of anything to do 😉 lol xx