Half Term Activities on a Budget -

Yay it’s Half Term which I love due to the lack of routine, yes you may have guessed that I don’t lead a conventional life, well I do have 5 children and work for myself, so routine is definitely not my thing!! So the the holidays for us bring on lazy day’s, no school runs (can you hear the excitement in my typing) and taking it one day at a time. As much as we would love PJ day’s, the kids will soon need to be entertained to prevent them from pulling each other’s hair out.

So I thought I would share some of our budget day’s out with you to all.

So first on the list following on from our love PJ day’s, why not grab some popcorn, treats and let the kids chose some good old classic Disney movies to fill a couple of hours, Little Mermaid and Toy Story are among my favourites.
There is nothing quite like a walk in the fresh air to wear the pickles out, we always enjoy a day at country parks, with free or minimal parking charges/entry fees. Pack a picnic and you have a cheapy day out. Couple of our favourites are – Moors Valley Country Park, you can watch the trains go by on the railway, follow the nature trails or the pickles can burn off some steam on the adventure playgrounds. Lydiard Park A fantastic adventure playground separated into different areas for different ages. then there are lovely grounds to explore around Lydiard House and the lake. Some think parks and walks are only for fair weather, but that is why wellies and waterproofs are an essential part of any families wardrobes, well we do live in rainy England afterall.

Swimming is a great way to tire the kids out and keep them active and free swimming is offered to under 16s by many local councils during the school holidays, so make the most of this.
Refresh the bookshelf for free – If your house is anything like ours it is oer run by books. But the pickles especially Jolie (my little bookworm) love to get their hands on new and exciting books to read, so we head to the library to pick some some fresh titles and some old favourite we don’t own. If you are not a member of your local library you can join for free and start borrowing books straightaway, if you aren’t sure where your local library is the visit www.gov.uk to find out.
Bring out the artist in your little pickles – My kids love to make creations, Lexia so much so that she has her very own creation station in the dining room. It is a chest of drawers full to the brim with different papers, pens, card, felt, stickers, glitter, pencils, pva glue, paints and the list goes on, all regularly restocked for a few pounds at our local scrapstore. So from sticking, cutting (with supervision), painting, drawing we can have hours of messy fun (thank god for an oilcloth on the table).
Outdoor play – we are lucky enough to have a lovely large, if not a little wild garden. So with a swing, big trampoline, slide and a shed full of bikes and ride ons, we can waste hours having fun out there. So if you have a garden however large or small, make the most of it and let the pickles play.
Rejig the toy boxes – Over the last 13 years, I have spent thousands on toys for birthdays and Christmas for all the pickles, but they all have their usual ones leaving others to gather dust and think that your money has been wasted. The kids often find a new love the forgotten toys, once they are dug out from the bottom of the toy box, under the bed of on top of the shelf, so go on release the forgotten toys!!!
Cinema Outing – As most people have realised cinema viewing can be pricey especially if you buy the over-priced popcorn and other snacks at the kiosk. I always take our own snacks along, that’s one or the pro’s of having an oversized Mary Poppins sized handbag that can fit just about everything in. Most cinemas including Odeon and Vue have morning showings during the holidays, these special viewings are usually only a few pounds. Plus the sound is not a as deafeningly loud during these screenings so you don’t leave with your ear’s ringing, oh gosh how old do I sound!

So that is some of our tips for keeping your ‘Little Pickles’ amused this half term. If you have any hints of your own please feel free to comment and share with all of our followers.

Written by Jessamine Hislop-Newton, Mummy to 5 Pickles, Founder and Owner of Little Pickles Markets

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