Did you know that the average amount that parents spend over the Summer to keep their kids entertained is a whopping £127.00 which is just crazy? Today, I’m working with Pizza Romano by Goodfellas to share five ways to help make sure that this Summer, you make memories with your children without breaking the bank…
I was really shocked when I read that on average, parents will spend an eye-watering £2,602 keeping their children entertained during the course of one year! How mad is that?
The research, commissioned by frozen pizza brand Goodfella’s found days out, food and drink and visits to soft play centres mean mums and dads part with over £50 a week to keep kids happy and entertained.
As a mum of a teenager and an almost teenager, I’m very very aware of how quickly time flies and how in just a few short years my two will be too grown up to want to spend their Summers with me so I want to make the most of spending time with them while I can but I absolutely don’t want to spend that much!
Here are some of the ways I make memories with my two without spending a fortune…
Spend one on one time with each child
I always try to spend one on one time with my children at least once a week doing something I know they enjoy doing. It’s much easier with Miss Frugal as she’s quite happy to jump in the car and go window shopping or to go to the makeup counters in Boots and Debenhams to try out just about every colour lip gloss they have in stock. I’ve just spent an hour with her sitting on my bed while she did my makeup which she loved – me not so much!
Master Frugal isn’t as easy though as his interests are football, football, more football mixed with YouTube and Xbox – none of which are of any interest to me really and to be honest, even if they were, they’re not things that he wants to do with me anyway. We do simple things together instead like cooking, walking the dog and we sit and watch what he thinks are hilarious YouTube videos together. It’s these times with the kids that I treasure the most and I know how much they both enjoy our time too.
Make fun easy with some planning
I know I’ve told you about our family games nights before but basically, I set everything up and then shout everyone to play so there’s no arguing about what game to play or waiting about while someone sets everything up. It means that we just jump straight to the fun part which is the way I want it. Similarly, we have a Summer bag in the back of the car filled with all sorts of things that will come in handy for fun while we’re out.
Simple is just as much fun
You don’t need to go for the Pinterest perfect creations or the super expensive days out to make memories with your children. I’ve just had a baking session with my two and my godson, who’s four, we made a pack of Paw Patrol cupcakes that totally came out of a packet and cost me £1 from Tescos. We had so much fun even though the finished result doesn’t taste great and looks terrible. I was never very crafty and I always found crafting quite stressful so to me that was never fun – I’d much rather get the coloured chalks out and sit outside and draw on the path instead.
Give them your full attention
I have very few screen time rules but I will always, always put my phone down or close my laptop when the kids want me for anything or when we’re doing something together as a family. I want them to know that my full attention is on them so unless I’m taking a photo my phone is in my bag (usually ;-)).
Have lots of ideas to hand
I find one of the hardest things about having fun with the kids is actually choosing something we all want to do – it used to be that by the time we’d figured out something we could all do, the day was half gone! If you’re anything like us then it helps to have a list of things you all want to do over the Summer, like a Summer bucket list. Just sit down with your kids and write anything and everything down that they want to do and then edit to make a list which only includes things that are both possible and affordable – the first year we did this we ended up with one request to build an igloo and another to visit Disneyland Florida! If it helps, there are lots of ideas here in my Summer Sanity Savers post.
Don’t spend more time in the kitchen than you need to
It’s lovely to eat out but I know from experience that the odd treat meal out could easily cost a small fortune to rather than eat out, a restaurant-quality meal in the home rather than dining out can make all the difference – saving you a fortune that could be spent elsewhere whilst not feeling like you’re missing out.
I don’t know about your house but I know in our family, mealtimes are much more unpredictable in the Summer with the kids often choosing to stay out with their friends or to keep me on my toes, they might even bring extra people home for tea at the last minute. I also choose to spend less time in the kitchen during the Summer so I can spend more time enjoying the sunshine with the kids where I can.
That’s why I think the new Pizza Romano range by Goodfellas, which we’ve just sampled as part of a review, is going to be a favourite this Summer with us all! It’s a new range of pizzas that are a little bit different to your average frozen pizza with stone baked bases loaded with tasty toppings.
We’ve had a try of all five varieties and I can honestly say that they were all delicious and made me feel like I was serving something you could buy in a restaurant for a fraction of the price. They really are premium quality on a budget because at £2.50, they’re brilliant value and it takes a little more than quarter of an hour from freezer to table so they’re ideal for budget, convenience and taste!
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