I don’t know about you but I’m finding that keeping the kids occupied (and off their electronics) is becoming a bit of a challenge lately. I think it’s a mixture of the miserable weather, the dark nights and the fact that we’ve all been ill over the last few week that’s left us with very little energy to anything other than the essential stuff (school, work, social media – you know the stuff ;-)).
But next week is half term and for the first time in about a month none of us are poorly (touch wood) so I’m hopeful that we can have lots of family fun together. We don’t have much money though as I want to get our Summer Holiday paid for as quickly as we can so the fun we do have needs to cost as little as possible.
I’m working Monday and Tuesday and I deliberately didn’t put these days in as holidays as I want the kids to use them to recharge their batteries with a couple of late mornings and early nights with hopefully very little else in between – complete relaxation!
I’m at home with them from Wednesday onwards and I’ve got lots of half term family fun ideas for us!
We’re going out with friends on Wednesday and on Saturday we’re planning a day out using our English Heritage membership so that leaves us with three days to fill with fun. There’s lots I’d like to do but I’m trying to be quite strict with our budget right now as I’ve booked a holiday for the Summer and I want to get that paid off as soon as possible. So rather than spend money, we’ll be doing things that don’t cost much at all – here’s three of the things I have planned that won’t cost us a penny….
We’ll be going on a family bike ride
It doesn’t matter that the kids can go out on their bikes at any time, it’s apparently twice as much fun if we all go together and I think that we can manage a bit further than we used to now that the kids are a bit older so we might cycle to the beach and then ride up the coast road, stopping for an ice cream and a play at the park along the way obviously!
We’ll be trying to get better at geocaching
We’ve tried geocaching a few times but it was only last Summer that we really started to have fun with it. If you’re not sure what geocaching is then have a look here – it’s basically using your phone’s GPS to locate something hidden and it can be a lot of fun. It can also be very frustrating when you can’t find it but we’ve only ever not found one!
We’ll be visiting one of our local museums
There’s a big museum near where we live that’s not only free, it’s also quite interesting as they change the exhibits around quite often so we see different things each time we go and as an added bonus, there’s a brilliant kids play park there too. I’ve checked the website for next week and I can see that they are running a few half term events with crafting and activities to suit all ages from toddlers to teens so we’ll be heading there for an afternoon’s fun.
We’ll also be making full use of our bored jars when we’re at home as I can’t stand hearing the kids say that they’re bored!
Do you have your half term planned?
More half term family fun ideas!
If you’re short of ideas then I recommend you go make yourself a cuppa, grab a jammy dodger and work your way through this little list of inspiration from some very lovely bloggers who are also sharing their half term family fun ideas today over on their blogs….
Helen gives you three unusual days out with kids at half term if you’re in and around London, plus a bonus craft activity for a pyjama day!
Penny has three easy creative projects to do at home which could also fire their imaginations for bigger activity, because we love it when one thing leads to another.
Alice has some simple but successful tips for keeping kids entertained on the beach even in this cold February weather.
Marianne has three fun suggestions to do with the kids over half term in Kent.
Becky has 3 thrifty and simple ideas for half term happiness
Kirsty can help families in Hertfordshire, who need inspiration to help keep boredom at bay!
Joanne shares three indoors ‘days out’ incase of horrid weather
Michelle introduces you to three fun seaside towns in East Sussex
Joy explains 3 ways that throwing a party can help with half-term entertainment.
Emma has three ways to enjoy half term on a budget
Sarah showcases five different ways you can entertain the little ones in Norwich this half term
A visit to a National Trust property is always fun in half-term, here Michelle shares with you three of her favourites.
With that little lot of half term family fun ideas you’ll be spoilt for choice!
Whatever you do, I hope you have a great week.
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Image credit: Shutterstock, ISchmidt
