What shall I do with the kids this Easter?
The Easter hols are here and, hopefully for many of you, that means more time with the kids. But for some of us, the hols may have arrived when we’re short on resources. Divorce can leave us with less money and less brainpower for planning. So if you’re feeling slightly at a loss about how to entertain the kids these Easter holidays, how about these cheep and cheerful ideas to get you started.
1. Join an Easter Egg hunt at your local National Trust site.
The National Trust has teamed up with Cadburys to run Easter egg hunts up and down the country There are around 300 participating sites over Easter. There is a trail with clues and an Easter egg at the end.
2. Make your own Easter Egg hunt.
If you have a garden or an enclosed park area, why not buy some foil wrapped eggs and hide them around the place. Your kids will have a great time trying to hunt them all down.
3. Pet workshops
If your kids are between 5 and 11 years old and like animals, Pets At Home run workshops about small animals during the holidays. They include sessions abut fish, “small furries”, hamsters, guinea pigs and rats. Check out their website for details of your nearest session.
Pets At Home Animal Sesssions.
4. Art galleries
Check out your local art gallery. Most of them run fun activities for kids in the hols or at weekends. For instance, the National Gallery art and drawing sessions every Sunday. Look up yours or phone for info. Make sure you do it in advance of when you want to go as some places need you to book a place.
5. Take a trip on the train
Why not go somewhere new for a day trip? Trains may get a bad wrap in this country, but there is nothing quite like jumping on a train to visit somewhere new. You can also enjoy spending time with your little ones on the journey. If the cost puts you off, how about paying for them with your Tesco Clubcard Vouchers – they are accepted on Red Spotted Hanky, the train ticket buying website.
6. Lego store activities
If you have a Lego store nearby you may not know that they run mini builds once a month. Aimed at 6-14 year olds, the build is top secret until the event. You just turn up (with the kids obvs) and they make the model with staff supervision. It takes around 15 mins to build and is worth around £5 and the kids get to take it home. You never know, it might inspire them to get their lego boxes out and build something new once they get back. Website: Lego Mini Builds.
7. Garden Centre Activities
Check out your local garden centre for activities aimed at kids. For instance Ruxley Manor has a range of activities called Ruxley Rascals aimed at the small ones. Dobbies Garden Centres offer free Little Seedling workshops around nature for 4-10 year olds and Squires run craft, animal and seed growing events.
8. Visit the park
Don’t underestimate the power of a local park to entertain and delight the kids, even the slightly older ones. If you’ve rinsed your local park of all its novelty, try a new one. There’s nothing like a new discovery. Try http://www.goplacestoplay.org.uk/map_projects to find somewhere different to swing, slide and whizzzzzzzzzz!
9. Cooking/ Baking
Many kids enjoy baking and cooking and you don’t need to be Nadia Hussain to make a brownie. Even a pre-bought Brownie mix can have the same fun factor as making it all from scratch, after all, the joy is seeing something raw go into the oven and come out as something yummy. If you want to cook from scratch cookies are easy peasy. Try this foolproof and delicous recipe.
10. Make your own tent or hidden den
Dig out cardboard, chairs, string, pegs and all the unused fabric you can find – sheets, bedding, curtains. Drape them over chairs and secure them where you can to make a tent and let your kids take over their new “home”.
11. Discover your local City Farm
Jump onto google and find out where your nearest city farm is. They often run events over Easter, and even if they don’t, it’s a nice activity to share with the kids. They can discover animals, play areas, gardens and there’s usually a cafe for mum/ dad to have a cuppa.
12. Cheap Cinema Tickets
Check out your local cinema to see if they have a cheap children’s offer on. Odeon do kids screenings starting at £2.50. And Vue run a Mini Mornings offer where kids aged 2-12 can see morning films for £2.49. Adults coming with them also only pay £2.49.
