We want to do fun activities, but like a lot of working families in the UK, we have overstretched ourselves this year and are only just managing monthly outgoings. Some big bills will get paid in the next few months and I’m hoping this will ease the pressure. Given my fragile mental state over the last year, I’ve struggled to cope with the money worries. 

Therefore, we’ve had to adjust our social life and how much it costs to go out for the day. But we still want to have fun on a budget.

It’s annual leave time coming up and we have a week together as a family. We plan to spend part of the week going on days out and a little rest time in between, to do some activities at home.

I have a list of 10 activities we are doing this week. All of them are within our budget…

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Lets get started on the list…

1. Visit the local park

We are lucky, where we live has lots of green space and it’s great for children. We have a cafe in the park, two playgrounds and a huge amount of open space to run around in. 

I plan on packing our picnic bag and paying a visit to our local park. Obviously, we need a ball and some other games to keep us entertained. At the moment, we constantly chase our little one around. This really helps. Anything to keep her entertained and create a distraction makes less work for us.

Mummy might also take a bottle of prosecco because all that running around deserves a reward.

2. Go for a walk

If you’re also looking to have fun on a budget, this activity is perfect for you…

Our little one loves to be pushed around, taking in the sights (our Joie pushchair has taken some stick, but it’s still working!). As we walk, she points at the birds and flowers. We have a sing-a-long most mornings on the way to nursery. If she sees a bus, we have to sing Wheels on the Bus and do the actions.

This week we will be going out for a walk. Maybe we will just set off in one direction and see where it takes us (the hubby & I have a secret love of checking out houses with for sale signs and looking at where we want to live next!). I must have a browse on Rightmove beforehand and check out what is available in the area, hehe!

3. Window shop

We have an old mill near us, with a cafe, and shops you can browse in. It’s a short train journey, so you can have a fun day out, without spending too much money. 

As we keep promising the little one a train journey, it’s a great day out for us, because you don’t have to spend a lot of money and it gets you out of the house.

4. Visit English Heritage & National Trust sites

You will hear me talk about these days out in future blog posts. We were former members of English Heritage and have visited many sites, including Stonehenge. We even planned holidays solely around visiting these places. More on this when we renew our membership… CAN’T WAIT!

There are several sites where the grounds are free to walk around, it’s picturesque and something different. As a member, you get free parking, which is also a bonus. 

Our local site will receive a visit from us, for something a little out of the ordinary, that our little one hasn’t seen before. We love visiting the cafe (if they have one) and maybe buying her something from the gift shop. Fun for all the family. 

You can view details about English Heritage Sites here. For National Trust information click here. If you have a membership with one, they will often allow free entry or discounts on the other one.

To sign up for an English Heritage membership click here.

5. A drive in the car

Parents, hands up who takes their toddler out in the car, with no destination, just to get them to sleep? My hand is up! Pre-children, the hubby & I loved driving down a country lane and picking between left and right turns, to see where we ended up. Driving around, listening to music, without a care in the world. There is something relaxing about it. 

Because we all have a week together as a family and toddlers have way too much energy, we will be making use of the car journey. See where we end up. Stop for a coffee if we see a cafe, or just park at the side of the road and take in the view. 

These days we have a sing-a-long in the car, with some dance moves. I might create a Spotify playlist, including some of our favourite nursery rhymes for the car journey.

Entertaining kids at home can be difficult. Hopefully the following steps will help with some ideas to have fun on a budget…

6. Baking

Given my love of baking (read more about it in this post), we will be doing some this week. 

Maybe something easy like shortbread biscuits. We have a cupboard full of icing pens and other decorations we can have fun with. After that, we will eat all the biscuits as a reward for cleaning up the mess. Pass me the baking supplies.

7. Read books

As we have a toddler creating chaos in the house and they often have way too much energy to read a book, we are trying to make a big deal about gathering a pile of books and reading them together.

Sometimes when we’re busy, reading gets pushed aside. We let her watch Peppa Pig on her tablet and try our best to watch educational cartoons and talk about it, but sometimes it’s an easy solution for a busy life. Any parent will understand the need for 30 minutes to do the dishwasher whilst the little one is distracted.

But this week is about making use of our endless one-on-one time. A great opportunity to read stories aloud and enjoy the fun. She can have a bit of tablet time as well. I’ve chosen easy to read picture books with a small number of words, a compelling story, and lots of animals. Let’s see how it goes. I will make a bookworm out of her!

We bought a lovely book package, which included a bookmark, drawing sheet and children’s book. You can find more details here.  Before she was born, I also bought one of The Works books bundles. Affordable and great for toddlers. Although we showed her these too early and she was ripping the pages out! I would say they are perfect for ages 2+. 

Charity shops were also a fantastic source of affordable book bundles. She has the Roald Dahl and Mr. Men complete sets sat on her bookshelf, and they were reasonably priced.

Books are the perfect way to have fun on a budget. I also try and give money to this charity when I can, to ensure disadvantaged children receive books because it’s so important for their development.

8. Home cinema

We are finally at the point where our little one will sit through Toy Story. How exciting. 

As we’ve snapped up a free Disneyplus membership for three months, we are making use of this and have Disney films on most nights now (the hubby is on a mission to convince me to keep it).

During our annual leave, we will be watching the classics. Snuggled up in our blankets with some snacks, on the sofa together. Quality family time.  

For more tips on achieving quality family time, see my blog post 9 easy steps to ensure quality family time is a top priority

9. Feed the ducks

Luckily we have a lot of ducks near our house. For a toddler learning about animals at nursery, this is the best free activity we have access to. Most nights we take our old loaf of bread and give the ducks a slap-up meal. It’s always fun and exciting for all the family and gets us out of the house for some fresh air. 

As we don’t have to worry about getting up early this week, we will be making the most of this time and taking our time in the evenings to enjoy the scenery.

This leads me onto the best and final activity of all…

10. Chilling in bed

After all that money-saving fun, I bet you need a snooze!

I am so happy our little one now wants to lay in bed and chill in the mornings. It’s horrible when you have to dive out of bed, still half asleep and tend to a crying baby!

On our rare days off, how many adults want to watch TV in bed, snuggled up without a care in the world? We will all be doing it this week. Our little pumpkin can fit in the middle of our bed and we will be snuggling, with snacks, and probably watching Disney films. Sometimes the sofa just doesn’t cut it and you need to be in a sleepy mode to enjoy your chill-out time.

Bring it on!

Final thoughts

I hope this post will be useful to anyone trying to entertain a toddler on a budget, or if you have children to entertain during school holidays at the moment. 

Let me know your money-saving hacks for days out with the kids, or entertaining activities to do at home. I plan to take control of our family finances and keep saving money, so more ideas are welcome.