There are plenty of things to do with kids that are fun, free and mostly indoors, so they can be enjoyed no matter what the season.
Here are some ideas of things to do with kids:
1. Bring The Beach To Your Garden
Why not bring the beach to your garden? Creating a sandbox is not expensive. A bag of baby sand costs around £3.
2. Victorian Lesson At The Ragged School Museum
If you live in Greater London, look out for free family activities at museums. At the Ragged School Museum, kids can find out what it was like going to school 150 years ago and dress up in Victorian costume free on the first Sunday of each month.
3. Playing A New Type Of Skittles
It’s a good exercise for hand-to-eye coordination. Alter the distances every so often or ask kids to hit only a specific “colour” of skittle, having previously tied coloured ribbons around them.
4. Visit Smelly Streets Of Sailortown
The free admission Museum of London Dockyards offers a designated gallery zone for tiny “Mudlarks”, and great exhibits for older kids in the main galleries, including a walk-through exhibit recreating the sounds, sights and smells of London’s dockyards during Victorian times.
5. Messy Play
Mums and dads living in Greater Manchester should look out for messy play sessions for kids under six at the Active Copley Centre in Stalybridge. Admission per child costs £3.00, but everything is edible, even the paint.
6. Zip Wire Adventures
In London’s Coram’s Fields Playgrounds, Zone 1 offers kids a great time. Huge trees, sandpits, paddling pools and pens with chickens, goats, birds and rabbits – what more could your budding naturalists want?
7. Family-Friendly Martial Arts
Try a free family Martial Arts class where parents and children can try Martial Arts together as a family. Things to do with kids include Ju Jitsu, Kickboxing, Karate, MMA, Self Defence, Taekwondo and Kung Fu. Instruction can be tailor-made to families’ requirements.
Search for a Martial Arts class
8. Wacky Garden Races
All kids like to race around like little lunatics. Create a finish line on your patio or lawn and off they go.
9. Assault Courses For Tots
Create a mini-adventure ground with tunnels, obstacles and climbing frames that are safe.
http://www.veetje.be/overstap/
10. Modelling Using Every-Day Junk
Egg-carton bugs are easy to make and a fun display on window sills.
https://www.pinterest.com/explore/egg-carton-crafts/
11. Treasure Hunt
Create one set of clues for every player, perhaps rhyming the clues for extra fun. Each clue leads to the next one and eventually to the treasure. Seal clues into envelopes marked with clue numbers (one of eight, 1/8 for example), so treasure hunters can keep track.
12. Write A Family Recipe Book
Write a family recipe book and get kids to provide pictures for it. Encourage kids to try out recipes under supervision.
13. Indoor Camping
Build a den that will last for an afternoon – it’s one of those all-time favourite things to do with kids that will remind you of your own childhood!
14. Indoor Picnic
Get kids to help prepare mini-sandwich triangles, cocktail sausages, quiche slices and biscuits or muffins.
https://uk.pinterest.com/explore/indoor-picnic/
15. Inspiring Young Artists
Other fun things to do with kids that are usually free include visiting artists’ studios such as Neon Wonderland at God’s Own Junkyard in Walthamstow, Greater London. It’s open to the public from Fridays to Sundays.
http://www.godsownjunkyard.co.uk/
16. Animal Feeding Times
Large public parks offer many free exciting things to do with kids. Watch pelicans being fed fresh fish at London’s St James’s Park on Duck Island at the eastern end of the park, daily at 2.30 pm.
http://www.londongardenstrust.org/
17. Family Cycling Trips
Sherwood Pines Forest offers Nottinghamshire-based families some 3,000 acres in which to let off steam. The Family Cycle Route is an easy 3-mile jaunt for all ages and ability and can be enjoyed in most weather conditions. In Hampshire’s New Forest families also can hire bikes and enjoy signposted trails suitable for all ages.
18. Kayaking
Kids aged 8 and older can enjoy kayaking with an experienced instructor. Look out for river and lake kayaking centres in your area. Often the first lesson is free.
19. Nature Walks
Large city parks usually offer free nature walks, sometimes in the evening for bat and owl watching adventures.
20. Making Kites And Lanterns
Many parent and kid websites offer printable free templates for kite and lantern making. Head to the park for your own lantern parade and kite-flying competition.
