Saturday, October 24, 2015

5 Low Cost Things to Do During the October Half Term School Holiday

Half-term is upon us! For those of you who don't live in the UK, half-term is a one week school holiday/vacation at the end of October each year.

As with all school holidays, half-term can be expensive but it doesn't have to be. Here are five low-cost activities for your children this half-term:

Take Part in a One-Day Sports Camp

At one-day sports camps, children participate in a variety of different sports, including football, tennis, basketball, dodgeball and cricket. Other activities may also be on offer such as treasure hunts and crafts.

In our local area, the sports camps are organized by Activate Sport and cost just £5 per child per day (9.30am - 3.30pm), which is extremely good value. My son has taken part in them many times and has enjoyed each one. One of the things he particularly likes is making new friends from different local schools.

Go to the Local Leisure Centre

You can have lots of family fun at a leisure centre for a low cost. If your children can't yet swim, take them to a relaxed family fun session with inflatables and floats. You'll all have fun in the water.

Most leisure centres also organize activities for children at half-term. Our local leisure centre, for example, offers soft play for younger children for £2.50 for a one-and-a-half hour session and canoeing for older children who can swim, for £2.50 for an hour. Other activities are also available and are excellent value for money.

Visit a Musuem

Many museums have special drop-in activities for children during half-term. Even if they don't, there may be a special children's trail of things to find around the museum or historical clothes for children to dress up in.

Our local museum has a total of 7 different half-term activities, including crafts, trails, demonstrations and talks.

I purchased an annual membership of the museum so that I can go with my children as often as I wish during the year. It cost less than paying full price to go into the museum twice, so it was definitely good value. We plan to go to at half-term and take part in some of the activities.


Visit an Art Gallery

If your child is artistic and creative, they will love visiting an art gallery and looking at the paintings. Many art galleries also offer half-term activities to inspire children and awaken their interest in art.

During the summer, my children and my friend's children went to an excellent activity day at an art gallery. The children made and decorated books and did watercolour paintings. Their favourite activity was definitely the watercolour paintings. They each painted three pictures and wanted to do more! It was also an activity appealed to all age groups with our children ranging in age from 5 to 12.

I can't remember how much the activity day was but it wasn't very expensive - just a few pounds per child but it was definitely worth it!

Learn a New Skill

Half-term is the ideal time for your children to get interested in something new. Sometimes dance schools have free or inexpensive taster sessions during half-term. These are ideal if your child's not sure if they'd enjoy a particular type of dance, such as street dance or tap dancing.

There are also a variety of other classes on offer during half-term. My son surprised me by saying he'd like to do a sewing class at a local craft shop where the owner was kind enough to let him try using a sewing machine last week when he expressed an interest. The half-term sewing and craft classes at this craft shop are excellent value at £7.50 per child for two hours.

With so many low-cost activities available, there's no need for your children to get bored at half-term. Find out which inexpensive activities are available in your area and take your children along.


   

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