Low Cost Summer Holiday Ideas -In and Around Norwich

It's that time of year again where we need to entertain our children for six whole weeks without breaking the bank. Enjoying quality time with our children needn't be expensive. After all, when you look back at your summers as children, do you remember every detail of a day out at the zoo/theme park or do you remember every detail of catching your first fish, playing under the sprinklers and bike rides with friends and family?

Holidays are fantastic and so are days out but prices are high and most days out to a theme park or zoo for our family can cost at least £100 for entry tickets alone. Summer holidays don't have to cost the earth. Here's a few ideas to get you going to have fun for free or very cheap:

A Day To The Beach
Very low cost if you plan your day well. Check journey times and pack up the essentials. A home made picnic, football, kite, net-for the rock pools, bucket and spade (or whatever you have to entertain the kiddies) if not kites, buckets and spades are relatively cheap and can be so much fun. Stuff it all in the boot and away you go. Remember to keep the essentials for next time, making it even cheaper. Oh, and don't forget a good old ice-cream.

Feeding The Ducks
There's plenty of rivers and ponds to choose from in Norwich. Good old fun for all ages.

Reading Challenge At The Library
As soon as the summer holidays begin, get down to your local library and get the children signed up for the reading challenge. It's a great way of filling in the time gaps or a rainy day activity. Plus children keep up (or start in some cases) with their reading for when they go back to school in September. You'll find the homework routine is easier to get back into.

GoGo Gorillas - The Gorilla Hunt In Norwich
While your at the library get a map of the Gorilla Hunt going on in Norwich. What is it? Break Charity, Wild in Art and Born Free have set up an interactive art event. With 120 Gorilla sculptures (67 baby Gorillas and 53 Large adult Gorillas) placed in and around the city of Norwich. Each one has a number you can tick off on your map with a letter. After you have found all the Gorillas and all the letters work out the mystery words. This is something that can be done over a few days.

Bike Ride
Exactly what it says, simple, healthy and children love them.

Bake
Cakes, muffins, cookies, fairy cakes. You name it - the children will love it. Most of us have the ingredients in our cupboards. If not they are very cheap.

Chalk Drawings
My children love to get their own patio square in the garden and draw a picture on it - Dick Van Dyke style from Marry Poppins. Draw hopscotch, snakes and ladders and four square. Little stone and away they go for ages.

Build An Obstacle Course In The Garden/House
So much fun and it's great that children have to use their imaginations too. I've had to take part in many obsticle courses my children have set up, from making mud pies to scootering around objects, climbing and tunnelling. Once they even made a zip-wire from tree to tree with a hose pipe & tow rope!

Park
Either a good hours free entertainment or make a day of it. Take a picnic, meet up with friends.

Walk
A nice walk in the woods or neighbourhood. Let the children make a map, it doesn't have to be perfect. Or write some things down that your likely to see on your walk. Let the children tick them off on the way.

Geocaching
This is a free interactive treasure hunt you can get on a smart phone.

Tye Dye
You need an old t'shirt, elastic bands, stones/marbles dye. You can purchase dye from supermarkets quite cheap. Place the t'shirt flat, put a stone/marble inside the t'shirt and push up. From the top wrap an elastic band round the t'shirt and stone as tight as you can. Do this as many times as you like. In a bowl or sink of water pour the dye in and stir. Then place the t'shirt in and soak for at least 6 hours. Once the time is up, carefully remove the t'shirt and wring it out. Hang it out to dry. Once dry remove the elastic bands and stones/marbles. Enjoy your very own creation.

Paint
Most children enjoy painting and most mums hate the mess! Instead do it outside where it can easily be hosed down. A really good tip I got from the creator of Karma Family Life-Mrs Kerry Anne Head, to dry the paintings, hang them on the washing line with pegs. This resolves the issue of not having enough surface space.

Cheap Cinema
Hollywood cinema in Norwich offer showings for just 99p. Similarly the Vue and Odeon offer cheap am showings and off-peak rates.

Play Date
Not only is this a chance to see friends but to have a coffee morning and catch up on some sometimes much needed adult conversation.

Build A Den
Inside or out its always a winner. Cushions, blankets, furniture and pegs can all help to make a den inside on a rainy day. In the garden or a woods you can use fallen branches and sticks to make a den.

Wizards Maze
It costs under £15 entry for a family of 5 to go. Take a picnic and the children can enjoy going round the maze, go karts, the big bouncy cushion, tractor rides and other activities.

Museum
Lots of museums hold activity days for free or very low cost. Check out your local ones to see whats on.

Fruit Picking
This is always a winner. Not only will your children fill themselves up with fruit but it's very cheap to pick your own (PYO) White House Farm is one of our favourites in Norwich. They grow a variety of fruits. You can also turn your pickings into a bake day with berry concoctions and apple pies.

Theme Parks & Days Out
It's nice to get out and do something different sometimes but before you do be sure to look out for 2for1 vouchers on days out and money off. Good places to look are cereal boxes, Spree Book, Primary Times Magazine, Money Saving Expert website and use Tesco Clubcard Vouchers.

Written by Victoria.

Choices...

We've been on a bit of a rainy Easter holiday the past week, down on the South coast. Not to let the weather dampen our spirits, it was decided that each of us would have a day in which we could choose what we'd prefer to do. This meant no grumbling or whining on the days when it was time to walk up a really steep hill (which magically had an ancient maze cut into the ground at the top!) or visit a small town museum (who could have predicted it would have a Lego Roman trail around the exhibits?). 

There were a few times when the promise of a cream tea (or that chilled bottle of wine waiting for us adults in the caravan fridge) saved the day. It also meant no turning back for the adults in the group - if a child wanted us to go on a ride at a well known theme park that spun us around backwards, upside down and round and round at what seemed like 500 miles an hour, that's what we did...

It's not a bad thing for children to have to use their inner resources when the cry of "I'm bored" came up - one such time was during a trip to a Cathedral during the last few days of the holiday. The kids sat in the middle of the pews (so I could keep one eye on them as I wandered around the edges) and by the time I returned, they were both immersed in a very intricate game of I-Spy - with many unusual objects to choose from within a few metres!

Children love to feel they have an equal say in the family - and for little moments like a day out on holiday, it can make them feel empowered and special. For now, though, it's back to the old routine of school and homework - and the only choice they will get tonight is whether to brush their teeth before or after washing their faces!

Written by Andrea