With summer fast approaching, it’s time to start thinking about some fun activities to do this with the family through the holidays. For a lot of people, this can bring a sense of panic as budgets are planned and often don’t stretch far enough. With a bit of imagination, there are a lot of fun, free family days out to be had.
Often, for children especially, you don’t need to spend a small fortune to have fun – using your imagination and making a game out of anything and everything is the best source of entertainment.
Here are some ideas for fun, free family days out:
Free Family Days Out: The Beach
The beach is always a firm favourite. It’s probably best to avoid places like Blackpool beach unless you are planning on spending a lot of money. Try to find quieter beaches with no arcades etc. You can make your own fun at the beach quite easily, but it’s a lot harder when you have the bright lights and music from arcades and rides to contend with.
Grab your towels, swimsuits, sunscreen and buckets and spades and head to your local beach for a day of paddling in the sea and building sandcastles.
You can bury each other, have competitions to see who can dig the deepest hole, collect pretty shells (and use them to decorate your sandcastles) and explore the little rock pools.
Free Family Days Out: The Park
There’s so much you can do at your local park – check out my family picnic ideas post for a list of activities to do on a 
park day out.
Check out the visitors centre for some other ideas too – a lot of parks also offer free activities throughout the summer so don’t forget to pick up a leaflet or join their mailing list.
Most parks have some fantastic out door play equipment too.
Free Family Days Out – The Shopping Centre
So a day’s shopping with the kids in tow probably doesn’t sound all that fun (or free), but shopping centres across the country usually run a programme of kid’s activities throughout the school holidays, so keep an eye open for any that appeal to you and your kids.
Free Family Days Out: Museums
A lot of museums are free to visit and they usually have interactive displays that will keep the kids amused for hours. In my town, there is a fabulous free museum dedicated to the town’s history with lots of 
interactive things for the kids – dressing up, buttons to press that make noises etc.
There’s also a free art gallery, so check those out too. These are maybe best suited to older kids, but don’t write them off for younger ones too. My local one once had an exhibition dedicated entirely to puppets, dolls and teddy bears. It was full of families and the kids all seemed to be having a great time.
If you are anywhere near York, their free railway museum is pretty good and always a big hit with kids.
Free Family Days Out: Soft Play
While not strictly free, a lot of soft play areas offer a seasonal pass, which means if you visit more than three or four times, the visits after that are free. If you plan on visiting a few times anyway, it’s definitely worth the initial cost.
Free Family Days Out: Nature Walks
What could be better than a nice walk through the country side on a sunny day? You could visit an official trail and get maps from the visitors centre 
or if you know the area well enough, you can make your own walks.
Try some fun games along the way, such as spotting certain items or pretending your are explorers in the jungle.
Don’t forget the sunscreen and plenty of water and snacks to keep nice and hydrated and happy.
Remember to stay safe this summer; check out my sun safety tips to help avoid burns or sun stroke.
Can you think of any other fun, free family days out? Share them in the comments 🙂
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Love this, we are always looking for new days out
Thank you 🙂
Many libraries around here have programs. And parks & rec have cheap classes. Then there are concerts in the park. Lots to do in the summer.
Oh, I didn’t think of libraries but now you mention it, I’m pretty sure my local library runs some activities through the holidays too 🙂
Our local library certainly offers activities too, and sometimes the local government do in their recreational parks too. The libraries get booked up really quickly by childminders on the day they are released so we are never quick enough to get booked onto anything.
Great ideas – much better than an article I recently read in my local newspaper!
#AnythingGoes
I can’t believe I didn’t think of libraries when I wrote the post – a few have mentioned them in the comments and being someone who loves books, it really should have been top of my list! Thank you 🙂
Nature walks are among our faves for sure! #AnythingGoes
They are a great way to get outside!
Great ideas here, our local library runs a lot of activities especially in the school holidays and the local country park has a forest school which is very cheap to join in #anythinggoes x
I didn’t think of libraries when I wrote the post which is odd because I love books! The forest school sounds fun x
We love all of these ideas! Our shopping centers don’t have activities for kids that I know of. Well there actually are no shopping centers near me lol The beach is definitely the top of our list! #AnythingGoes x
Thank you 🙂 The bonus of living out in the country! I love the beach too x
Great ideas here, we have a barefoot park near us which I plan to check out with the monkeys this year. #anythinggoes
Thank you 🙂 Oh that sounds interesting, I’d be interested to know how it goes!