With the cost of living taking its toll on household finances, money.co.uk savings expert, Lucinda O’Brien, has revealed the best budget activities you can do with your children throughout the Easter holidays:
Get crafty - Arts and crafts are one of the best budget activities that kids love to take part in, with Easter being an excellent opportunity to get creative! One fun Easter crafting activity you can try is egg painting. Simply hard-boil eggs and allow them to cool completely. Then get out your paint and paintbrushes and have the kids decorate them however they wish. As a bonus activity, take the family on a walk to go egg rolling. Head up your nearest hill and roll your eggs down it - the egg which is last to break wins.
Easter egg hunts - An Easter egg hunt is a must-do activity for the Easter holidays. It’s not that hard (or expensive) to hold an Easter egg hunt in your own home or garden. All supermarkets usually sell miniature wrapped eggs, perfect for an Easter egg hunt, which usually retail between £1 and £2. These can then be hidden around your home and garden. Great hiding places outdoors include low tree branches, plant pots and garden beds, whilst inside conceal them under chairs, tables and toys or behind decorative items such as cushions and photo frames.
If you want to escape outside of your home for an Easter egg hunt, there are many great local Easter egg hunts you can attend with your children. The National Trust is also offering Easter Egg trails for £3 at a variety of their locations across the UK, however, this doesn’t include the price of admission. If you sign up for a membership, you will receive free admission to National Trust locations and unlimited access to the Easter Egg Hunts.
Movie marathon - What better way to enjoy your Easter chocolate than in front of a great movie? However, taking your whole family to the cinema, buying or renting a new movie or purchasing a new streaming subscription can be expensive. Luckily, we can rely on TV channels such as the BBC, ITV and Channel 4 to provide us with free entertainment across the Easter period. Free films showing across the Easter holidays this year include: [TV guides aren’t released yet so we will add a list of what's on & dates once released here].
Visit free museums or galleries - Many museums and galleries offer free entry. This makes visiting them an affordable way to give children an educational and culturally enriching experience, which is fun for all the family. During the Easter holidays, many museums and galleries organised events for children to explore.
Baking - Baking is a great activity to entertain and spend quality time with your children. And with all that leftover Easter chocolate, baking chocolate treats can be very cheap. The best budget recipe to bake over the Easter period is, of course, Easter nest cakes. For this, all you will need to do is melt chocolate and pour over your choice of cereal. Separate your mixture into cake cases then top with some mini eggs. A yummy and simple recipe that is easy for children to help make.
Get active - After consuming lots of Easter treats, your children are likely to be full of energy that requires burning off. The best way to do this is by getting active. Going outside is a great way to get active, as well as enjoy the fresh air and be at one with nature, all for free! Take your kids to the local park for a bike ride or a sports game, try Geocaching, go on a walk to spot spring wildlife or pop to the playground. Any way that you can get the kids outdoors is great for their physical and mental health.
Cook a Sunday roast - Roast dinners are synonymous with the Easter weekend, but taking your kids out for a roast dinner can prove costly. Instead, encourage them to cook a roast at home with you. Older children can get involved with peeling the potatoes, whilst supervised younger children can help with seasoning and mixing. Make it fun by offering a prize for the best roast potatoes or a reward for helping out.
Easter games - From Pin the Tail on the Bunny to Egg Tosses, there are a variety of Easter-themed games for families to enjoy over the Easter holidays. Invite your children’s friends around for a mini Easter party. Winners can receive a mini chocolate egg for their efforts.
