Last year was my first with a proper 'summer holiday' break and I took about one day off a week. It saved me a bit of money in childcare, but of course because L wasn't at school I was spending more than usual, over £100 a week. I also couldn't really do much with the girls. I knew they were doing fun activities at the childminder's... But I didn't get to participate.
This year I deliberately started my annual leave and maternity leave in July as I didn't see the point in paying for childcare when I could be spending time with my girls myself! As a result I'm only paying £40 for the contracted hours and the girls are going there one day a week.
Before the hols started, I printed some summer holiday planner sheets from Netmums - one for each week of the holiday. They only run Mon-Fri, which is odd - but I guess a lot of parents already have Saturday and Sunday off so it's only to cater for the extra days. I found the planner really useful. I've noted S' shifts and everyone's appointments, plus our daily plans. I'm flexible on these - for example on Friday we should have gone to soft play, but it was raining, so we stayed home and did some educational activities and watched a film instead. Incidentally, I'm not telling the girls our plans for the most part so that they get a nice surprise on the morning and aren't disappointed if we don't go for any reason.
So, here are some of the things we have done or plan to do:
- Visiting local parks with a picnic - free
- Visiting local museums - often this is connected to the one above - free or small charge for extras
- Signing up to the library and borrowing books/participating in craft activities - free or small charge for extras
- Visiting local art galleries and joining in with craft activities - free or small charge for extras
- Sleepover at Grandma's house
- Visiting the shops that the girls like - such as Lush, Poundland, Disney Shop, the pet shop etc - technically free!
- Soft play - BOGOF locally so £2 each before 10am, bargain!
- Beach, again with a picnic - free
- Sunderland International Airshow - we spent a bit here on souvenirs, rides etc but it was mostly free. We could have done it for free, I just wanted to treat the girls. And they got loads of free sweets!
- Sunderland Glass Centre - free entry, small charge for craft activities
- Walk by the river and marina with picnic - free
- Hairdresser - likely about £15 total, something necessary for school but only done once a year so quite a novelty!
- Optician & dentist - free - again not really a 'treat' activity, but needs to be done and the girls will hopefully find it interesting!
- Swimming - I think it's about £12 for a family ticket
- Funfair - we may do this as part of a day out in South Shields - so it'll be about £25 for ride tickets but then can keep costs down elsewhere by taking a picnic etc
- Metrocentre - around £11 travel costs - this is for my birthday so we will be spending more while we are there as it is a special day
- Cinema - £10 total or preferably less - I never spend full price for the cinema! The most I would pay is Orange Wednesday or Saver Tuesday prices. We usually go to Empire Juniors on the weekend which is just £1.25 per person. On this occasion we are going to the Odeon in the Metrocentre which is £2.50 each but on every morning, not just weekends.
- Bowling - early bird special - unclear whether this is £2 per game or per person
- Newcastle Centre for Life - around £69 for a year's family ticket which we will likely invest in
- Visiting Nanna and her new puppy - free
- Educational activity books to keep them in practice over the summer - cost around £5 per child
- Scrapbooks to document everything we are doing
- Eating out - McDonalds, pub, restaurant, ice cream parlour, cafe - price varies
That's all I can think of offhand! As you can see, we aren't doing anything too pricey because we simply can't afford it. The more expensive stuff is a one-off but activities really don't have to be expensive to keep kids happy, certainly not aged 4 & 6! We do have parks and a beach within literally minutes walk of the house so they aren't big trips and we are spending time at home too. I don't want the girls to do so much that they get bored of it... And not only that but as I am currently 6.5 months pregnant I just can't handle lots of walking! We are aiming to do the more exciting things when S is off work which is handy as it spaces them out nicely.
I hope that we are creating lots of nice memories. I'm lucky in that I will also have next summer holidays off thanks to taking a full year maternity leave!
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