Ultimate UK guide to everything you can do for FREE in the school summer holidays… from tennis lessons to cinema tickets
A new study found parents spend as much as £1,000 a week on their children during the six-week break but there is a wealth of free family activities across the country that promise a brilliant summer without breaking the bank.
From sport classes to screenings and festivals, there are hundreds of free opportunities to try. Here's our pick of the best...
1. Free government-funded clubs
The Government's Holiday Activities Fund (HAF) provides for completely free holiday clubs across the UK, run by local authorities.
The clubs are targeted at children who have ever been eligible for free school meals in their schools, but there is discretion for 15% of the places to go to other children who would benefit.
Councils are expected to provide a minimum of 16 days of provision, and you may need a code or letter from your child's school to get a place. Check online or ask your child's teacher if you think you may be eligible.
2. Tennis lessons for beginners
Get the kids healthy and into a new sport with free tennis sessions. Barclays is sponsoring free group tennis sessions that can be booked on the Lawn Tennis Association website while you'll find more free sessions at Tennis For Free.
3. Art and sculpture trails
Track down painted rabbits in Ipswich or colourful guitars in Manchester with a Wild in Art trail. These public displays of large-scale sculptures come with apps and maps so you can spend the day finding them all. Check out the Wild in Art website to find one near you.
4. Outdoor cinema pop-ups
Go to the cinema for free with pop-up screenings of popular movies. Everyman is hosting outdoor screens in Kings Cross and Watford while Screen on the Green runs a similar outdoor experience in the middle of Newcastle. There is no one website that details all free screenings so the best place to look is local Facebook and council sites.
5. F un in the forest
Forestry England runs free trails (some with paid-for activity packs), as well as summer activities in forests up and down the country. Download a Wallace & Gromit themed walking trail or find one of their free 'disc golf' courses at six forest sites including Hamsterley in County Durham or Salcey in the East Midlands. You can pay to hire special discs, buy your own set to play for free, or get started using a frisbee you've got at home and buy a proper set if you get hooked.
Get a Blue Peter badge & meet Bluey... one mum's top tips for a great value summer
Lavania Oluban has recently published a journal for families to record their days out, called The Amazing Adventures of Me.
Here, the Birmingham-based mum and teacher shares her top tips for making the summer holidays great fun and, importantly, great value.
Plan ahead
Start with your diary, Lavania says. Ask the children what big days out they want to do. Put those in first, and then fit cheaper events around them. 'You know six weeks is coming up. It's a lot of time to fill, so plan ahead.'
Look for deals and vouchers
Whether its Merlin tickets with Sun Club, or 2 for 1 days out if you travel by National Rail, there are plenty of deals available to take down the cost of days out, Lavania says, so always search for a discount. One top tip she has is to get your children applying for a Blue Peter badge. There are lots of ways to get one of these by meeting specific criteria and each one gives free child entry at lots of different attractions. 'The badge arrives in the post and you've got time for summer if you apply now,' she says. 'I keep my son's in the glovebox in the car so we can use it at any time.'
Scrutinise every noticeboard
Local days out are often advertised on physical noticeboards, so make a habit of reading them whenever you walk past, Lavania says. Whether it's an animal sanctuary with an open day, or a local county show where your children can enter a baking competition, all these days out are free or very cheap. 'Take photos of interesting possibilities on your phone when you see them,' she suggests.
Hit up the shopping centre
The summer months are quieter for shopping malls, so they often increase footfall by offering free children's activities. 'They will have days when a mascot like Bluey is there,' she says. 'Or a free outdoor trail'. You can check the website of your local centre to see what is going on.
Pick your own
A trip to the strawberry picking farm can be fun and provide you with food for the week. 'Lots of them have fun activities like Maize Mazes too and they aren't expensive,' Lavania says. If you don't know of farms near you try the https://www.pickyourownfarms.org.uk for a list, and always check first whether there is fruit ready to pick before visiting.
6. Library r eading challenges and games
Get the children reading with the free challenge run by the Reading Agency and available at most UK libraries. Librarians will issue your children with a collector folder, and they can earn stickers and rewards for reading books, while they may also run other free activities. More details available here.
7. Local museum craft days
London and other national museums are often free to enter and run free or extremely cheap craft days for children in the summer holidays, many of which you can book in advance online.
My dream pool was £40,000 so I DIYd my own 18ft version in February all for this summer heatwave - it's saved me £37,000
As well as the big free museums, check out smaller local galleries and follow them on Instagram to see what they're offering, for example the National Archives in Kew, which runs a Time Travellers club with bookable sessions is free to visit with a small charge for its craft activities, while the Science & Industry Museum in Manchester offers bookable exhibitions.
Which Museum is the best source for free galleries, shows and exhibitions near you.
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8. Geocaching
Make a walk more exciting with the free geocaching app, which encourages you to find small 'caches' containing plastic toys and other tokens and leave some for others.
Just download the app from geocaching.com and find caches near you.
9. Festivals and open days
Expensive festivals can take a huge bite out of your budget, but there are free local events in many areas of the country.
Check out the Eventbrite website for free options near you. Setting the filters for free family events will let you see what's going on in your area and allow you to apply for free tickets.
10. In-store workshops
Many companies offer free workshops for kids to tempt you in during the holidays. Try your local Pets at Home for free pet owner classes with a certificate or sign up for Apple Camp on the tech company's website for free movie-making classes.
Other companies to check for free kids' workshops include Hobbycraft, the Lego Store and Hamleys.
11. Farm visits
Many city farms are free to visit year-round while others hold bookable open days where children can feed and pet animals and learn about their care. Check your local websites for details or treehub.co.uk for free farms near you or try animal sanctuaries such as the Sidmouth Donkey Sanctuary, which is also free.
12. Get girls moving
Nuffield Health offers free girls fitness classes run by expert instructors. You can book at nuffieldhealth.com/movetogether if you have a Nuffield gym near you.
'My son wants to go to Harry Potter World... apart from that it's all about free days out'
Natalie Ormond, 43, plans the summer holidays carefully to ensure she can get through the six weeks with her sons with her finances intact.
'I definitely do look for a lot of freebie things because obviously it's a long time and all of the paid-for things, like bowling and days out and stuff, add up if you're doing that every day,' says the Leeds-based mum-of-two.
Natalie, who runs a children's gift business called Smallkind, says most deals and discounts dry up in the summer holidays, so she searches hard for free activities for sons Jesse, 11, and Noah, 8.
'We've got into geocaching which is free and lots of fun as it takes you very random places, or we'll have a day with a theme and a trail,' she says. 'So, once it was spotting owls on buildings, and that definitely gives the boys something to concentrate on while we're out and about.
'We do things like library tours - four libraries in a day with a picnic and walk in between them, and then we rate the libraries! Or we do the same with bookshops if the kids have any book tokens to spend.'
Ormond, who is married to lawyer Owen, says that she's got pickier over the days out she will spend on, because she is so often disappointed.
'I think when the boys were younger, sometimes I was so desperate for somewhere to go that I ended up spending quite a lot of money. Now, if I'm going to spend a lot of money on a day out, I want to know that it's a good place.
'So, I've got a lot more selective. We've sort said to the boys for this year, they can give us a couple of ideas each of places that they'd like to go, and we'll try and do that. So, my oldest really wants to go to Harry Potter World and the younger one to a theme park – but mostly it will be free days out.'
13. Get up high
Visiting London? Taking a trip up the Shard or on the London Eye will cost you dear but there are several viewing platforms that allow you to see the city for nothing at all.
Horizon 22 is the highest viewing platform you can visit for free, and you can book in advance at Horizon 22 or get walk up tickets on the day. Other options include the Sky Garden and the Lookout at 8 Bishopsgate, all of which are bookable in advance.
14. Play football with McDonald's
McDonald's is offering free football coaching for 5 to 11-year-olds this summer. Look online to find a session near you and to sign up for sessions and find out about free football festivals at here.
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15. Join a walking tour
Visiting a new city? Check out free walking tours to make the most of it with older children. A lot of cities offer these tours with an expert guide in exchange for a donation. For example, check out this free Harry Potter tour in Edinburgh. Make sure you book in advance and – in this case – make sure your children bring a wand, or something similar to 'swish and flick'.
16. Visit a s plash parks or a lido
If the weather warms up, a trip to a free splashpark or lido could be just the ticket. Free lidos include Swansea's Blackpill Park, while Shoalstone in Devon has a free seawater pool.
Free splashpads include Splashlands in Welwyn Garden City, while many city council website have details of local offerings.
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