During the seemingly endless summer holidays, every parent knows they can look forward to cries of  “I’m bored” at one time or another. Taking them to Terra Mitica every day isn't normally within the budget but what else can you do with them.  

Entertaining the children doesn’t need to cost the earth. With our list of free/cheap ideas you can look forward to a summer of fun not moans.

• How about going on a hike through a park or wooded area and finding a shady place to have a picnic lunch.
• Have a day at the beach building sand castles, swimming in the sea or snorkelling.
• Go to the park and play football, frisbee, volleyball or tennis.  
• Have a BBQ inviting friends with children of similar ages.  Afterwards you can play team games like charades or board games like Scrabble, Monopoly, Pictionary or Trivial Pursuits.
• Set up a tent in the back garden and rough-it at home. Go the whole hog and pack your evening meal and breakfast and do it all in billy cans over a camping stove.
• Set a treasure hunt for the kids around your house and garden.  They will have so much fun working out the clues that the prize at the end doesn’t need to be much more than a bag of sweets.
• Go roller blading or bike riding.
• Teach your children skills you don't have time for during the school year such as sewing, knitting, cooking, woodworking and other useful skills.
• Keep a summer scrapbook and or diary.
• Make a dress-up box for little ones with some of your throw away clothes, and don’t forget to add jewellery, hats and shoes.
• Teach them how to tie-dye a shirt.
• Start a ‘Childs’ garden, let them pick out what they want in their garden and plant it.
• Kids enjoy things they can do with adults, do alone or show off to their friends, expense isn’t always a factor in having a good time.

Many of these ideas are things you will have done when you were a child, before the days of computer games and perhaps even TV.  Have a great summer revisiting your childhood!