With family budgets feeling the strain of the cost of living crisis, you may be looking at ways to say “Yes” to bringing the fun over the Easter holidays rather than feeling like you are constantly saying “No”. So, to ensure that your kids enjoy the holidays without busting your budget, we have put together some free or cheap things to do with the kids over the Easter holidays.
Look for deals on travel
With the price of fuel high and parking charges often expensive, when planning a day out take a look for deals on public transport.
Stagecoach, for instance, have group bus tickets across the UK available to buy on the bus or in the Stagecoach app, and up to four kids under 5 get to travel for free. Always make sure you check availability and read the full T&Cs before you go.
In Scotland, children age 5-21 years can now apply for a free bus travel card. To find out more about the scheme and how to apply, check out the U22 free travel in Scotland page.
There are some train companies who offer cheap rail travel for children when travelling with an adult. West Midlands railway, Southeastern, Chiltern Railways and London Northwestern allow up to four children aged 5-15 years to travel for £1 on a single or return journey when joined by an adult at off-peak times.
East Midlands trains offer children under 5 to travel for free and kids aged 5-15 can benefit from a 50% discount on the price of a full adult ticket.
Again, always check the full T&Cs of the rail company before you travel.
Explore the great outdoors
There are free parks all across the UK, so why not take advantage and go on a ‘park crawl’, visiting a couple of parks a day.
Geocaching is also a great, fun activity, that costs nothing. It is basically a treasure hunt using an app on your phone, so great for digital mad kids and a fab way to kill a few hours.
The National Trust have Easter trails at many of their places across England, Wales and Northern Ireland starting from April. Trails are just £3 to participate in and you will receive a trail sheet and a set of easter bunny ears to wear along the way, plus a choice of either a chocolate egg or vegan and Free From chocolate egg.
To save some money on membership, The Karma vouchers Cashback App are offering 5.6% saving when you join via them.
Always make sure that you check out any free local events too, as many local councils offer events throughout the school holidays.
Cheap days out and activities
If you are looking to take your kids on a day out to a theme park, zoo or to the cinema, check out Kids Pass, where you can save up to 57% on days out and 40% off cinema trips – handy for a rainy day activity.
You can join Kids Pass for £1 for 30 days and cancel anytime. It will renew for £4.99 per month afterwards, so don’t forget to cancel if you just want it for the holidays.
Many museums and galleries are free to enter and can be a good way to keep kids entertained without spending a lot, so check out those that you can travel cheaply to for a budget friendly day out.
Save on food and drink
Our list of where kids can eat free or for £1 this Easter holidays will ensure that your children are well fed and if you get a Tastecard membership, you can get 50% off the total food bill or two meals for the price of one at thousands of participating restaurants. Tastecard is also great for deals on days out and cinema tickets.
If you are looking to save on your coffee then sign up to Coffee Club. They are the UK’s largest coffee club where you can take advantage of offers at Caffè Nero and 1000’s of independents throughout the UK.
You can join on a 30 day free trial and order as many barista-made drinks as you’d like – all day long, 7 days a week, 365 days a year – perfect to help you get through the school holidays.
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