Looking for cheap school holiday activity ideas? You’ve found them!
From creative projects to local adventures, there are countless ways to enjoy school holidays on a budget. In this post, we’ve hunted out all kinds of cheap and free school holiday ideas for activities that children (and adults) will love, that won’t put a strain on your wallet.
Cheap school holidays definitely don’t need to be boring, so let’s jump into the world of budget-friendly holiday adventures!
Free school holiday activities
Let’s start with a bunch of completely free school holiday activities. Once you start looking around and talking to people, you quickly discover, there really are a lot of free school holiday activities out there to try. Some are pre-organised and others need a little planning but there is some great entertainment for children of all ages.
- Shopping centre activities: Most local shopping centres have entertainment and activities for children throughout the holidays. These are free and cool for when the kids are getting hot and bothered.
- Head to the beach: Pack a picnic and head to the beach. Nothing makes kids (and adults) happier than a splash in the ocean, a sandcastle challenge and a run around on the sand. Take a volleyball net for older kids and it’s game on!
- Local parks: These days local parks have all kinds of play, exercise and sporting equipment. Free school holiday activities don’t come much easier than a walk to the park. Why not get a few of the neighbour’s kids together and get some fun sports happening.
- Scavenger hunt: Try a scavenger hunt at the park, around the house, on a road trip or just about anywhere. Find heaps of great and simple ideas here.
- Feed their minds: Museums and exhibitions are a great way to teach children about everything from history and science, to art and travel. Children can discover wonders from all around the world and quite often it doesn’t cost you a cent.
- Walks and bike rides: Take your kids into the wild for bushwalks, city cycles and coastal trails. Bike paths twist through cities and suburbs and often right out to the coast. Australia has great bush and scenic walks to explore for free. Make a day of it for a real adventure!
- Learn to fish: If you live near rivers or the ocean, teach your kids to fish or catch mud or sand crabs. You may even get dinner out of it.
- Hardware stores: Some larger chains offer free school holidays activities for kids during the week. Workshops include painting, DIY projects and planting.
- Library: Check out your local library for free school holiday activities such as book clubs and other creative projects.
- City precincts, project centres and historical buildings: There is plenty to explore if you live near a city. Look out for free entertainment in parks or open-air arenas. Major projects, like the Cross River Rail Experience Centre in Brisbane, welcome visitors to come and explore the future, and do activities at the centre. Check out your city for similar project centres open to the public. Perfect if you’re looking for a free school holiday activity that’s just a bit different and informative. Historical buildings also offer a glimpse into the history of the area and the building itself. This step back in time can be fascinating for inquisitive minds.
Tip: Check out your local community pages on your social media, search online or check the local paper to get up to speed with free school holiday activities in your area.
Cheap school holiday activities
Obviously, some activities may cost a few dollars, but we’ve hunted out a few that can be reasonably priced, especially if you shop around. Our tip is to stick to a budget, just pick one to two paid activities a week and make sure you take food and supplies with you to keep costs down.
- Putt Putt or driving range: Depending on the age of your children, a visit to your local Putt putt or driving range is a great way to spend a few hours, and it’s usually pretty reasonably priced. Take a couple of your child’s friends to up the challenge.
- Activity centres: Jungle gym, kayaking, rock climbing, escape rooms, trampolining, lazer quest, abseiling and so many more! Activity centres, inside and out, will engage your children and wear them out – whatever their age. Check to see which ones fit in your budget and shop around, as some are more reasonably priced than others. Tip: Look on deal sites, like Groupon, for cheap tickets and coupons to local activity centres.
- Road trip: A full day road trip somewhere is great fun – as long as there are plenty of stops along the way. If you have a four-wheel drive, take it off-road too. Get your kids to help plan a route the afternoon before, so everybody gets to see something they’re interested in. Try visiting historical sites, natural features like waterfalls, caves or lookouts. Take them on a bushwalk to a waterhole or river suitable for swimming, or hunt out other fun but free things to explore. Obviously, the cost involved in a road trip is the fuel, so you can decide how far you go to stay within your budget.
- Animal sanctuary: If you’re going to pay for a school holiday activity, it’s always a good feeling to know your money is going to a good cause. A visit to an animal sanctuary helps the animals, raises your children’s awareness of the great work sanctuaries do for our wildlife and, of course, who doesn’t love to feed a wallaby or hug a koala?
- Community swimming pool: Cheap and cheerful. Kids are never happier than at the pool so slip, slop, slap and let the fun begin!
Home-based school holiday ideas
We get it, you can’t always take the kids out when they get bored, so we’ve had a look at a few popular school holiday ideas to occupy them at home. What’s more they either use what you already have around the house, or they only cost a few dollars.
- Green fingers: What child doesn’t love growing things? Keep the seeds from vegetables like tomatoes and capsicum and pop them into some soil. It’s amazing how fast they grow with just a little water and care. Packets of seeds are pocket money priced too, so check out which ones are easy to grow, to get their veggie patch started. Don’t have a garden or the space for a veggie patch? No problem, pick up some cheap pots and potting mix and put them on a cheap tray to contain any mess.
- Crafternoon: Get crafty with the kids, with a box of craft materials from a bargain shop and some fun ideas. They can make gifts for friends, decorate jars and make mobiles or wall hangings for their bedroom. Make models or toys or some fun art for the walls. It just takes a little imagination. Tip: Keep them focused longer by playing an audio book as they craft.
- Chipping in: Life isn’t all fun and games, so why not get your children to help out a little around the house while they’re on holidays? Get them to keep their room tidy, weed the garden or do other chores you’d like done. An activity afterwards will always be more appreciated when they feel like they’ve earned it, or maybe offer a small amount of pocket money per task they complete.
- Movie marathon: Who doesn’t love a movie marathon? A few great movies, low-sugar cold drinks, popcorn and a couple of buddies and they’ll be happy and out of your hair for hours!
- Cooking lessons: What’s for dinner? Whatever it is, cooking is a great life skill to learn. Get your children to help out at meal times and teach them some basics to get them started. Try your best to make it fun, as they will appreciate it later in life!
- Puzzles and board games: Never forget the good old jigsaw puzzle. Once they’re hooked, they’re hooked! Try ‘speed puzzling’ with simple puzzles. Board games come in many forms these days, so pick up a few and hone their problem solving skills, sharpen their strategy and bring out their ingenuity.
- Holiday journal: Create a journal with hidden pockets, flaps and note cards to write and draw in. Your child can also stick photos, tickets and other things they want to remember about their school holiday adventures. This is a great activity, as it’s two activities in one! Making the journal is a craft session. Filling it in is an ongoing activity that your child can do every day.
Etax parents: School holiday ideas to share
We chatted to a couple of Etax parents, here at our Brisbane HQ, to see what tricks they had for cheap school holiday ideas for their kids. Here’s what they said:
Danielle:
“We take the kids to the local beaches for a swim and a run around, then a picnic or BBQ. They love the zoo at the local farm shop, so that’s a regular stop off. The local parks have sports and play equipment, like basketball nets and water fountains, which are great. We also check out what’s on at the shopping centres. They regularly organise quite a lot of kids entertainment during the holidays. It’s all free!”
Danielle’s #1 tip: Take the children out somewhere in the morning to explore and run around to wear them out. Come home for lunch, which keeps the day cheap. The afternoon is then spent painting or doing other quieter activities in the cool at home.
Tony:
“We often take the children on long bike rides along the bike paths through and out of the city. They love it and it really wears them out. A local sushi place taught them how to roll sushi last holidays, which they got to eat afterwards. Bunnings put on free craft workshops too and they decorated pots and made name plaques. Street food precincts are fun for the children as they usually have music and other entertainment. The food is usually fairly cheap there too.”.
Tony’s #1 Tip: Take the kids on a day trip to the Gold Coast on the train and then the local tram. The journey is part of the adventure and there is no need to find parking. There are lots of free activities on through the holidays down there, so once they are there, they can explore on foot. They take a backpack on wheels they can pull instead of carry, with snacks, water and supplies for the kids. It’s like a mini holiday for them.
A final note:
School holidays really don’t need to cost a fortune, and they don’t need to be boring and tedious. If you take advantage of the free activities organised around you and schedule a good dose of running around each day, it will really help the days pass quickly and cheaply.
This post has far more activities than any parent or guardian would have the energy or time to cram into a school holiday break, so rather than it being a wish list, consider it a menu to pick from when you need a little inspiration. We hope it helps.
And don’t forget: Have fun, they’ll be back to school before you know it!
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