Eight ways to entertain your kids for free or cheap during this half term
HALF term is fast approaching and many parents will be scratching their heads to come up with low budget ways to entertain the kids this October.
From trips to the cinema, to free hikes and trails you can complete, you don't have to break the bank.
You can use websites such as Wowcher, Groupon and Vouchercloud which have a wealth of discounted family activities for days out over the week.
Signing up to Kids Pass offers discounts on different things including meals out at restaurants like Prezzo and Frankie & Benny's too.
Of course you'll have to dig into your pockets for the £3 monthly subscription, but you can save £2 on the first month as it's only £1.
But even without the schemes and subscriptions, there are still plenty of other budget friendly ways to entertain the kids this half term.
Many of them are free ways to keep the family occupied and have a great day out too.
We've come up with a few ideas below, so make sure you check them out before you splurge while school's out.
Trip to the flicks
Why not take your kids to the movies over half term?
One of the must-see films out at the moment is Ron's Gone Wrong, which hits the big screen today.
You can check your local cinemas showings online to find the best time to catch the screening.
But you don’t need to fork out excessive amounts to catch the latest releases.
You can usually get kids tickets cheaper, but you could still be racking up as much as £175.50 a year, if you go to the cinema once a fortnight.
Cashing in on deals like Compare the Market's Meerkat Movies scheme can half that cost though.
You'll have to make a purchase through the comparison giant's service, but once you do you'll get the 2for1 discount for a year as a reward.
Martin Lewis’ MoneySavingExpert recently revealed a trick to claim the deal for as little as £1 too.
Alternatively, you could use the reward as an opportunity to shop around for household products such as getting a better deal on your home or car insurance.
So with consumer bills rocketing as of late anyway, the reward works as a perfect bonus for your savvy shopping-around skills.
Cinemas themselves offer great discounts too. Cineworld has screenings that start from only £2.50, and Vue's scheme costs as little as £2.49.
In the spirit (pardon the pun) of no waste, why not spend another day testing your Bake-Off skills with the innards of your pumpkins.
Strike out
You can while away a few hours of the break down at the bowling alley too.
has all sorts of deals on over the half term holiday.
One you can take advantage of it the two games for the price of one deal, that means you can play from as little as £4.
The trail experts say each one is perfect for kids aged 6 to 106, and with a mission in mind you'll be able to postpone the kids asking if we're nearly there yet, by a few hours at least.
The only thing is, it will set you back £10 to download a trail, but once you complete the quest you'll be entered into a £100 prize draw.
There are other free hikes you can set out on though, The National Trust has a lit of that you can embark on, with free resources to download to help you along the trail.
If you don't fancy travelling too far afield, or simply want to stay within a good proximity of a working toilet, you could set up camp in your own back garden too.
You can in fact see a lot of the iconic London sights from the top deck of the good old London bus on certain routes.
Roll the dice
There's no better way to beat the boredom blues than with some board games.
You could turn the week long break into a tournament of sorts with a game a day to keep up the competition before the school term restarts.
Dig out a few that you might have lying around the house, and get the whole family involved.
READ MORE SUN STORIES
Spending time over the October break to brush up on your competitive skills is the perfect opportunity to get ahead for Christmas when the rest of the family visits ready to battle it out over Monopoly, Pictionary and more.
Plenty of retailers have already begun their toy sales ahead of the festive season and you can bag discount board games in amongst that too, to stock up your collection.
We pay for your stories!
Do you have a story for The Sun Online Money team?
Email us at money@the-sun.co.uk