Great 'Free week-end activities' Hunt

[MSE Penelope]

It's starting to get sunny and a tad warmer, which makes us want to actually DO something at the weekend instead of watching Friends reruns on the sofa. But going out at the weekend can be costly, so we'd like to tap into MoneySavers' knowledge for nice free week-end activities.

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[Noggin the Nog]

The Lonely Planet Guide to Experimental Travel has lots of weird ideas for unusual approaches to travel. Not all of them are free (e.g. taking a backpacking holiday in your own town by booking into a hostel and behaving as though you're on holiday) but some of the activities are, such as no. 3, "Alternating Travel" - setting off from somewhere and alternating turning left and right at each junction; no. 13, "Confluence Seeking" - travelling to where a whole number of degrees longitude meets one of latitude, taking a photo of what's there and uploading it to the Degrees Confluence Project website and so on.

It's basically just a weird bunch of stuff to do, much of which is free, so if you like slightly odd and intriguing activities, it's worth a look!

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[minerva_windsong]

Museums and art galleries are always a good bet - most towns have at least one free one, although you'll normally have to pay to visit special exhibitions.

[DanielleEvans]

We get loads of free stuff from the nature detectives website - it's great for families as there are lots of ideas for getting kids outdoors at weekends and holidays.

We've downloaded tons of activity sheets, free packs, games and puzzles - we love the fungi trump cards and treasure hunts!

naturedetectives.org.uk

[Monster03]

There is a free walking tour in London of the Harry Potter sites. You can download the pdf file with the map & there is things for kids to look for as they go along.
http://www.the-magician.co.uk/

[megsykins]

Originally Posted by Noggin the Nog

such as no. 3, "Alternating Travel" - setting off from somewhere and alternating turning left and right at each junction;

We've done this as a pub crawl before! Or use a coin and at each junction flip it - head right / tails left - to decide the way so no two nights out ever the same!!

[1659]

Every year the National Trust have an open weekend in March (was 20-21st march 2010) when properties and gardens are free entry. This is to encourage people to join the National Trust, or want to visit other properties and pay. We have visited Sudbury Hall last year and Calke Abbey this year and it was very enjoyable.

[lex20000]

RAF cosford nr telford in the midlands. free entrance to the museum the only cost is for parking, not much just a couple of quid. there is a new part to the museum thats got lots for young and old to do.

http://www.rafmuseum.org.uk/cosford/

[Welly1]

Sometimes the simple things in life are the best, and me and my 6 year old daughter enjoy nothing more than taking the dogs down to the local woods or beach and exploring. We both get plenty of fresh air and exercise, my wife has a couple of hours peace to do her housework, and more importantly the dogs come home and sleep for the rest of the day. And all without a penny being spent. Simples!

[stphnstevey]

We need some ideas

[susieb]

OK how about www.geocaching.com
totally free, high tech treasure hunt.

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[earthmother]

If you're within travelling distance of East Midlands Airport, near Donington Park there is the Aeropark - not totally free (adults £2, u16s free), but very cheap and a good half-day if you take a picnic - static displays, refreshments, and if you're lucky the chance to go inside the planes. Also (and the main draw for my kids) there is a picnic area right by one of the runways, so you can see the planes coming in/taking off at close quarters (you can see this from the free carpark too, if you don't want to pay to go in).

Only open weekends, Thursdays and special events, so check before travelling.

http://www.eastmidlandsaeropark.org/

[TimWentz]

I took my kids along to The-Magacian (Google it) It's a great day out and they loved it

[blue_monkey]

The RSPC have lots of reserves and they are all free although some of them you have to pay to park if you are not an RSPB member. It will say next to the centre and ther is often other places nearby to park. http://www.rspb.org.uk/reserves/index.asp

You can hire binoculars for £1.50 but ask for an 'Explorers Backpack' and the kids can have a free backpack with trail guides and worksheets in.

We can get a good day out and they sometimes offer free activites for the kids on certain days too, such as pond dipping or making bird cakes.

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[tiff]

Originally Posted by susieb

OK how about www.geocaching.com
totally free, high tech treasure hunt.

What do you actually do when geocaching? Ive seen it mentioned lots of times over the years. I know you need satnav but what is involved?

[Dudley 1066]

In September there are the HeritageOpenDays and LondonOpenHouse.

Both are .org.uk

Cannot post links.

[Leoglas]

Originally Posted by MSE Penelope

It's starting to get sunny and a tad warmer, which makes us want to actually DO something at the weekend instead of watching Friends reruns on the sofa. But going out at the weekend can be costly, so we'd like to tap into MoneySavers' knowledge for nice free week-end activities.

Sunday 28th March (10:30am to 4:30pm) is a FREE OPEN DAY at Normanby Hall Country Park, north of S!!!!horpe, North Lincolnshire. The open day is to promote the local park, gardens, hall and farming museum, as well as the amenities Normanby Hall has to offer. This is not an official advertisement, but a plug from a local resident who enjoys the local park and would like to see visitors from other areas experience what the locals enjoy.

[saltador]

Sheldon Country Park off A45 near Birmingham, has small farm for children/anyone to visit free and free parking. Small cafe reasonably priced.

[katieh86]

You could try this http://www.bettycrocker.co.uk/great_idea.aspx
I found it really useful. You can pick the age of the child, weather type and indoors and outdoors and it comes up with suggestions of activities you can do that are either really cheap or free!

Hope this helps

Katie

[fletty]

Originally Posted by tiff

What do you actually do when geocaching? Ive seen it mentioned lots of times over the years. I know you need satnav but what is involved?

You down load coordinates from http://www.geocaching.com/ to a hand held Gps. (There are thousands of caches across the country, there could be one just over the road to you and you'd never know it was there!)
you then follow the signal on your Gps untill you find the cache - these can be just a tube with a pencil and log book on which to log your cache, or a small tub containing small swaps and surprises - it's a kind of treasure hunt.

You have to join the site to dwnload coordinates but thats free, it gets the kids out of the house and we all really enjoy it, I got my GPs from Ebay for £30 and it was well worth it.

hth