50 fun and cheap things to do in the School Holidays
50 Cheap and Fun School Holiday Activities for Kids
School holidays can be exciting for children, but they can also be challenging for families trying to find affordable activities to keep kids entertained. The good news is that fun school holiday activities do not have to be expensive.
This list includes 50 cheap and fun activities for kids that families can enjoy at home or nearby. Many of these activities are also suitable for children with disability or autism, with flexible, low sensory options that allow kids to explore at their own pace.
Some children prefer quieter environments, sensory friendly activities, or predictable routines. You can easily be adapt these ideas to suit your needs. For example, creative play, nature exploration, or simple home activities can be adjusted to match your child's comfort level.
Whether you stay at home, explore your local community, or try something creative indoors, these school holiday ideas can help keep kids engaged, learning and having fun.
1. Go Camping in the Garden or Living Room
If you already have a tent, this doesn’t cost a thing. Serve up some hotdogs and tell stories until you fall asleep. Keep the tent near the back or side door so that kids who get scared in the night can scoot back to their beds, or use the loo!
If you have a grown-up staying in a tent with them, consider a little barbecue or campfire. If you own a trampoline – excellent! Cover it with blankets and it can be a tent!
If you don't have a tent (or a garden) use blankets, sheets and doonas to make a tent in the living room between your couches. Get the kids to make the tent!
Torches are a must to tell scary ghost stories in the dark with the light on your face.
2. Have a Movie Day at Home
This is perfect for a rainy day or for when days are hotter than the sun.
Rent a few kids movies online and stock up on popcorn (Tip: put m&m's in popcorn for that extra treat - sweet and salt are the perfect combo).
Set up doonas and pillows and lounge your day away! Or plan a binge-watch session on Netflix, we have some suggestions here!
More Reading: 38 Classic Movies to Watch with the Kids
3. Plant a Veggie Patch with the Kids
You don’t even need a garden for this. Most of the fun comes from finding containers to recycle as pots, painting them, and planting the seeds.
Choose something that grows fast and start on the first day of the holidays, so the kids can see them grow each day.
Look at plastic soft drink containers to make a small indoor nursery.
More Reading: The 7 Vegetables That are Easiest to Grow
4. Go on a Nearby Adventure
Grab a map of your area and find a place you haven’t been before. Pack the kids in the car and go explore!
You might visit a new park, a waterfall, a hiking trail, a walking track – go exploring!
5. Have a day at the beach
The only expense is the fuel and snacks while you’re out in the sun.
6. Visit a Local Museum or Art Gallery
Your kids will have fun while learning about local culture. Most capital cities have many museums and always have a feature collection suitable for school-age kids!
- Find a museum and see what's on in Sydney
- 10 Best Museums in Australia
- Find a Gallery/Museum in Queensland
- Find a Gallery/Museum in Adelaide
- Find a Gallery/Museum in Perth
7. Visit a Farm
Many farmers will be happy to give a short tour to a group of kids, and they might be able to pet some of the animals.
8. Have a BBQ Picnic at the Park
Head to a local park and enjoy a BBQ picnic. Let the kids help pack the food to get them excited about the trip.
9. Dig for Dinosaur Fossils
Bury a bunch of cheap dinosaur toys in the yard or garden. Give everyone a plastic spade for digging.
You can also buy inexpensive replica dinosaur bones online or at museums.
10. Make Salt Dough Ornaments
You can bring out the creativity of your kids by making salt dough ornaments — figurines, letters, animals — just about anything they want to make. Making things out of salt dough will help foster fine motor skills through sculpting, painting and threading. How to make salt dough
11. Write a Story Together
Encourage your kids to create their own story. This helps build creativity and literacy skills.
12. Write and Act Out a Play
Help the kids write a play that they can perform. They can also create their own costumes and sets.
13. Have a Masquerade Party
Let the kids make their own masks out of paper plates, elastic bands, and paint, feathers, and glitter.
14. Make Homemade Cards
During the Christmas holiday, you can make cards with the kids to send out to relatives. Grab together all the art supplies – or pop down to your local craft shop to get some cardboard, glitter and glue.
15. Try Geocaching
Geocaching is like a worldwide treasure hunt using GPS. It is a fun outdoor adventure that many families enjoy. It's like a worldwide treasure hunt. Find out more here.
16. Make a Nature Collage
You can pick up items at the beach or a local park, stuff like shells, leaves, or driftwood, and then bring it home and glue it all to a piece of cardboard.
17. Face Painting Day
Buy a small face painting kit and spend the day painting the kids’ faces. Then let them try painting each other.
Spotlight or Kmart usually sell inexpensive face paints.
18. Go on a Bushwalk in a National Park
Depending on the park you go to, the entry fee could go up to $11.
- Bushwalks in parks NSW
- Hiking and Bushwalking in parks VIC
- Find a park in WA
- Walking in QLD
- Best walks in TAS
- National parks in ACT
- Find a place to walk in SA
19. Make Fresh Juice or Mocktails
Get out the juicer and let your kids choose what kinds of crazy mocktails they want to drink. You’ll be surprised at what they come up with!
20. Build a Sandcastle
If you live near the beach, there are plenty of activities to do during a day trip.
Tip: A garden spade allows you to dig big holes!
21. Make Jewellery with Macaroni or Beads
This is great with girls, but boys actually can have a good time too.
22. Go Birdwatching
Bring binoculars and look for different birds in your area. Later, look up information about the birds online.
23. Plan a Treasure Hunt
Hide clues around the house or garden and give your kids a treasure map to start out with.
24. Go for a Bike Ride
Simple, yet surprisingly fun.
25. Do Leaf Rubbings
Place the leaf under a sheet of paper, and rub a pencil across the paper to make an imprint of the leaf’s shape. If the kids are older, you could look at doing some old cemetery rubbings too!
26. See Aboriginal Rock Drawings at Bundeena
It’s free! Check it out.
27. Invite Friends Over for a Playdate
Sometimes, all you need to do is bring a friend over and set them loose.
28. Take a trip to a Museum
Use this guide to find your local museum: Best museums in Australia.
29. Have a Fashion Show at Home
Let the kids wear some of your blouses and dresses and have them parade down the runway. Take pictures to send to relatives.
30. Visit the Art Gallery of NSW
They have periodic free performances, along with 2-hour art courses that the kids will love for $25.
31. Play a Detective Game
Either set up a mystery or just give the kids magnifying glasses and “police notebooks” (regular notebooks) to hunt for clues.
32. Have a Garden Tea Party
Set up an afternoon tea party in the garden.
33. Try Food Colouring Experiments
Set up jars of water with different colours and dip in vegetables, flowers, or anything else you can think of.
34. Visit the Grandparents
This is a treat for the kids as well as the grandparents.
35. Play Hide and Seek
Play at night in the dark to make it extra thrilling.
36. Take a Tour Around Your City
Even after years of living there, you’ll be surprised at all the new and culturally significant places you didn’t know about. Many major cities have a free bus that will just travel around ‘the loop’ of the city. This is great for free sightseeing!
37. Visit a Botanical Garden
Let the kids run around and play while you relax.
38. Go Fishing
You can do this for the afternoon and catch dinner. If you don’t have a fishing line, grab an inexpensive hand line (they are about $2).
39. Make Your Own Kites
Then, head outside to play with them.
40. Visit a Farmers Market
The kids might grumble at first, but they’ll end up having a great time.
41. Try Paper Mache Craft
It makes a mess, but it’s a whole lot of fun.
42. Do Simple Science Experiments
Who says holidays can’t be educational?
43. Have a Theme Day
Choose a colour, and everything that day has to go along with that colour. For example, if you choose red, then you wear red clothes, eat food coloured red, make paintings or crafts with red paint, etc.
44. Make a Scrapbook
Keep your memories alive by putting it in a scrapbook. Kmart have the best scrap booking materials as well as scrap books. Well priced too!
45. Visit a Local Park
Enjoy an afternoon of rollerblading or biking.
46. Go Bowling
Bowling is inexpensive, and most of the time, there will be an air hockey table if the kids get bored.
47. Spend an Afternoon at the Zoo
All you pay is the admission.
Get the cheapest zoo tickets around here:
- Wild Life Sydney (NSW)
- Werribee Open Range Zoo (VIC)
- Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary (QLD)
- National Zoo (ACT)
- Healesville Sanctuary (Victoria)
- Featherdale Wildlife Park (NSW)
- Australia Zoo (QLD)
- Sea Life Aquarium (Sydney)
48. Have a Cooking or Baking Day
This is always a hit because you get to eat them later!
49. Have a Dance Party at Home
Find or make some costumes to make it even more fun.
50. Watch a Live Theatre Show
Many theatres will put on free shows, but make sure it’s family-friendly!
Looking for more school holiday activities?
Looking for more school holiday activities like camps, social groups, or inclusive programs for your child?
Our friends at The A List Hub are a great place to start. They feature a range of autism-friendly and inclusive activities, including holiday programs, social groups, and community events for children and teens.
See Similar Resources
Things to do with a support worker in the holidays
Source:
Thanks to the stay at home mum for giving us ideas
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