Cheap At-Home Activities for Children to Save Money this Summer

With 54% of parents worrying about how to keep their children occupied whilst not at school, research revealed that parents will spend more than £1300 on activities during summer alone.

But are there any budget-friendly educationally fun activities that can take place in the comfort of your home?

Intrigued to find out more, The Knowledge Academy wanted to find educational, but creative activities that guardians can do with their child at home to help encourage and improve their learning.

To do this, they identified a number of fun summer activities through reputable sources such as teaching expertise, sitters, declutter the mind, and TikTok videos to create a seed list of the best activities for home learning.

I. Educationally Fun Activities for Children at Home

Some fun summer learning activities you can do with kids at home include:

 #1: Word Snap

Equipment cost: £2.25

Equipment required:

• Paper: £1
• Pen or pencil: 50p
• Coloured Pencils: 75p

Everyone loves the game ‘snap’, so why not make your own version to help improve memory and vocabulary?

Choose a mixture of words depending on the child’s age and vocabulary range and write the words onto DIY cards. Onceall the cards are ready, lie each card face down and get the children to pick a card.

Encourage each child to read the word from their card out loud and then choose another — if the two cards do not match, put both cards back down again and try until all pairs have been found!

Buying the equipment for this activity will cost you around £2.25.

#2: Shopping Spree

Equipment cost: £1.50+

Equipment required:

• Paper: £1
• Pen or pencil: 50p
• Money: Your discretion
• Treats: Your discretion

Probably one of the most fun and efficient ways to teach children about money is through creating a ‘fake’ shop at home.

Turn a section of a room into a makeshift shop using items you know they would love such as their favourite toys and snacks, and give them some money to play with. This money could be real or fake, it is entirely your choice!

Price all the items up so it encourages the child to engage in simple maths and work out if they do or do not have enough money for certain items.

Giving yourself a really cheap shopping experience, with a lot of the equipment prices being your choice, it could cost as little as £1.50.

#3: Treasure Hunt  

Equipment cost: £1.50  

Equipment required:

• Paper: £1
• Pen or pencil: 50p

To help improve map-reading and navigation skills, why not hold a treasure hunt in your home or garden?

Create a map of your garden or home showing different area points they can find clues which will eventually lead them tothe treasure. This activity is highly stimulating as it will improve communication, teamwork skills, and encourage ‘out the box’ thinking. It will also result in a sense of achievement so don’t forget X marks the spot!

This fun activity could take some time depending on age and ability but it will only cost £1.50.

II. Mindfulness Activities for Children at Home

Understanding a child's emotions and needs is crucial as learning may frequently be overwhelming and distressing for kids.

It has been found that anxiety disorders are estimated to affect 5-19% of all children and adolescents with around 2-5% of these children being younger than 12 years old. The ability to be mindful is excellent for lowering tension and can enhance future learning.

There are a variety of calming activities that children can engage in to reduce stress and anxiety levels, including:

#1: Nature Art

Equipment cost: £1.85  

Equipment required:

• Paper: £1
• Glue: 85p

A good way of relaxing your child is through making sure children get fresh air. We all know how curious kids can be so combining the outdoors with crafts and making nature art is a great way to stimulate the brain.

Let them explore and gather a variety of different materials such as leaves, grass, rocks, sticks etc that can be found outdoors and create a piece of art or self-portrait. It keeps them busy from any worries whilst feeding their curious nature.

Luckily, as most of the materials will be outside, it will only cost £1.85.

#2: Five Senses Challenge  

Equipment cost: £1.50

Equipment required:

• Paper: £1
• Pen or pencil: 50p

This tends to be a common method to relieve someone from anxious thoughts and it’s perfect for children as they can also put their senses to the test.

Take your child for a walk and ask them to practice their senses by observing their surroundings. Get them to record what they see, hear, taste, smell and touch by either writing or drawing them. This allows them to concentrate on their body functions in a fun and educational way.

As most of this activity is about observations, cost will be kept very low at £1.50 with only a pen and paper required.

#3: Cloud Catching

Equipment cost: Free

Equipment required: Green space 

Relax your child's mind by taking them into the fresh air outdoors, lay down with them looking at the clouds and encourage them to say what they see in the sky through the clouds, pointing out any shapes and images that their mind may create. Also ask them to mention any changes to the clouds as they move along.

A  free activity that can be great for creativity and even story-telling skills. All you need is green space to enjoy this activity..