Saving on Indoor and Outdoor Entertainment over Easter

You can tell there’s a Bank Holiday coming up by the way the weather has been behaving. Sun, rain, snow and high winds; it’s been a bit like a roulette wheel as far as the climate has been concerned. Whatever the weather brings, if you’re looking to save some money on childcare and entertainment over the holiday weekend, the Spy has come up with a couple of ideas for you!

Egg Treasure Hunt
• First you’ll need some prizes, so check out offers available on chocolate and all things egg-like at the supermarkets. If you are going for delivery, book now, and if not it’s time for a last minute dash to the shops. Prizes will inevitably be of the chocolaty kind, and create a basket or box for each child.

• Go boil you’re eggs – obviously not the chocolate kind. You’ll need an egg per clue and some different coloured food colouring. Boil the eggs till solid, and add about 20ml of colouring per batch. You may need quiet a lot of eggs for this, so again check out the cheapest deals on offer. If you don’t want food colouring cluttering up your shelves for the rest of the year you can use onion skins, which create a mottled effect.

• Now decorate each egg with colourful spots cut out from paper and stuck to the surface, or alternatively, you can buy shaped stickers. WHSmiths should have a plentiful supply of craft items and check out their free delivery offers. You’ll also need to cut out oval egg-shaped clue cards to confound the little darlings. The more difficult the clues the more chance of holding of the sugar rush, but don’t hope for much peace and quiet in the meantime.

• Hiding places need to be appropriate for the age of the children; toddlers should not generally be directed to high and dangerous places – they can find those for themselves – while obvious places for teenagers will mean a sudden return of door slamming and sulks. Garden sheds, garages, lofts (if appropriate), airing cupboards, shoes, bathrooms and domestic appliances are all good places and are easy to create clues for!
Days Out and Last Minute Breaks

• If you need to recover from the mayhem a trip to the cinema won’t go amiss. Early showings are the best way to get the most for your money. Screenings before twelve usually attract a discount of up to a third which means you get to neutralise three of mummy’s little terrorists for the price of one – for a few hours at least. This is also a good way to keep them entertained if the weather does what it does best over a bank holiday.

• If you have time off over the Easter school break and didn’t book a cheap holiday in advance it is still worth looking for last minute deals around the UK. Any remaining places at hotels or cottages will be heavily discounted by Easter weekend, which makes it the perfect time for the last minute bargain hunters amongst us to grab a bargain and spring a surprise short break on the whole family! Happy Hunting!

Written by The Spy, 10 April, 2012 - 05:19