RAINY DAYS OUT THAT

Rainy Days Out that won’t break Bankthe

By Jessica Boxer

Become a museum maven

There are dozens of museums in London and Manchester that are totally free of charge. Aside from the obvious bighitters like the RAF Museum in Colindale and the Museum of Science and Industry in Manchester, some lesser-known (and less crowded) museums can be a great source of fun for little explorers. Some examples – the Museum of Hatting in Stockport, UCL’s Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology and the National Army Museum in Chelsea which has its own soft play (though you do have to pay a nominal amount for this). Many museums offer activities for parents and tots during term-time and workshops for older kids during the school holidays.

Get cultured

Spend a bit of time researching what’s on in London or Manchester and you can find plenty of waterproof and wallet-proof activities for families. The British Library runs a free ‘family station’ on the last Sunday of every month and there’s Storytime twice a week during term-time at Manchester Central Library. You’ll regularly find free or low-cost concerts and performances by students at the Royal College of Music and at Chethams School of Music. When it comes to theatre, shows at the Arts Depot or Little Angel theatre are usually much more reasonably priced than those in the West End, or if you’re up north try a family show at Waterside in Sale.

Garden centre glories

If you haven’t discovered them yet - garden centres are an underrated source of local and frugal fun for kids of all ages. The Dobbies group of garden centres runs free workshops for 4 to 10 year olds on the first Sunday of every month and there are branches in Altrincham, Beaconsfield and Chiswick. Squires in Stanmore has ‘Create & Grow’ activities for young children during school holidays whilst at Maidenhead Aquatics in St Albans you can feed the koi carp and let your little ones loose on the soft play for just £2.50 all year round.

For animal lovers

If your kids are into animals, Pets at Home has over 450 shops around the UK with regular free workshops for 5 to 11 year olds where they can learn about and handle small animals. You can check out the aquarium at Bolton Central Library, and if you time it right you could also visit the Bolton Steam Museum on one of its ‘steam weekends’ – both are free of charge. The (also free!) Natural History Museum in Tring, Hertfordshire houses the zoological collection of Walter Rothschild and is normally much quieter to wander round than the main museum in South Kensington.

Three tips for budget-conscious outings

Pack a picnic – it may sound obvious but the more you make at home and bring with you the better. Think homemade sandwiches, water bottles for all (yes, that includes you!) and an array of snacks to avoid last minute, overpriced buys. Make sure you have more than enough food in case of any transport delays and you can download the Refill app to find free places to refill your water bottle wherever you are.

Manage gift shop meltdowns – being out and about almost always involves passing through retail outlets and the inevitable cries of “Mummy, can I get this?” Simple solution – take a photo! That way they can ‘remember’ the toy or book as something they would like for Chanukah or their next birthday, and you teach them delayed gratification without confrontation. A few days or weeks later, you will likely find they are a lot less interested in the photographed item than they were in the shop.

Dig around for discounts – as your kids get older they may start requesting a ‘big ticket’ outing to pricier places like the Legoland Discovery Centre or the London Dungeons, particularly in the school holidays. So start collecting those Tesco Clubcard points now, as these can be converted into vouchers for an array of family days out. You’ll also find 2 for 1 offers on Kellogg’s cereal boxes, national rail tickets and Carex soap bottles.