10 ways to have budget-friendly fun in the Easter holidays with kids

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If you’re looking for ways to have some budget-friendly fun in the Easter holidays then you’ve come to the right place – I’ve been thinking of ways to entertain the kids whilst keeping an eye on your wallet. From discounted days out, to Easter egg hunts, in-store workshops, lambing, nature trails and even family holidays for under £200 – luckily there are plenty of ways to have fun on a budget with the kids while they’re off from school. Let me know what you’ll be getting up to, and here are my top 10 ways to have budget-friendly fun in the Easter holidays with the kids:

1. Take the kids to see the lambs

So many farms offer free (or cheap) lambing experiences over the Easter holidays – they usually pop up on Facebook every year. My children adore going to see the lambs (I’m pretty sure cuddling this little cutie was the highlight of Finn’s Easter!) so see what’s available in your local area and enjoy a magical inexpensive day out. Just make sure that you wear your welly-boots!

2. Save on the big attractions

Never pay full price for your days out with the kids without having a good hunt around for the best offers! Lots of reward schemes and discount providers offer brilliant savings to make your family adventures more budget-friendly, so here are some ways to save money on the pricier activities and attractions if you’re out and about over the Easter holidays:

Tesco Clubcard points: Lots of popular attractions are part of the Tesco reward scheme so save your points and you could visit for free!
National Rail 2-for-1 offers: If you’re travelling by train you can get 1/3 off or 2 for 1 tickets on loads of attractions when booked through the National Rail 2 for 1 scheme.
English Heritage: English Heritage memberships can be a great investment; once you’ve signed up you can use them time and time again for free days out. Payments can be made monthly so that they don’t seem too overwhelming – family memberships are usually about a tenner each month.
daysout.co.uk: The daysout.co.uk website offers discounted tickets for family-friendly days out with the kids all over the UK – so it’s worth checking their current prices for the places you’d like to visit before you book.

Kids Pass: You can sign up to a Kid’s Pass trial for just £1 to access discounts on days out and eating out all over the UK.
Supermarket promotions: Cereal brands like Kelloggs run promotions for discounted tickets (things like 2 for 1 tickets) for days out with the kids by purchasing specially-marked boxes so look out for these in the supermarket.
Blue Peter Badges: Blue Peter Badges are awesome because the kids can get in for free at over 200 UK attractions – literally halving the cost of your family days out! You can use them at places like ZSL London Zoo, The Tower of London, the HMS Belfast, The Heights of Abraham, The Eden Project, The London Bridge Experience and loads of other places – read more about it here: How can my child get a Blue Peter Badge?
Multi-attraction tickets: Look for combination tickets to get the best deals. For instance, Merlin have five main London attractions with each typically priced at around £30pp, but book a multi-attraction ticket and their 5 attractions for £69pp offer works out at just £13.80 per attraction! (This includes SEA LIFE London Aquarium, The London Eye, Shrek’s Adventure, Bus Tours, Madame Tussauds and the London Dungeon.) You get 90 days to enjoy your chosen attractions so it’s worth buying in bulk.

3. Enjoy the outdoors

There are plenty of free places to visit this Easter, so get some fresh air and have some quality family time. Head for a walk along the beach, pop your wellies on and have a ramble in the woods, or visit a local country park. Family memories don’t need to cost money – kids don’t need expensive days out, they just need time. You could even take a picnic and some little eggs to hide, just remember where you’ve put them. 😅 Geocaching is great fun too – you can find a new route on your phone to keep the kids amused while you’re out walking.

4. Try an in-store school holiday workshop

In-store workshops are typically free or very cheap, so it’s the perfect way to get the kids out of the house even if the weather isn’t on your side. These are some of the most popular ones, and you might even find some with an Easter-themed twist!

Pets at Home run free small-animal workshops throughout the year, including during the school holidays. These are designed for children aged 5-11 years – see what’s available near you.
Hobbycraft run lots of Easter workshops for things like Easter cards, bunnies and treat buckets too! Check out what’s available at your local Hobbycraft.
Dobbies Garden Centre run free plant and nature themed workshops, and spring is the perfect time to attend; take a look at what your local Dobbies has to offer.

5. Look for local Easter events

Is it even Easter if you don’t do an Easter egg hunt?! Often there will be free or cheap activities happening in your local area – so have a look online and ask around to hunt them out. There might be an Easter trail, a fete, scavenger hunts around the shops (our local town does this for free most school holidays) and libraries, schools, youth clubs and children’s centres will often have lots going on to keep everyone busy too!

6. Visit the capital

There are loads of FREE things to do in London with the kids, even if you’re not a fan of the museums, so you could plan a budget-friendly trip to the capital over the Easter holidays. From playgrounds, to lidos, to farms and zoos – there’s something to entertain everyone. Make sure you read my post on the best 10 free days out in London with the kids for more info. Pack up some lunch and you can have a totally free day hopping from place to place. With the weather improving as spring arrives there’s no better time to explore the city – and you can even join in with the 2025 giant egg hunt!

7. Book a last-minute Easter getaway

If you fancy a few days away this Easter, I’ve seen some great UK staycation deals and lots of the holiday parks will be running Easter-themed activities and kids’ clubs to entertain the little ones. Parkdean Resorts, Away Resorts and Haven Holidays have all got some last-minute 3 or 4 night family getaways from around £200 which is really cheap for the school holidays. And, if you’ve got a slightly bigger budget, both Parkdean Resorts and Away Resorts are well known for having some great hot tub holiday options if you’d like a little bit of luxury this Easter! If you want to escape the UK – Eurocamp even have some bonkers Easter holiday prices with 7 night stays from around £125 per family – that’s less than £18 per night!

8. Hunt out restaurant deals

Lots of restaurants and supermarkets offer cheap kids’ meals, or daytime saver menus – so you can enjoy a family meal when you’re out for the day without spending loads of money. For instance: kids always eat for £1 at Asda; kids eat free at Morrisons with an adult meal purchase; Toby Carvery offer kids’ roast dinners from just a few pounds; and the IKEA Café offers meals from 95p. Plenty of places offer ‘children eat free’ deals or £1 meals during school holiday times too – so have a google before you go, and plot meals out around the best prices!

9. Have a crafternoon with the kids

There’s nothing wrong with just chilling at home either – most kids love an excuse to do craft so, instead of buying expensive decorations or cards, get the little ones on the job! Raid the recycling and the craft box, and spend an afternoon decorating the house for Easter. Paper chains are so easy to make and my two love them. Download my free printable Easter paper chain strips – print onto coloured paper and get the kids to colour them in – you can make the house beautiful and Easter ready with just a few bits of paper!

You could also get your bake on, making lots of Easter treats like mini-egg cookies, carrot cakes (for the Easter bunny) or bunny shaped biscuits. And, instead of waking up to their Easter goodies, why not get the kids hunting for clues to earn their chocolate to make Easter morning more fun? Buy some cheap hollow plastic eggs to hide in the house or garden and fill with clues or treasure. For a quick and easy pre-prepared Easter Egg hunt, just use my free printable trail kit to get you started – simply print, cut out and hide around the house.

Easter is actually the perfect time to make a DIY piñata too – balloons make a great egg shape with paper-mache, and filled with yummy goodies it’s a fab Easter treat for the kids. They can spend a fun afternoon creating and decorating it – and then have even more fun destroying it with their friends or cousins over Easter weekend!

10. Host an Easter event at home

Hosting an Easter lunch can be expensive and hard work so lessen the burden and the cost by asking your guests to bring part of the meal. Or if you’re cooking a big family roast, the supermarkets all battle to sell the cheapest vegetables the week before Easter so stock up when they’re reduced to pennies. You could also set up an Easter themed game or a DIY escape room to entertain your guests, or host an Adults vs Kids Easter quiz. My Easter themed trivia will keep everyone occupied whilst the roast dinner’s cooking – you can find it here: FREE, printable family trivia Easter quiz (with answers!) – Adults vs Kids.

Whatever you get up to over the Easter holidays, I hope that you have a brilliant time with the kids – on a budget of course! And, a quick reminder to keep plastic eggs, Easter baskets, banners and anything else that you buy (or make) ready for next year. Label a sturdy box and make sure everything goes into the loft when you’ve finished so it can be used again and again. Have fun! 😍