Easter activities on a budget: 15 ways to have DIY family fun with the kids this Easter holiday!

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Looking for some Easter activities on a budget? Then you’ve come to the right place! I actually really love Easter – loads of fun to be had with friends and family, spring weather and none of the expense and stress of Christmas!

Whether you’re looking for a printable Easter egg hunt, craft and activity ideas for the kids, recipes or cheap family days out, here are 15 ways to have DIY family fun on a budget with the kids this Easter holiday:

1. Do some Easter craft with the kids

The 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 a rainy afternoon decorating the house. Check out my cheap and easy Easter craft article for lots of ideas – from egg blowing to Easter wreaths – there’s something for everyone!

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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! (It’ll keep them occupied for ages too!)

2. 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 last year!) 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!

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3. Buy cheaper Easter eggs

If your kiddies are anything like my two, they won’t give a hoot about whether their chocolate eggs come from Thortons or Aldi! So be sensible about what you buy and, if you’re buying branded, look for sales and offers. Usually buying really early or really late will get you the best deals – most of the supermarkets will have chocolate reductions at some point over the Easter period.

4. Do a DIY Easter Egg hunt at home

I’ve never met a child who doesn’t adore a trail or treasure hunt! 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 hollow plastic eggs to hide in the house or garden (places like The Range, Home Bargains and Poundland sell these really cheaply) and fill with clues or treasure – remember to store the eggs to use again next year too! 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 – it’s that easy!

5. 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. 😅

Easter holiday activities on a budget, 15 ways to have DIY family fun with the kids, frugal mum tips, photo, children on walk

6. Set up an Easter themed escape room

Finn and Lola love an escape room challenge, it’s such good fun. Why not make an Easter themed one for the kids to complete at home? Take a look at my escape room post for some ideas for creating your own a DIY escape room. Maths questions, missing song lyrics, anagrams, puzzle pieces and wordsearches work well as a simplified version for the little ones.

7. Do some spring time planting

Spring is the perfect time to grow some vegetables or flowers, so buy some cheap seeds and get planting! My two love growing things (especially Lola!) and it saves us a fortune in the summer when we can eat our own veg. You don’t need a vegetable patch or tons of room, a pot with a cane is a great place to grow green beans or tomatoes. And, lettuce leaves will grow like weeds in a shallow pot or even an old gutter!

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8. Bake some Easter treats

Cookies, hot cross buns or mini-egg cupcakes – which one sounds the tastiest?! Or perhaps you can make them all! Roll up your sleeves and get the kids busy in the kitchen cooking some delicious treats. (Though I have to admit our cooking looks nothing like this by the time the kids have finished decorating them! 😂)

Remember you can freeze them all too, so you can keep some spare aside for guests over the Easter break – just take them out in the morning and they’ll be defrosted by lunchtime. Check out my tasty, simple Easter baking recipes that the kids will love.

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9. Hunt out cheap ‘Easter Veg’

Just like at Christmas time, the supermarkets all battle to sell the cheapest Easter veg the week before Easter. Have a quick check online to see which supermarket is doing the best deals and plan your meals around what’s on offer – you’ll save a fortune if you’re feeding a big family. (I always buy extra veg too for casseroles and soups to fill the freezer for the month ahead!)

10. Make an Easter egg piñata

Easter is actually the perfect time for a DIY piñata – 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!

Check out my post for more info: How to make an Easter egg piñata.

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11. Enjoy cheap family days out

There are loads of ways to enjoy the Easter holidays without spending a fortune. You could use Blue Peter badges (the kids can visit over 200 UK attractions for free!), Kids Pass discounts or Tesco Clubcard vouchers to have some cheap (or free!) days out with the kiddies. In fact, I’ve come up with 20 ways for you to have fun without breaking the bank, check out my post for more info: Cheap UK days out with the kids: 20 ways to have fun on a budget in the school holidays!

12. Have a ‘bring a plate’ get together

Hosting an Easter lunch can be expensive and hard work – even if you’re a good bargain hunter, it soon adds up. Lessen the burden and the cost by asking your guests to bring part of the meal. We do this in our family and it’s good fun too – so each make a course and enjoy the surprise! My lemon posset recipe or the Easter bunny’s carrot cake make perfect themed desserts!

13. Try an in-store school holiday workshop

These workshops are the perfect way to get the kids out of the house when the April showers begin! Here are the links and info you’ll need:

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: This year, Hobbycraft are running lots of Easter workshops for Easter cards, bonnets 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.

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14. Host an Easter quiz

If you’ve got friends and family visiting this Easter, why not host an Adults vs Kids Easter quiz that everyone can enjoy? This Easter themed trivia will keep everyone occupied whilst the roast dinner’s cooking! Download my quiz here: FREE, printable family trivia Easter quiz (with answers!) – Adults vs Kids.

15. Look for local Easter events

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!

And a reminder…

Keep plastic eggs, Easter baskets, banners and anything else that you buy (or make) ready for next year. Re-purchasing everything is a waste of money and a bad idea for the planet too, at a time when it’s vital that we reduce our waste. Label a sturdy box and make sure everything goes into the loft when you’ve finished.

Also if you love daffodils in your garden, or on your table at Easter time, you’ll need to think about it towards the end of the year. Bulbs need to be planted between October and December ready to appear in the Spring, so set a reminder on your phone and next Easter you won’t need to buy any flowers! And, once the bulbs are in, they’ll come back year after year – that’s a great investment!