The Mums Hub — Practical Advice for Australian Mums

Six weeks of school holidays doesn't have to mean six weeks of expensive outings. Here's what actually keeps kids occupied.

Six weeks is a long time when you're staring down the barrel of it on day one of term break, coffee in hand, wondering how you're going to fill the hours without maxing out the credit card. I've done the maths on this over a few years of holidays with my own crew, and here's the truth: the expensive stuff (movies at $22 a ticket, trampoline parks at $18 a session, indoor play centres that somehow swallow $60 before you've bought a coffee) isn't actually what keeps kids happiest. It's novelty, movement and a bit of chaos they get to control. Here's 50 ways to get that without wrecking the budget.

Free and at home

Backyard campout, sleeping bags in a tent or even just a blanket fort in the lounge room, torches, a "midnight" snack at 7:30pm.
Cardboard box town, save your Woolies delivery boxes and let them build a whole city, complete with a "shop" that trades in pretend $2 coins.
Kitchen science, vinegar and bicarb volcanoes, cornflour "oobleck," or freezing small toys in ice blocks for a dig-out excavation.
Family Olympics, egg and spoon races, sack races with pillowcases, a backyard long jump measured with a tape measure and a leaderboard on the fridge.
Baking day, a $6 packet of cupcake mix stretches to decorating time with whatever's in the pantry.
Home cinema night, doona on the floor, $3 popcorn kernels popped on the stove, pyjamas at 4pm.
Time capsule, height, handprint, a drawing of "my family," sealed up to open next holidays.
Board game marathon, dust off the Monopoly or UNO and make an afternoon of it.
Obstacle course using couch cushions, chairs and the hallway.
Letter writing to grandparents or cousins, a stamp is 65 cents and it's a dying art kids love.

Outdoors, low or no cost

Local park hopping, pick three parks you've never been to and rate them out of ten.
Bike or scooter day at the skate park (helmets on, obviously).
Bushwalk with a checklist, spot five different leaves, a bird, something red.
Beach or river day, pack lunch instead of buying it and it costs you petrol only.
Backyard cricket or footy with the neighbours.
Fossicking for shells, rocks or sticks to make nature art on the driveway.
Fly a $5 kite from Kmart on a windy afternoon.
Water balloon fight, a bag of 100 balloons is about $4.
Chalk drawing competition on the footpath.
Picnic dinner at sunset somewhere you don't usually go.

Library and community (mostly free)

Council library holiday programs, Lego club, coding sessions, craft mornings are almost always free, you just need to book.
Storytime sessions, even for the "too old for storytime" kids, most librarians run a version for primary schoolers too.
Free swap-a-book table, if your library has one.
Local museum or gallery, many regional ones have free entry or a gold coin donation.
Community centre holiday workshops, check your local Facebook community page, councils often subsidise these.
Op shop treasure hunt, give each kid $5 and see what they find.
Markets on a Saturday morning, free to wander, and a fun way to practise handling small amounts of money.

Cheap outings worth the money

Ten-pin bowling on a "kids bowl free" school holiday deal (check your local centre, many run these).
A $15 all-day public pool pass instead of a $60 waterpark.
Op shop movie afternoon, some cinemas run $6 school holiday sessions midweek.
Local zoo or wildlife park annual pass, often pays for itself after two visits.
Ice skating rink day sessions, usually cheaper before midday.
Mini golf, split the cost across a group booking if a few families go together.

The best afternoons of my kids' holidays cost nothing more than a bag of balloons and a hose, it's the "yes, let's make a mess" that they remember, not the entry ticket.

Rainy day back-ups

Indoor treasure hunt with clues written by the kids for each other.
Puppet show using odd socks and a cardboard box stage.
Photo scavenger hunt around the house using an old phone.
Learn a TikTok dance together (yes, really, it's free and everyone ends up laughing at each other).
Jigsaw puzzle race against the clock.

Boredom busters for the older kids

Set a $20 budget and let them plan a whole day out, including transport and food.
Start a small holiday "business", lemonade stand, mowing a neighbour's lawn, selling drawings.
Learn a new skill from a free YouTube tutorial, juggling, a card trick, basic coding.
Volunteer half a day at a local op shop or animal shelter (many take teens with a parent).
Cook one dinner for the whole family, shopping list and all.
Start a holiday journal or vlog of the six weeks.
Geocaching, free app, and a genuinely fun way to explore the local area.
Build something from scrap wood if you've got a shed and some old timber.
Host a "no phone" games afternoon with friends.
Plan and cook a "restaurant night" at home, complete with menus they design.

You don't need a packed calendar or a stack of receipts to get through the holidays. Mix a few free days with one or two paid outings, let the kids get bored occasionally (it's where the best ideas come from), and by week six you'll have had a genuinely good run, without needing to check the bank balance every night.