School holidays are coming up where I am and, while I've previously written advice on cost-effective activities to do at home, I thought some ideas on cost-effective outings could be useful. Kids usually ask to go places but we can't always afford to take them. Try these.....

* Go

to the local library. Most libraries have pre-school activities for free. For older kids, let them read & find books, movies, etc, they can borrow.

* Go on a treasure hunt. Write a list of things the kids would be able to find at a park (and on the way to and from the park if you can). They could collect things like a feather, leaves (different types or colours), if going by bus or train add the ticket to the list, a smooth pebble, or whatever else you can think of. Take a picnic to make it more fun.

* Go to the movies at home. My kids loved it when I set up a 'cinema' at home. I hung blankets to make the room darker and had the kids dress up in dressing up clothes (I keep old clothes for this) and made tickets. The kids (along with a friends kids) had to 'buy' the tickets from me, then hand them to me as I 'showed them to their seats', and 'bought' popcorn and drinks from me. I put on a DVD from the video store and the kids thought it was all great!

* There is always the park which kids usually enjoy. Make it more interesting by making the park into something else by use of imagination. It could be another planet and everyone else there are aliens. It could be a zoo and your kids can be different animals. If the park has a path, walk on it and pretend the grass is water and the kids must be careful not to get their feet wet. Another fun thing to do is sit with the kids and, if there are other people sitting in the park, play a guessing game of who the people are. Try to guess what sort of house they live in, what their names are, how old they are, what they do for a living. If you have paper with you, write it all down to make a story.

* This one may not be available where you live or applicable to your situation, but it's great if it does apply. Being on a pension, I get a ticket to ride buses, trains, ferries all day for $2.50. I bought it and then a child's daytripper ticket (only need one, no matter how many kids you have) for around $7 (it may have gone up since I did this, but it's not much different to that price). I took the kids on a river-cat down to the harbour, then a ferry ride across the harbour where we had lunch & the kids played on sand, then the ferry back again. Then the train & bus home. We had a day out for under $10 (except lunch which I bought so that was extra but you could take your own lunch). The kids loved it!

* Check your local council. Sometimes they put on activities that are free or at a low cost. The council website should have what activities are on during the holidays.

* Shopping centres often have activities, too, which may also be on their websites.

* If you know a few other mums with kids at home in the holidays, get a group together and go to a sporting oval with balls, bats, fisbees, etc and have a 'sport day'. Have races, ball games, etc.

There's plenty you can do to amuse the munchkins at little or no cost. Have fun!