Six cheap and fun ways to cure school holiday boredom

Thrifty mum-of-three Alix Mahy has great ideas for entertaining children in the holidays without spending much (or any) money at all.

Holiday chaos doesn’t have to cost a cent. With three kids to entertain, I’m all about free, easy wins you can do at home or around the neighbourhood. Here are the activities that actually work for us.

Turn any outing into an adventure by making it a scavenger hunt. This works for literally anything, from a quick walk around the block to a day-long family hike, or even the kids tagging along on boring errands.

Give the kids a simple list of things to spot and get them to snap a photo of each one (if you entrust them with your phone) or take the photo yourself.

When you’re back home, scroll through the photos together and relive all the little things they noticed along the way, turning an ordinary outing into a fun activity.

Kids love "helping" in the kitchen, and it’s the perfect chance to sneak in a bit of science disguised as fun. Simple activities like shaking cream into butter, making homemade sherbet, or watching yeast make dough rise turn everyday ingredients into exciting little moments. One of our favourites is making ice cream in a bag because it’s simple, hands-on, and actually delicious. Here’s our easy base recipe, you can customise it with whatever you have at home.

INGREDIENTS

Ice cream mix: 1 cup full-fat milk (250 ml), 2 tbsp sugar, 1 tsp vanilla

For freezing: 3 cups ice, 1 cup salt, 1 large zip bag, 1 medium zip bag

Add-ins/toppings: anything you’ve got. We used strawberries and crushed biscuits for vanilla, and strawberries with chocolate chips for chocolate. You can also add 1–2 tbsp cocoa to the milk mix to make a chocolate version.

METHOD

1. Seal milk, sugar and vanilla (and cocoa, if using) in the medium bag.

2. Add ice and salt to the large bag.

3. Place the small bag inside the big one and seal.

4. Shake for 7–10 minutes until thick.

5. Scoop and add your toppings.

TIPS

Use a towel for cold hands. Roll the bag with a rolling pin if shaking gets too tiring.

STORAGE

Freeze leftovers, soften slightly before scooping. Eat within 2–3 days.

A week of park-hopping is one of the cheapest, easiest holiday fillers, and kids think it’s an adventure. Pack some sandwiches or another kind of simple lunch, pick a different local suburban park each day, opting for ones that are just a short drive or walk from your house, and let the kids explore.

At the end of the week, get them to “review” each park, rating things like the best slide, the grassiest grass, or which one had the friendliest ducks. Even little kids love giving their opinions, and even a visit to a boring park can be fun when you get to give it a low grade...

Keep an eye out for free events run by local stores and community groups, because they can be absolute holiday gems.

Bunnings and Mitre 10 often host kid-friendly DIY craft sessions that are surprisingly entertaining and perfect for a hands-on morning out. You can check online for times available at your local store.

Your local library and community centre will usually have free story times, craft mornings or school-holiday activities, and regional 'What’s On' pages are packed with free events you’d never know about unless you looked.

Nothing burns holiday energy like a full-blown water play day: Set up a Hot Wheels car wash for toy cars with a tub of soapy water and an old toothbrush. Try sponge-toss targets drawn in chalk on the fence. Freeze little toys in ice and let kids “excavate” them. Mix crushed chalk with water for colourful fence or concrete painting. Or let them whip up a “witch’s brew”, mud pies or flower potions. Even a big bucket of water with kitchen utensils can entertain littles (with supervision of course) while older kids love water balloon challenges. Sunscreen, hats and ice blocks afterwards are a must.

If it’s a rainy day and you’re stuck inside, there are heaps of low-effort ways to keep kids entertained without turning the house upside down or falling back on screen time.

I love using creative conversation starters because kids can answer them however they want, drawing, building with LEGO, crafting, acting it out, or just spinning a wild story. Give them a couple to choose from, then let their brains run riot. Here are some of my favourites:

1. Invent a new planet, what grows there and who lives on it?

2. Your favourite toy comes alive tonight, what chaos happens?

3. Design the world’s weirdest ice cream flavour.

4. If you shrank to ant-size, where would you explore?

5. Create a new animal using three real ones.

6. Invent a magical backpack. What’s inside today?

7. One minute in a time machine. Where do you go?

8. You’re a toy inventor. What’s your first creation?

9. Build a house using anything except wood or bricks.

10. Open a tiny shop in your lounge. What do you sell?

Use what works, leave what doesn’t, and remember: survival is success during school holidays. You’ve got this.

For more of Alix Mahy's recipes and budget family food ideas, check out @onehandstirring on Instagram and Tiktok.