Schools out with Voucher Codes

Schools Out with Voucher Codes #VCSchoolsOut

We were invited down to London a few weeks ago to learn more about Schools Out with Voucher Codes.

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Voucher Codes is the UK’s number one voucher site, offering discounts on all sorts of things from restaurant meals to family days out.  I’ve used them a lot over the years.

The Schools Out with Voucher Codes event gave us a chance to hear more about the results of their recent white paper on Children and Family Finances.  It makes quite interesting reading, Monkey is only 4 and a half and I haven’t even considered the idea of pocket money with him.  He knows that because Mummy doesn’t go out to work, we can’t afford a proper holiday.  I try to talk openly with him about money now and will continue to do so as he grows up.  He will have to learn that if he really wants something then he will have to save up for it in the future.  Pocket money when it does come will be tied into helping me around the house!

I have to be honest and say I’ve not really found it a pressure to be able to afford things to do with Monkey over the school holidays; except for an actual holiday itself – which for us is a non-starter.  I always look for deals on days out and restaurants, we have lots of friends to visit and have play dates with and I can easily entertain my son at home.  I do understand that this pressure may change as Monkey starts school and becomes more aware of peer pressure and TV advertising!  We will cross that bridge next year.

We were also treated to a lovely afternoon of arts and craft activities.  Just to show that you can entertain children for less than £20.  We played with homemade play dough, had some great fun decorating Voucher Codes posters, playing with some construction toys, blowing bubbles and making a train out of a couple of cubes!  There was a great activity where you had a clear shower curtain and wipe board marker pens – let the kids go wild with their artistic side and then wipe it all clean at the end of the day!

Monkey really enjoyed himself and certainly went wild with the glue stick and feathers! For me, it reinforced the idea that fun times don’t need to cost the earth.  Monkey is more than happy crafting, constructing, baking and having small world play fun.  We do go out and about a lot, but actually he’d almost certainly be just as happy at home having fun.

We’d actually spent the morning at the Natural History Museum, visiting the dinosaurs. A great, free activity for kids of all ages to enjoy – more on that in a post soon!

We had a fun-filled afternoon with Schools Out with Voucher Codes and came home with a lovely goodie bag from Boden – thank you very much, and lots of ideas to help keep Monkey amused this summer.  I’m sure we’ll be baking some Jam Thumbprint Biscuits and having Play Dough fun.  I already have it in my head to make a holiday scrapbook with Monkey, and we have some cress seeds that really do need planting.  In this house, a bug hunt is never too far away, and actually, we have some Baker Ross plastic bugs that might just come in handy for this too.

What ideas do you have for cheap activities to keep the kids amused this summer?

disclosure:  our travel was compensated for this event and we received a goodie bag as already mentioned.  My thoughts and opinions still remain my own.

 

 

3 thoughts on “Schools Out with Voucher Codes #VCSchoolsOut

  1. I really like the wipe clean shower curtain idea, think I’m going to have to try that one! 🙂

  2. Our cheap activities are called, playing on the farm and helping his dad on the farm. Thankfully for pocket money, he’ll get ‘wages’ like this cousins do, from helping his dad and uncle with jobs on the farm. And if he helps me in the house for things other than what he should be doing, then he can have pocket money too.

    N’s not that excited about crafting or painting etc, so winter is a bit harder to keep him entertained when it’s not possible to go outside. Thankfully he likes reading, and has plenty of toys to keep him entertained.

  3. I love the idea of a holiday scrapbook, sometimes its nice to look back and see exactly what you did early on as six weeks seems such a long time when you are small!

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