9 cheap and free things to do during the Easter holidays
As schools across the UK break up for the Easter holidays, thousands of families will be looking for ways to save money while keeping the kids entertained.
Whether you're considering a day trip to the theme park, theatre, cinema or the beach, our tips can help cut the cost of fun activities.
Here, Which? has rounded up some ways to help you fill a fun-packed calendar without breaking the bank, complete with special deals, money-saving hacks and free things to do.
1. Take advantage of cheap meal offers
A lot of restaurants and supermarket cafés offer ‘kids eat free’ deals, or something similar, during the school holidays.
Here are some of the cheapest offers we’ve seen. Some require you to buy an adult meal to qualify, but you won't need to spend more than £5.
- Asda café: Kids eat for £1 all day, every day, with no adult spend required. You can also add a free piece of fruit with kids' hot meals
- Ikea: Kids eat from 95p in Ikea restaurants, available every day from 11am
- Morrisons: Kids eat free when an adult spends £4.49 or more on a meal.
Find out more: what supermarkets and shops are doing to help with the cost of living
Restaurant and pub deals
Here are some restaurant/pub deals on offer during the Easter break. Many of them require you to buy an adult meal to qualify for a free kids' meal.
- Beefeater: Two children under 16 can get a free breakfast every day with a paying adult
- Bella Italia: Children eat for £1 with any adult main between 4-6pm, Monday-Thursday
- Bill's: Up to two children can eat a meal for free when one adult orders any main dish. Available all day for breakfast, lunch or dinner, Monday-Friday
- Hungry Horse: Two kids under 16 can get a free breakfast every day with a paying adult
- The Real Greek: Free under-12s kids' meal for every £10 spent by adults
- Whitbread Inns: Two kids under 16 can get a free breakfast every day with a paying adult
- Yo! Sushi: Free kids' meal for every £10 spent by adults
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2. Save money at the theatre
Taking the whole family to the theatre can be pricey, but there are a few ways to save money:
- Disney Magical Mondays: Every Monday at noon, a number of tickets for Disney shows (such as The Lion King and Frozen) are available for £29.50 through the Disney Tickets website (Disneytickets.co.uk) – but they get snapped up quickly.
- Enter lotteries: Some shows, including Hamilton, have lotteries you can join to try to win cheap tickets. If you're successful, you'll be able to buy tickets for between £10 and £35 for a performance taking place that week.
- Opt for cheaper seats: You may be able to get cheaper seats if you're willing to sit at the back, or in a seat with a restricted view. You can use SeatPlan (Seatplan.com) to check out the view beforehand.
- Book direct: You can usually find cheaper deals by visiting the theatre's website directly, rather than buying tickets via third-party websites.
- Love Your Local Theatre campaign: The National Lottery recently teamed up with Theatre Tokens to provide free £25 vouchers to all those with an eligible lottery ticket or scratchcard. The scheme was incredibly popular and sold out on the same day it was launched (Monday 27 March). If you were fortunate enough to grab a voucher, you’ll only have three weeks to spend it. Theatre Tokens said that any unspent vouchers will be put back on the site for new people to claim at a later date, so it’s worth keeping an eye on loveyourlocaltheatre.com.
Find out more: 21 money-saving tips for parents
3. Get thrilled at the theme park
Many theme parks are opening back up for spring and there are ways to save on the price of a ticket.
- Buy in advance: you can save up to 47% by booking tickets in advance at some attractions. For example, an adult day pass bought on the day at Alton Towers will cost you £68, but bought online will cost you £36.
- Look for coupons: selected Kellogg's cereal packs and snacks are currently offering an 'adults go free' voucher for Alton Towers, Legoland, Chessington World of Adventures, Sea Life aquariums and sanctuaries, Madame Tussauds and other Merlin attractions. The offer is valid until June 2023, but tickets must be booked in advance. Check opening times as some theme parks aren’t open yet.
- Convert loyalty points: Tesco Clubcard holders can convert points into Tesco reward partners vouchers. These can often be used to buy tickets for theme parks, wildlife parks, and more. The points value is being reduced from 14 June, so it’s worth converting your vouchers before this date.
Find out more: Tesco to cut the value of Clubcard points with reward partners
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4. Find the cheapest Easter egg
If you are looking to make savings on Easter eggs, we’ve analysed 19 popular branded Easter eggs and chocolate treats from some of the biggest supermarkets to find out where you can buy them for less.
If you have leftover Easter chocolate, you could also use it to do some baking. Rice crispy cakes, for instance, can be made in less than 30 minutes from leftover ingredients in your cupboard.
5. Make an Easter egg trail
One fun activity for youngsters around Easter is to hard boil eggs, and decorate them with marker pens or any other craft materials you have.
Once they're decorated, you can hide them around the garden or outdoors in your local park to make an Easter egg trail.
If you don't fancy making the eggs, you can buy chocolate eggs, or get some egg cases for as little as £2 and put your own chocolates inside.
6. Take a day trip
If you fancy a change of scenery, there are offers to be had when you ditch the car and travel by train or bus. Some bus fares are currently capped at £2 until the end of June, which means it may be cheaper to get to your chosen destination than by train or car.
Train companies including Southeastern, ScotRail, Chiltern Railways, London Northwestern and West Midlands Railway will allow children (aged 5-15) to travel for just £1 on a single or return journey when joined by an adult during off-peak times. Off-peak times can vary between operators, so check online before you travel.
You can also get offers from National Rail (Nationalrail.co.uk), where you can get two entry tickets for the price of one at a huge number of attractions nationwide, including The London Dungeon and Sea Life locations.
- Find out more: how to find cheap train tickets
7. Watch the latest films for less
You might be able to save money while checking out the latest blockbusters, such as The Super Mario Bros Movie or Dungeons and Dragons: Honour Among Thieves.
Most cinemas have deals on for children during the holidays:
- Cineworld’s Movies for Juniors screenings offer children's tickets for £2.50.
- Odeon Kids has a deal where the adults pay the same price as a child, with the deal running every day during the school holidays, as well as every Saturday and Sunday.
- Vue has Mini Mornings screenings from 10am during the school holidays. Tickets for both adults and children cost £2.49 each.
If the timings or the selection of films don't work for you, there are plenty of other ways to save, including:
- Dining cards: Gourmet Society and Tastecard both offer up to 40% off some cinema chains and both have 60-day trials.
- Meerkat Movies: if you buy a policy through the price comparison website Compare The Market, you can get two for one cinema tickets on a Tuesday or Wednesday for a whole year. You may have already bought a policy and not claimed the offer, so check if any of your existing policies can unlock this perk.
- Three rewards: Three customers can get two Cineworld tickets for £6 over Easter. Check your Three+ app for details.
Find out more: watch movies for less by saving money on your subscriptions
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8. Learn something new at the museum
Most museums are free to visit (although some specific exhibitions might require you to buy tickets), and many have dedicated exhibitions for children, with things such as interactive displays.
For example, Manchester Museum has a free self-led family art activity celebrating UK wildlife during the Easter holidays, and the Natural History Museum has a new exhibition opening on 31 March called Titanosaur: Life as the Biggest Dinosaur - but you'll have to buy tickets for this.
Booking in advance is recommended, especially during the school holidays.
- Find out more: best museums and galleries in the UK
9. Take part in an Easter run
Parkrun facilitates free weekly community running and walking events that take place all around the world.
The main 5k events take place on Saturday mornings, with Junior Parkrun for children aged four to 14 on Sundays. There is no time limit and no one finishes last!
You could also join a 10k race around Regents Park on Easter Monday. Entry cost £24 for adults and there is a children's race which costs £5 to enter.
The course will take you past the Money Fountain and London Zoo.
For other free sporting activities, check out your local council's website. Some offer free swimming sessions at local pools during the holidays.
- Find out more: best ways to save money