8 Cheap or Free Rainy Day Activities in Basingstoke

I hope you had a fabulous Jubilee weekend but hasn’t the weather been awful for the past week? Why does it always seem to rain when the children are on their holidays from school? It’s even more galling given how glorious the weather was last week. So, if you are looking for some free or cheap things to do during this half term, I’ve put together a summary of ideas below. Do you have any other suggestions that you would like to share?

1. Visit your local library. Lots of libraries in the area have Children’s libraries with toys and books for little ones to play with.

2. Take the children to a soft play centre. There are several in the area and you can find details of them on this previous NHM post: Soft Play Centres. Also check out my previous review of Kids’n’Action over near Winersh Triangle, Berkshire.

3. I’ve raved about Nature Detectives before. They have great packs that you can download for free to keep your little one’s amused. I especially like the “Outdoor” pack which changes depending on which season it is.

4. Goobeetsa has some great free papercraft toy plans and masks that can be cut out and made.

5. Patterns for Colouring has some very cool patterns that are designed by guest illustrators and are free to print out for colouring or painting. It’s updated regularly.

6. Organise a play date with your child’s friends.

7. Story sack loans. Chineham Library have story sacks which can be borrowed from the Children’s Centre. I’ve tried to find the details about this via the Action for Children website but no luck. Does anyone know if this is still available? I think they were £1 to borrow for a few weeks, but not sure.

8. Go puddle jumping!! You need the right clothes for this though, e.g. a water proof onesie or galoshes!