A Half Term In Devon (on a budget)

Well I don't know about you but we have definitely had a busy half term week and we've also been to lots of, new, exciting places. 

This half term I had four children to look after with an age range of 2 to 8 so I not only had to find things that were suitable for all of us but also things that weren't going to cost a fortune, which is actually quite a challenge but I think I managed it quite well in the end. 

Here's what we got up to...

On Monday we spent the day at home as I actually had 5 children on this day and therefore not enough room in the car. So we spent the day doing craft activities, den building, playing in the garden and going for a long country walk.

Card Making Activities

 On Tuesday we went to Occombe Farm (review to follow) in Paignton and took part in a pirate treasure trail. It was only £2 per child which was great value and they all got a bag of buttons when they'd finished.

After the trail we headed over to Babbacombe in Torquay, to Cary Park to have our picnic and a run around. This park was great for us because it had stuff for both the younger two and the older ones to play on.

On Wednesday we headed over to Paignton again, with the intention of going to Junior Browns UV Crazy Golf. I thought that this would be a great place to go as it was a bit different, all of the children would be able to give it a go and it wasn't very expensive. However when we drove passed it was closed! Looking back now it could of been because we got there too early, we were up and out very early most days.

Luckily after we drove past there I spotted a massive park on the seafront so we went there instead and saved ourselves some money in the process.

The park is fantastic with all sorts of fun things to play on and in the summer I imagine it would be even better. It was rather nippy there with the wind coming off of the sea so we found a shelter, had our picnic and then headed over to the indoor pier to defrost.

On Thursday we went to Escot (review to follow) and had a fantastic time. It was their red squirrel day so all children were free to get in, which was brilliant! 

I have never been to Escot before and I didn't really know what to expect but I needn't have worried because it was amazing. There is so much to do and is definitely an 'all day' place.  

There's a huge maze, various parks, an indoor play barn, a saxon village, a death slide and all sorts of other things. We spent the entire day here and had some very tired little ones by the time we got home.

On Friday we had a slightly quieter day as everyone was feeling a little tired after such a busy week. 

In the morning I made a treasure hunt for the kids to do around the house with 'treasure' lollipops that they had to find. This kept them entertain for quite a while as they had to work out all of the clues.

We then went to a small, hidden, park in Heathfield that has a basketball court and a few other bits to play on. 

 After this we then went home and the kids built a den and had there lunch in it. They then spent the afternoon watching a DVD and eating popcorn. 

and there you have it, our half term in Devon on a budget. So what did you get up to? Did you find any exciting new places to visit?