Forget climbing trees and hide and seek, new research from VoucherCodes.co.uk reveals British parents are due to spend a whopping £1.56 billion* splashing out on expensive day trips, visits to theme parks and meals in restaurants to keep their children entertained during the school summer holidays. 

 

The study, which polled children and their parents, revealed this breaks down as:

 

Activity	Cost (in millions)
Days trips – beach/parks etc.	£393m
Visits to attractions such as theme parks	£343m
Meals out	£304m
The cinema	£206m
Sporting activities	£183m
The theatre/shows	£138m

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

More than half of parents (51 per cent) admit the pending cost of the summer holidays is keeping them awake at night. One in three (33 per cent) confessed they don’t know how they’re going to afford to keep the children entertained over the long break and one in six (17 per cent) expressed concerns about covering the cost of childcare. Nearly one in 10 (8 per cent) admit to putting the cost of expensive trips on a credit card. Almost a third of savvy Brits (30 per cent) have already started saving to pay for activities throughout the six week break.  

 

The research also quizzed kids about their favourite activities to take part in this summer. Although visiting theme parks and going to the cinema remain firm favourites, parents don’t have to splash the cash as kids also rate cheap and cheerful activities highly, with day trips to the beach or park and fun with arts and crafts also making the top five. 

 

1. Visiting theme parks 

2. Going to the cinema

3. Day trips to the beach or a park

4. Playing sports

5. Arts, crafts and baking 

 

The city set to splash the most cash during the school summer holidays is Wrexham; however residents are also the savviest with 43% of people surveyed stating they’ll use vouchers to make trips more affordable. Second on the list of big spenders are families from Liverpool with Londoners in third place. Those from the capital are also the most likely to turn to credit cards (16%) to enable them to afford the school holidays. Swansea families are fourth on the list when it comes to a summer holiday splurge and York parents take the fifth spot. 

 

Anita Naik, lifestyle editor of VoucherCodes.co.uk, comments: “Move over Christmas, the school summer holidays are now proving just as costly for British families with an estimated £1.56bn to be spent keeping the kids entertained. It’s encouraging to see a quarter of families are making the most of discount deals to enjoy special days out together while keeping tabs on the pennies.”

 

“It’s worth checking out the range of discounts available before days out as there are a always a number of money-off deals on offer, from family theme park and cinema discounts to reduced travel fares, so parents can enjoy quality time with the kids without breaking the bank.’’ 

 

Research conducted by One Poll on 2,000 parents and children between 15th May 2014 - 19th May 2014

* VoucherCodes.co.uk’s research reveals that the average UK parent will spending £200 on activities over the summer. According to the 2013 census, there are 7.8 million families in the UK with dependent children = £1.56bn spent overall.