According to a survey conducted by a discount voucher website, a large number of parents dread the school holidays due to the expense of entertaining their children. The discount voucher website questioned 1,192 parents to discover more about the attendance of children at out of school activities.

A third of parents questioned said their children didn’t take part in activities outside school, while 24 percent said their children occasionally attended activities away from school. When questioned about the reasons for not going to out of school activities, more than half the parents admitted they were trying to cut costs and had to stop their children going to activities. Another 8 percent of parents said that they just couldn’t afford the cost of activities outside school.

Although parents can’t always afford the cost of children taking part in activity sessions outside school, it is still important to engage them in some form of exercise and relaxation when on school holidays. Although vacations are often expensive out of term time, a low cost weekend away in the UK can ensure kids stay active, while all the family have fun. A city break, even in a relatively expensive area like Cambridge offers the opportunity for punting on the river, bike riding, visiting museums and gong to an open air theatre. There are a host of Cambridge hotels to be found that can offer leisure facilities and healthy food.

As childhood obesity levels continue to rise, it’s crucial that children take part in out of school activities. However, parents can feel under a great deal of pressure to provide suitable activities and holidays on a budget. A weekend break in a rural area will provide low cost entertainment for all the family.