The summer is, theoretically, on its way and we have warm days and sunny skies to look forward to. So what do we all do? We leap into our cars and beetle off to camping grounds across the UK (and the world) to enjoy nature and each other.

The thing is, you don’t get a full camping kit with your children, like some kind of package deal. You have to spend a lot of money buying all the right equipment and getting stocked up and, for some, this can be more than a little daunting. Today I thought it would be a great idea to look into how you choose the perfect family tent along with links to some tasty, tenty deals.

On Monday, Lynley looked at the various things you need to take with you when you go on holiday with the kids. It was an essential checklist that highlighted the most important bits and pieces – some of which are very easy to forget! So, I thought it would be a good idea to look at how you can save on those silly costs when you go on holiday as a nice backup…

According to GOSIM a British family of four may spend an extra £700 over and above the usual holiday costs of food, flights, car hire and hotel bookings. These costs include things like airport parking fees, room safes, extra baggage, travel insurance and plenty more. And these costs, according to GOSIM can escalate beyond that if people have pets or use their mobile phones!

So how can you cut these costs when some of them are rather difficult to avoid?

The Flight Centre sale starts at 10am today and you’re looking at a great deal here. This flash sale has NYC for £279 all inclusive. You will need to be flexible to secure this price but it looks set to sell out really quickly.

• Click here to get some sale at Flight Centre

The Flight Centre flash sale doesn’t give you much detail on the site so don’t be too confused when all you see is a big Flash Sale sign. That’s if you arrive before 10am. After that time you should start seeing the low price and the great deal.

I’ve become rather addicted to the countdown timer. It’s very soothing. Anyway. The hints about the sale are in the deals that litter the space below it, with special offers on Sex & The City tours and Broadway theatre tickets. It gives you a pretty good idea as to what the sale is all about.

Make sure you’re ready to go at 10am to nab your discount NYC tickets with Flight Centre.

Thanks to mhood at HUKD!

John Lewis has reduced the price on these cute little picnic chairs in a bag for both girls and boys. Originally retailing for £15, they are now down to £7.50 and you can arrange to collect yours instore to save on delivery charges.

• Click here to get a picnic at John Lewis

These cute and colourful picnic chairs come with cup holders and are made with robust, wipe-clean material. The chairs are collapsible and have a co-ordinating carry bag that makes travel and camping and festivals so much fun.

The chairs are suitable for ages three to eight, or up to 50kgs, and they come in two different colours. The girls have a pink “Make a wish” motif while the boys have robots and rivets. I personally think that the “boys” chair is perfect for both genders actually, it is extremely cute and not as sweetie pie as the pink girls one.

Thanks to lucerysmum at HUKD!

The TrayKit is a child’s backpack that can strap onto plane and train tables to create an extended play surface. This particular TrayKit is down from £24.99 to only £12.49 at Sainsburys in their clearance sale.

• Click here to get a tray at Sainsburys 

The TrayKit pictured here is apparently a “boys” one but I don’t see why it needs to be gender specific at all. It can be used to hang from front seats in cars, on train and plane tables, and be extended to create a big play surface for kids.

You can pack it with pens, paper, toys, electronic games, make-up (huh?), snacks and anything else you could need for keeping the small ones entertained while you travel. It keeps everything together and stops things from rolling onto the floor.

Personally I think that this is a genius invention! If it works, that is. What a clever idea. I think it is something to be added to my wish list, especially at this low price.

Thanks to daisymeisha10 at HUKD!

Tesco has reduced this really cute Disney Princess trolley case from £20 to only £10 in their clearance sale. It is exactly half the original price and you get 10 Clubcard points at the same time. You can either collect instore or arrange for delivery.

• Click here to get a trolley at Tesco

This Disney Princess trolley case is pink with a bright and bold picture of the four Disney princesses on the front. You’ll see Cinderella, Aerial, Sleeping Beauty and Belle in their ballgowns. The case is made from polyester and has a trolley base for easy portability.

The case has a fully extendable handle for your child to drag the case through airports and other such destinations and the Disney trolley case comes with two compartments for your child to store holiday clothes and toys. The smaller compartment is ideal for books and toys to entertain them in flight.

The lightweight Disney trolley case is an ideal size for cabin luggage so they can take it with them everywhere they go. Nice.

Thanks to wishihadadonkey at HUKD!

Spring is coming. It is, I promise. I really do. In a few months you’ll have forgotten that you are now sat there with freezing feet and the fear that the reason you can’t feel your ears is because they have fallen off. Instead you’ll be standing in the garden and enjoying a brisk breeze and the smell of summer on the wind.

So what are you planning to do for your Easter break? Are you going to hunt for a last minute deal? Stay at home and tidy up the place in time for the visitors of summer? Why not grab yourself a pen and paper and prepare for a lovely spring trip that won’t cost you a fortune but will do wonders for those winter cobwebs on your soul.

How about camping, then? Sure, you run the risk of it being a damp and chilly couple of days but if you happen to have a sense of adventure and a love of squelching about in wellies, well it is both cost effective and fun.

Park Resorts have some fairly cost effective Halloween caravan breaks going at the moment and would work really well as a long Halloween weekend break if you fancy getting away from it all. The prices range from around £159 for three nights.

• Click here to get going with Park Resorts

Park Resorts are offering lots of fun and spooky activities with Halloween themed activities for the kids along with quizzes and themed parties too. For those of you who don’t have big houses or live in flats, this could be a fab way of having a Halloween party without the squash and the mess.

Over the weekend and during the week there are fancy dress parades and themed shows with caravans going in the bronze and gold categories for the weekend. You will find spots in Scotland, North East England, Yorkshire, Essex and more. There are 14 pages of these special offers and themed Halloween breaks so it may take you a while to find one!

Thanks to missgem at HUKD!

I was pleasantly impressed with this deal actually. I went to the site and did some hunting and the system is offering you the price that you see, none of that saying one thing but only delivering another that is so very common. You can get some very low priced flights to the US or Africa right now.

• Click here to get flying with TravelZoo

There are fares to New York, Miami, Johannesburg, Sydney, San Francisco and Las Vegas from around £305 (those are the NY flights). You can book from October onwards in some cases, and in others there are even cheap flights over the upcoming half term!

These discounted prices are from a number of top airlines and you are not going to end up flying via some metal and a winged camel either. Also, some of the low prices don’t have hideous stopovers so that’s a real bargain.

The cost will come in with finding places to stay once you get to your destination but if you know people over there or can find discount accommodation you get a pretty good holiday at good prices…

Thanks to tintin2k2 at HUKD!

It was just this weekend, as we lay on the lounge floor in a patch of sunlight, when I realised that there had to be more free activities than just running around the local park. My child and I were both already bored of the park and I am on a massive “scrimp no spend” mission so softplay was out. And the weather was too gorgeous for going indoors anyway.

So, I placed my child in her room with some paints and parked myself beside her and started to scope the internet for free things to do in the UK that were fun, original, different and entertaining.

First off you could take in a free festival. This does, however, demand some advance planning and isn’t really something you can leap into doing at the last minute.  There are quite a few free summer festivals up in London if you don’t mind the travel and you can find a list of them here.  If you don’t live in London, then the costs of getting yourself there may be a bit high unless you have a rail card or book well in advance.

While you’re in London you can also visit the Horniman Museum, The Scoop, and the Imperial War Museum which offer free entry and lots of educational entertainment.

Actually, on the subject of railcards, I was recently sent some information from Railcard that mentioned how anyone travelling with kids can get 1/3 off adult fares and 60% off kid’s fares if you get a Family & Friends Railcard or you can even buy a Railcard Gift Card (ace pressie for someone who travels a lot) which gives you 1/3 off rail fares for a whole year. Nice.

However, if you don’t have a Railcard or the money to get one, another excellent port of call for free activities is your local website or library. Our little town had an entire mystery weekend set out for inhabitants that lasted for two days. You didn’t have to pay a thing and could spend the time traversing the town in search of clues. It was utterly bonkers and enormous fun. And the kids were SO tired at the end of it that we could pour them into bed at night. Bonus.

Good sites to visit in order to find local activities in your area include Change 4 Life and your borough’s .gov.uk site.

The Woodland Trust has a simply awesome summer activity schedule that you can enjoy for free over the summer holidays. They have over 150 free activities and ideas as well as giving you an activity booklet in which you can record your adventures as you go. While you’re there you can also enter their free competition, find games to play in the car, and learn more about the world around you.

I absolutely love this site and all the effort that has gone into creating activities that are both informative and healthy. Love it. And you can get those little legs exercising which is so important.

They are linked to by VisitWoods.org.uk which appears to be an extension of Nature Detectives but with some extra features I rather like. They have a wood finder. How awesome is that? You enter your postcode into the bar at the top and it will find you some woodland near you.

Then you can use the activity packs and extras from Nature Detectives to go and do fun things in the woods before collapsing onto a lovely picnic somewhere leafy and green and lovely. I know that our family can’t do without a dose of green and nature at least once a day so this is a complete winner.

Day Out With The Kids is another helpful resource for parents. While I have to admit that I have not found it that good in my area, most of the recommended activities are expensive and a bit far to drive, and also the listings are not as comprehensive as they should be. However, there are enough places and ideas on there to make it worth a quick visit just in case it turns up something useful.

I also recommend Googling  “free summer activities” because literally every single council has a website touting fun things to do in their area. I won’t go into them because all you lovely PlayPennies readers come from all over the UK, but ultimately you can find some superb activities for free right on your doorstep. And that just can’t be beat for price busting fun.

Hopefully you will uncover something fabulous for you to do with the kids over the last two weeks of the holidays and retain your sanity at the same time. Good luck! 

Netflights.com are giving away a free printable activity pack for kids to keep them entertained on long and boring journeys. These packs are always quite brilliant when you have tired and fed up kids so it’s nice to get one for free.

• Click here to get your free pack from Netflights

As the days of travelling to far flung destinations (and yes, that includes parts of the UK) are here, most parents are a tad worried about entertaining their little ones while travelling. This activity pack was designed for kids to use on the plane but there is no reason why they can’t have fun on trains or cars too.

The pack includes colouring in pictures, dot-to-dot puzzles, maze puzzles, word puzzles and number puzzles. There are 14 pages in total so it will last for quite some time and you can even join in if you’re feeling a bit bored yourself.

The pack is free but sadly the colouring utensils are not, so don’t forget to pack some crayons or felt tip pens to take with you.

Thanks to lucerysmum at HUKD!

This is a really good deal for any family looking to get away from it all this coming winter. You pay £119 per person for a three night break to Prague at a four star hotel on a bed and breakfast basis on various dates in November, December or January 2012.

• Click here to get flying with Broadway Travel

You can fly from Gatwick, Stansted or Bristol airports and there are plenty of dates available for you to choose from. What makes this a really lovely deal is that you can really plan ahead and either slot it into half term or the holidays, or take some school time off. Unless your tots are not at school, then you can just nab an ace family break without worrying!

The Hotel is called U Divadla and is located is a central part of Prague. It is easily connected to all the major sights such as Wenceslas Square, Charles Bridge and Main Train Station. The rooms appear to be comfy and big enough to hold little people and their luggage.

The deal includes flights, taxes and accommodation and is based on two adults sharing.

Thanks to Mikey1610 at HUKD!

Holiday Lettings are holding their summer sale at the moment and offering up to 60% off particular breaks. I spent a good few minutes scouring the summer sale section and found some good deals on there, although very, very few of them actually offer you 60% off.

• Click here to go on holiday with Holiday Lettings

While most of the deals seem to sit in the 20% off category, this doesn’t mean it’s a pants deal. You can nab some really sweet last minute bargains here and enjoy a lovely family break without spending too much money.

The deals include areas like France, Cornwall, Wales, and Ireland. I found some really cost effective options, like a cottage that sleeps a family of four in Ireland for only £200 for the entire week. Now that is a fantastic deal! And a great opportunity to explore Ireland during the summer holidays.

I recommend taking a look at their deals although I do advise you to do so with a destination in mind. There are so many choices it is quite difficult to go through them all without losing half your day.

Travelodge has their annual summer sale going on right now with rooms going from as little as £19 a night. This is an ace deal if you can book that far ahead in advance and fancy a nice family break for a stupidly low price.

• Click here to get booking at Travelodge

The £19 deal requires that you book your break at least 21 days in advance but if you don’t have the ability to do that, or want to go sooner, then nab the deal for £29 a night that only needs you to book seven days in advance.

These rates don’t seem to apply if you plan on staying for multiple nights, though, and you have to go through their guide to find out what the best deals would be. And the search function is a bit slow and plonky. You could get the best out of this if you planned a touring holiday around the UK or Ireland and stayed one night at each Travelodge.

Thanks to rob_spencer at HUKD!

We're only weeks away from the start of the holiday season. In fact, people are already starting to take off for some summer sun. One PlayPennies mum, Clarissa (mum to two lively lads aged 4 and 2) is packing her bags today. She's taking advantage of the what might be the last chance to take a term time holiday without being fined, yelled at by the school or visited by a truancy officer!

In the coming weeks we'll be covering all sorts of ways to save money while on holiday. But to kick this off, I'm looking at the first, most important way to spend less when it comes to your holiday. Don't get scammed.

According to the Office of Fair Trading (OFT), UK holiday makes lose an estimated £3.5 billion each year to scams. What I found scary though is that the OFT also found that if you are scammed, you're 30% more likely to fall for another scam in the following year. Here's how to avoid being one of them.

Right, so this morning the awesome Lynley discovered a deal where parents and toddlers get in to Legoland for £15. Well, not even ten seconds ago an email pinged into my inbox telling me that Legoland Holidays are letting kids go in for free if you book by Thursday 30 June 2011.

• Click here to get booking with Legoland Holidays

Now, this is not Legoland itself but rather Legoland Holidays so you aren’t paying just for the day here. If you book a break throughout June, July, August, September and October, even on peak school holiday dates, then kids will go free.

A family of four can enjoy two days in the park and one night’s stay at the nearby family friendly hotel from only £119.  All of the holidays include a second day free. Legoland has loads of rides, I know this because I was poking about their website yesterday. I am going to the launch of their new Atlantis Submarine ride on Sunday (I can’t WAIT) and if it is as good as it looks, I reckon I’ll be nabbing one of these deals for the school holidays.

I think it’s pretty cool that all the theme parks are throwing special offers around at the moment. What do you think? A good way to spend your break or not?

I have been hunting for a nice little break for the family and this deal has really caught my eye. We’ve never been to Edinburgh before and this is a great price for what you get. This offer is the result of Travelodge teaming up with Superbreak to offer you two nights from £79.50 per person.

• Click here to get travelling with Travelodge

To get the deal you need to book two nights at any participating hotel from 31 March – 30 October and the price includes standard class return rail tickets from any local train station. You can either call using the number on the site or you can get these prices (and some cheaper ones) by going through the Superbreak website too.

The price is cheaper than the rail tickets by themselves and they offer you any time return so you aren’t restricted to specific travel times – something of a bonus that. The hotels are all based in Edinburgh and it looks like a simply lovely city break for anyone keen to get away from it all for a bit.

Thanks to nickspoon at HUKD!

The summer holidays are almost upon us and many of us have decided not to spend tons of cash on an overseas holiday but to rather stay at home. While this saves you an immediate bulk of cash you have to be careful not to end up spending the money on keeping the kids entertained instead. Otherwise you may as well have gone away!

This doesn’t mean that you now have to lock yourselves into the house and play cards all day to save money. With some clever internet hunting, some sassy shopping, and some smart planning ahead, you can have an amazing holiday at a discount. Even one overseas.

Don't eliminate the idea of a family day out to places like Legoland or Alton Towers. These theme parks do cost quite a bit of cash to get in but they also have bargains and discounts that, with a bit of hunting around, can save you lots of money off the entry fees.

On HotUKDeals I found a Legoland two day pass plus a one night stay in a four star hotel with free dinner, breakfast and a packed lunch for a family of four for only £164. That’s a fantastic saving. On the same deal site, Hotelshop, you can get a similar deal at Alton towers for £135.

If you plan on visiting several different theme parks over the holidays you can get a 10% discount on a Merlin Annual Pass if you buy it online right now. You get to visit places like Alton Towers, Legoland, Warwick castle, Sea Life, Thorpe Park, Chessington World of Adventures and many more for an entire year and you only pay £89pp for a family group.  The saving on an annual pass is impressive if you  are a regular theme park visitor but not worth your while if you only go once a year.

Another great theme park deal is a 2 for 1 to Alton Towers Live on 19 June – around £59 for two people to have a fab night out. Just make sure you get a baby sitter or snap up a nice little holiday deal for your accommodation if you don’t live nearby.

These savings really do make a difference when you think of how expensive it can be to just arrive on the day, on a whim, and the costs of parking, entry fees and food add up considerably. I found lots of little deals on each of the theme park sites too, so visit the sites as well to see if you can get even better deals.

Last minute holiday deals can offer you rather brilliant savings if you fancy two or three nights away in the UK. You end up discovering a part of this lovely country that you had never seen before, and you can spend some time away from home.

These deals are often sneakily hidden away on sites that you least expect so pop into HUKD, or Playpennies, to find special offers that we have happily uncovered. Or regularly visit sites like Expedia, Holiday Inn, Travelodge, and Cosmos to see if they have put something in at short notice.

A deal that I discovered this morning, one that could very well tickle someone’s fancy is a two night mini cruise break to Amsterdam for £39.50pp. That’s a really good deal and everyone can pile in and have a whale of a time and you spend less than you would have to go to a theme park for the day!

If travelling anywhere doesn’t float your boat, then there are ways of transforming your home into a holiday resort. Instead of sitting around in the lounge watching movies on the telly, why not invest in a projector, move the furniture around, and create a home theatre. Some projectors will work just as well outdoors as indoors so you can even make home drive-in on a sultry summer evening. Invite your neighbours, whip up some popcorn, have a movie night to remember. And, in case you were wondering, you can buy a new projector for as little as £100 and it will last you for many movie nights to come.

Change the way your house looks by moving things and changing the layout of the house. They say that a change is as good as a holiday and it is pretty true. I recently shuffled the entire lounge around and felt as if I was living somewhere new and exciting for ages afterwards. This is also an excellent thing to do if you are not feeling the love for your home at the moment.

You may think that I am completely nuts suggesting that you spend hours heaving heavy furniture about the house but I promise you it works. And you will feel smug and self satisfied at the end of it all.

These are just some simple thoughts on how you can enjoy the holidays and not spend a lot of money. And also not sit at home feeling like you never get to have fun anymore.  

Tesco has a 20% off sale on baby & toddler travel items for the bank holiday weekend only. If you are prowling for prams, pushchairs, travel cots and other baby & toddler related travel items, then take a look at some of the deals that they have online.

• Click here to get travelling with Tesco Direct

The baby & toddler travel sale at Tesco has some rather good deals. The Obaby Atlas V2 strollers, available in navy, purple, cottage rose, and Union Jack black, are down in price from around £99.95 to £63,96, depending on the colour and model.

The Obaby Zynergi carrycots are down from £99.95 to £79.96, the scallywags on board rolling pushchair board is down to £35.96, the Peppa Pig bed in a bag is down to £14.95, and the Phil & Ted’s cocoon carrycot is down to £39.96.

The Tesco baby & toddler travel sale also has changing bags, roller blinds, sleeping bags, travel trays, belt guards, buggy mates, raincovers, baby ccarriers and booster seats. In fact, there is tons of stuff and I haven’t scratched the surface. The discounts aren’t huge but they are decent enough.

Festival season is upon us and if you haven’t booked early to nab those Early Bird discounts, or have no idea which festivals are good for kids, then here is our yearly guide to help you find the festival for your family.

The festivals for families, or that offer family friendly fun, are getting cooler and cooler every year. There is so much to choose from that I wish you the best of luck in making your decision.

Lollibop

The first of these, the one that I am particularly impressed with, is the Lollibop Festival that is completely and utterly and totally about the kids. It’s called the big bash for little people and will be held at Regent’s Park on 5, 6, and 7^th of August 2011.

The line-up includes Rastamouse and da Easy Crew, Zingzillas, Charlie and Lola, Horrible Histories, Roald Dahl, Waybuloo, DJ Dick & Dom, Peppa Pig and loads more. You will also find an Enchanted Forest, Imagination Stations, a craft market, special areas for tiny tots and babies, food stalls and even LolliSports.

Camp Bestival

This is one festival that will really knock your socks off! Held on 28,29,30 and 31 July at Lulworth Castle in Dorset, this festival has a programme of events designed to make your drool with delight. This year you’ll find acts like Blondie, Mark Ronson, Mr Tumble, Miss Dynamite, Labrinth, House of Pain and loads more.

They have a garden for the kids and a circus field, loads of arts and crafts for kids, a fairground and loads more. You can even have a professional babysitting service watch the kids while you relax with one of the main acts.

Vintage at Goodwood

Now I hadn’t heard of this before and then some online research threw this up as a family friendly festival option and I was coloured impressed. What you have here is a festival that highlights the vintage and the wonderful, offering music, fashion, film, art and design into the mix. It is eclectic and beautiful, and a definite must for any crafty types out there.

If you have a hankering for the 50s and the 60s, want to boogie on down to roller disco or wail away with some soul, then this is the party for you.  They even have 80s inspired toys like Space Hoppers for kids to enjoy, old toys used by kids from the 50s and 60s, and loads more. With baby sitting on offer you may even find yourself throwing some shapes on the dance floor.

WOMAD

Running from 29-31 July in Wiltshire, WOMAD is a stunning place to take the kids. With plenty of activities and crafts, children are encouraged to make amazing works of art with artists from across the world. And, at the end of the festival, they take their hard work into the final celebratory procession and carry them with pride. It is a stunning event that offers parents and kids a wonderful opportunity to relax, have fun, and make something special.

I am rather taken with the Human Library – which looks genius – and the WOMAD Spa. Who doesn’t like getting pampered while on a holiday? WOMAD offers up a very relaxed and easy going atmosphere and you’ll find yourself happily making friends with other families while you amble around the plentiful activities on offer.

Underage Festival

This festival is only for teens and you, dear parent, are not allowed to come. Kids get to escape their parents (and you get to escape your kids, grin) for a day. Fantastic bands like Devli N, Dutch Uncles, Encore, Bombay Bicycle and Brother head up the acts and kids are allowed to roam free.

The Underage Festival takes place on August 05 at Victoria Park in London and runs from 11am to 8pm with tickets costing £31.50. It isn’t a huge expense and the kids will thank you for it, boy will they thank you for it.

Latitude

Based in Suffolk, Latitude is a small scale festival that is also very much about families and kids. They have an excellent line-up for children of all ages including wildlife trails, hunts, crafts, toys, drumming and parades. Parents can relax with their kids in the Parent & Baby Chillout Tent and the Baby and Toddler Tent has bounce and rock sessions.

You can get Family Camping tickets that pop you in an area free from mad young humans without kids and that has a ton of facilities just for the family festival goer. The tickets are reasonably priced for a three-day event and there are still several available.