Days out, activities and money saving offers for your family

It's the perfect time of year to try a day out or new activity, but your pocket may not agree. My goodness, but half term can be expensive. Now that the sun is finally shining, here are some routes to family fun that won't break your budget:

Money off at Longleat

I have never quite forgiven the monekys at Longleat Safari Park in Wiltshire for attacking our Mini, but you may be more forgiving (or less precious about your car). Book day tickets in advance via the website here and you'll get 15% off.

Discounts on a day out in Edinburgh

The Edinburgh Pass gets you free entry to more than 30 Edinburgh attractions. New this year is the Children's Scary Haunted Tour - your children might be brave enough, but are you?

A special senses day at the zoo

Colchester Zoo has announced plans for a Special Senses Day on Saturday July 2, for children of all abilities. It's a fantastic opportunity for visitors with a range of disabilities to get more involved with activities at the zoo. There will be special encounter sessions for anyone who's registered disabled, and a sensory awareness zone with touch and sniff activities, live animals and crafts.

Families with deaf children are invited to visit the National Deaf Children's Society (NDCS) Listening Bus, the UK's only touring information centre for deaf children. Over the course of the day there will also be British Sign Language Interpreted feeds and displays for hearing impaired visitors throughout the zoo. To save money, you can use Tesco Deals Vouchers at this zoo.

A Kung Fu Panda day out

The latest Kung Fu Panda film hits cinema screens this week, and there's a whole pandamonium-filled event coming up on Saturday July 9 at Althorp Estate in Northampton. Children can meet Po, the star of the film, and have a fun packed family day out culminating in an outdoor concert by the esteemed composers from the movie, Hans Zimmer and John Powell.   Tickets are available here. Save £5 on individual tickets by buying a family ticket for two adults and two children for £45.

A cut price family day out in Northern Ireland

Many Northern Irish attractions currently have two for one offers on family days out - from the well-known Ulster American Folk Park and Castle Espie Wetland Centre, to smaller attractions including boat trips, caves and walking tours. You can download vouchers for all of those here. Northern Irish schools often have different holidays to the rest of the UK, so if you're visiting you may find that these days out are less busy than you might expect.

Free first level of Lego Pirates of the Caribbean PC game

And here's some fun to be had closer to home. My seven year old has really been enjoying Lego Pirates of the Caribbean, which brings together the classic building toy with Jack Sparrow's scurvy dog crew. Now, you could pay around £30 for this video game. Or you could make do with the first level which is available  to download legally for free from here.

Free relaxation exercises for children

And finally, after a busy day out, you may need some help calming the family down. Relax Kids offers a range of products and services to help children become calmer - my children enjoy reading the mediataion exercises which we've found to be very good for chill out time just before bed. The Relax Kids website offers a free 21 day ebook programme containing relaxation exercises for children aged five to 9. If your child is wound up by worries at home or school, this could be ideal to calm them down.

Let me know if you spot any good bargains you'd like to pass on to other parents!

Picture posed by models, we're not sure if these characters will show up on any of the days out mentioned. But we hope so.