9 brilliant ways to have half term for free – from a cash-savvy mum who manages to save £24k a year | The Sun

A SAVVY woman has shared her top nine tips to enjoy a free half term break with the children. 

Kel Galavan is a mum and a money mindset coach and often shared her top tips and tricks with the masses. 


“A few years ago, if you had told me that I'd be running a successful business, have all the time I wanted with my kids, and not have to worry about money – I wouldn't have believed it,” she told Fabulous.

Kel worked a £90k-a-year job for 16 long years. Despite the comfortable living she was making, she was miserable. 

She explained: “I made one of the most significant decisions of my life – I quit my job. We crunched the numbers and figured we could make it work on one salary, but it meant making sacrifices.

“And that's when the "No Spend Year of 2019" was born. We cut back on everything and only spent money on the essentials. It wasn't always easy. But eventually, we found our groove. 

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“In one year, we cut our spending by a whopping £24k and had the best year of our lives.”

Now, she firmly believes that having fun doesn’t mean you have to break the bank. And in an attempt to prove it, she’s shared her top tips to have an unforgettable half term break with the kids… for free. 

Spooky Halloween Tale Night

Create an eerie atmosphere with haunted decorations and cosy seating. 

Start with a captivating prompt, like a hidden graveyard mystery, and let friends take turns adding to the tale. 

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Pass the storytelling torch, embracing mysterious elements, Halloween themes, and sound effects. 

Consider recording it on an old tape player to create a memorable, crackly tape to add to the eerie effect. 

DIY Escape Room

There's no better time of year to transform your home into a spine-tingling escape room with eerie decorations and dim lighting. 

Choose a spooky theme and create an engaging backstory to set the scene. 

Create puzzles and challenges, complete with clues and hints to guide your little adventurers. Then set a time limit for added suspense. 

Include a tempting reward for a job well done, and remember to act as the game master and keep them on their toes. 

Halloween Mystery Meal Challenge

Turn your kitchen into a haunted cooking area. 

Kids dress up in their spookiest costumes as they're handed mystery ingredients like candy corn, pumpkin puree, and gummy worms to whip up chilling culinary concoctions. 

Challenge them to create a "Witches' Brew" from ingredients like apple cider, cranberry juice, green food colouring, and craft haunting treats using pumpkin, marshmallows, popcorn, and chocolate chips. 

The judges rate the dishes on taste, presentation, and creativity. 

Photography Scavenger Hunt Adventure

Elevate your children's October half term with a Halloween-themed photography scavenger hunt. 

Create a list of spooky clues and eerie subjects for them to capture, like jack-o'-lanterns and cobwebs. 

Get them to dress up as ghost hunters, and consider dimming the lights or heading outside for added ambience. 

After the hunt, enjoy a 'photo reveal' session, and reward the most skilful ghost hunter with a prize. 

History Spooktacular

Halloween is the best time to delve into local history, explore ancient sites, and dress as historical figures. 

Cemeteries, castles, manors and forts share eerie legends and unexplained mysteries. Unearth local myths and legends. 

Consider rounding off your adventure with a visit to a free museum visit. 

It's a unique blend of history and Halloween-themed activities that will make this half term break an unforgettable and enlightening experience for all the family.

Outdoor Movie Night and Campout

Transform your garden into a Halloween wonderland with a DIY outdoor cinema and camping adventure. 

Set the stage with ghostly decorations, a projector, and a white sheet for a Halloween movie screening. 

Cosy cushions, blankets, and Halloween costumes make it an enchanting movie night. Invite lots of friends. 

Depending on the weather, extend the excitement with indoor or outdoor camping, toast marshmallows, stargaze and enjoy a midnight snack. 

It's a magical and memorable way to celebrate half term, blending the spookiness of Halloween with outdoor adventure under the starry October skies.

Spooky Science Lab

Create eerie fun with experiments like Elephant Toothpaste, slime with a Halloween twist, Exploding Pumpkins, a Glowing Potion or Mummified Apples. 

These hands-on activities are entertaining and educational, immersing your kids in a world of scientific wonder and spooky surprises. 

Geocaching Adventure

Have a Geocaching Adventure with a Halloween twist. Using a geocaching app, search for Halloween-themed treasures. 

As you explore local parks or forests, tell stories of ghostly guardians and magical spells, adding to the adventure's excitement. 

It's an outdoor exploration fostering teamwork and camaraderie, making it a unique and thrilling Halloween experience for the whole family.

Haunted Volunteering for Little Ghouls

Fusing fun and kindness. Transform volunteering into a thrilling adventure: "Haunted Volunteering." 

Dress as spooky characters and lend a hand at local animal shelters and food banks or help neighbours in need. 

Teach kids the value of empathy and giving back. To elevate the spirit, merge trick-or-treating with kindness, collecting for a cause in costume. 

Clean up a park in "Ghostbusters" overalls or tend a garden dressed as tree spirits. Add an element of mystery with a food drive, where kids guess donations' contents before delivering them. 

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As we head into the October half term break, remember having fun doesn't mean breaking the bank. 

Whatever activities you choose to do, mix Halloween's spookiness with outdoor adventures and have a spooktacular and budget-friendly holiday!

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