If you pick up a Yorkshire Evening Post this Saturday you will see my first monthly column in there ** EXCITED**
So as promised in my column, here’s a blog about things to do with the children to make the Summer Holidays as fun as possible.

If you want some free fitness and sport activities tips too, just click here

1) Facebook is your friend
Now I don’t mean stay indoors and waste your time scrolling your news feed (leave that to some of us journalists in the news room) BUT it is a brilliant oasis of things to do in your area this Summer (and lots of free stuff too!). Just search in Facebook ‘Things to do in… (name of your rea)… for example this is the Wakefield group
And join other groups in your area such as your local NCT group, ours run a Summer Sanity series of events run by volunteers throughout the holidays.

I also run kids dance classes and women’s  Bellydance classes here (just this plug!)

2) Check out your local church:
Whether you go to Church or not, a lot of lively churches run a variety of activities from Messy Church sessions to summer fetes and festivals. And most churches are online now too, check out: https://www.achurchnearyou.com/ or google your local church or pop in.
Our church in Wakefield is running weekly Thursday Soul Days in Portobello, Wakefield full of crafts, dance and sport.

3) Buy the local paper (at least weekly)
Yes, I’m a newspaper hack so I’m obviously biased BUT buying your local paper weekly means you can check the listings, community pages and local stories to find out what’s going on in your local area all in one paper rather than scrolling through everything online.
Or if you’re still reluctant to buy the paper, find them on social media.

4) Check your local council
Council’s aren’t just for collecting taxes. A lot of councils run free events throughout the Summer from sports in the park to city centre challenges. And in Wakefield, Castleford, Leeds and Sheffield (and elsewhere) the council puts on Seaside events so it means you can experience the seaside without the journey.

5) Check your local theatres and art galleries as they too will be putting on events, summer schools, shows and lots of family-friendly activities.

We’re lucky to have the Hepworth gallery on our doorstep alongside the Theatre Royal and Wakefield One Museum.

I’m aware my things to do are predominately Yorkshire-based…
So I’d love you to link up your posts on things to do this Summer please comment below with your links 🙂

For more tips and ideas for things to do this summer log on to: mamamei.co.uk
Follow Sophie on Twitter @MamaMeiBlog and Facebook