Camping with Kids - How to cope with wet weather!

We are off to Somerset tomorrow to camp for a week.

We are all very excited but as I have seen the weather forecast I am a little bit less excited than I could be.  It is hard to get things dry when you are camping and if you and your clothes get damp it can be hard to warm up again.  Children and wet muddy wellies are also not a great combination with tents and this can lead to a more stressful trip.

Some children are easier to entertain in small spaces - my son is not one of them.  Also a day can be a very long time when you are camping!

Whilst it would be great to say that I have a host of free options you can do on rainy days - the reality is that the wet weather does make the day more expensive.

However, here are some of the things we have done on particularly wet / rainy days.....

• swimming pools often have evening sessions (and lots of rural areas also have a pool within reasonable driving distance);
• a meal out - fish and chip shops with tables can be more of an event than other fast food outlets but aren't as expensive or formal as pub meals / restaurants;
• museums / local art galleries etc - often free.  Some of the national museums are huge with fantastic displays i.e - the national railway museum (York), the world museum (Liverpool); the RAF museum (Shropshire), museum of science and industry (Manchester);
• play barns can fill an afternoon - try and avoid meal times unless you want to spend a fortune!
• amusement arcades by the seaside with a big bag of 2ps (I don't think they take pennies anymore!);
• the cinema if they are not too young - look out for Saturday morning films (often £1 entrance though won't be the latest film!);
• small local attractions - we filled a very wet afternoon in a small aquarium in Pembrokeshire run by a charity.  Much cheaper then the large aquariums and it was very quirky with a games corner and an insect exhibition.
• underground attractions!  I.e. caves, mines etc.  I am not suggesting you go down open mine shafts - these are proper attractions which can be quite costly for a family but are educational, interesting and dry!  Save money by picnicking in the car!

If you have any other ideas to share I'd love to hear them as I have 3 young children (and a limited budget) to keep entertained.

But hopefully the rain will stay away (at least in the daytime) until we are back in work and school.  It doesn't hurt to be optimistic does it?!

Have a good bank holiday weekend whatever you are doing x