Good morning. Welcome back to Survival Guide. 

School’s out! Children are wild with excitement for six weeks free of the shackles of homework and maths lessons (can we blame them?) but parents know the drill. It can be a challenge to keep them entertained for weeks on end, especially without breaking the bank.

Childcare costs over the summer holidays have now surged to more than £175 per week, according to Coram Family and Childcare. That works out, extortionately, at more than £1,000 for the six-week summer holiday period.

There’s also the added costs for food, especially for families who are eligible for free school meals and have that lifeline stripped away over the school break.

The Big Issue is here to help and, for the third year in a row, we’re running our Summer Survival Guide – a series of articles in the magazine and online to help parents navigate those costly summer holidays. 

In this week’s newsletter, we round-up some ideas for free things to do with kids over the summer holidays, and we’ve also got a list of places where you can get free or £1 meals for your little ones. 

If you don’t have kids yourself, you probably know someone who does, so share this round and forward it on. You never know who might need some help this summer…

Fortunately, there are wonderful schemes which are supporting families over the holidays, and there’s lots of reason to feel hope. First up, we head to a school in East London which has a “food shop” ensuring families don’t go hungry this summer.

If you have a story to share, we want to listen. Get in touch at isabella.mcrae@bigissue.com or share your story here.

Inside the primary school 'food shop' ensuring children don't go hungry over summer break

When the ‘food shop’ first opened at Mandeville Primary School, grandmother-of-two Irene was reluctant to go.

“There was a bit of stigma, at the start,” the Hackney local says. “I thought, ‘I don’t want to, I don’t want to.’ I had to tell myself: ‘Irene, you need it. Just go.’ That negative feeling changed really quickly.”

The school’s weekly ‘food shop’ is supplied by The Felix Project, a London-based food redistribution charity. Parents and carers of pupils at the school can come and take what they need, picking up fresh fruit and vegetables and other nutritious foodstuffs.

Irene cares for her two grandsons. The food shop ensures the pair get a “decent meal”.

“Everyone there, you see them happy and excited, lining up with their bags and trolleys, nattering away,” she says.

“Vegetables are so expensive at the supermarket, going up a pound here, a pound there. I get my meat at the supermarket, then often get my veg here at the shop. It is good, it really helps.”

Big Issue reporter Lottie Elton headed to the ‘food shop’. Read more about it here.

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Free and cheap things to do with kids over the summer holidays

It's important to remember that you don't have to spend lots of money to have a good time over the summer holidays.

Megan Bennett, a parenting coach at Action for Children’s Parent Talk, tells families: “Children really love being with you. They are so excited to have a summer with their siblings and parents and friends.

“Sometimes parents put extra pressure on themselves, as if it needs to be a big showy time, but actually, a movie night on the sofa is just as exciting to them as going somewhere really expensive.”

It is also worth asking what your kids want to do. They might suggest something far simpler than expected – maybe it’s having a disco in the living room, baking together or a scavenger hunt.

Here are some more suggestions to try. Why not put all your ideas in a jar and pull them out each day you want to try something new? The suspense of that will start the day off with excitement.

Places where kids can eat free or for £1 during the summer holidays

There are lots of restaurants and cafes offering deals over the summer holidays – but be warned, you often have to buy an adults’ meal, which isn’t always the cheapest.

Here are some of our favourites. Asda has a £1 kids meal deal, and you don’t have to buy anything else. It comes with a hot meal and fruit, or a sandwich, drink and fruit.

At Ikea, the kids’ pasta with tomato sauce or the mac and cheese comes with a soft drink for 95p. Any other kids meal is £1.50. At Tesco Café, kids eat free if an adult buys any item at the cafe. We have a full list of all the deals here.