KEEP your youngsters entertained this half-term with loads of techie treats – including free trips to the cinema and free video games.
We’ve pulled together some of the best free ways to keep the kids busy over the next week, and there’s plenty for you to get involved with well. You can bag free audiobooks, get brainy with entertaining and educational podcasts, and enjoy endless free telly and movies too.
FREE MOVIES
There’s loads of great TV out there, and you don’t need to spend a load of cash on top streaming services to get it.
For a start, there are some great ad-supported TV services, many of which include live channels, plus on-demand movies and shows.
Here are some of the best options for UK viewers:
- Pluto TV
- Xumo Play
- Tubi
- Rakuten TV
- Plex TV
You’ll almost certainly be able to get at least some of them on your TV or gadgets at home.
If you’ve got Sky TV, head into your MySky app and tap on the Sky VIP tile.
That’s because if you haven’t ever done that, you’ll be owed a free movie from the Sky Store worth up to £20.
So you can bag a top Hollywood flick without paying a penny.
And as a bonus, Sky Cinema customers can get free trips to the cinema.
You can use them any time from Sunday to Thursday at any Vue cinema in the UK or Ireland.
You get a pair of free Vue tickets every single month as part of your Sky Cinema plan.
You can bag those in the Sky VIP section of the MySky app too.
And lastly, there is a way to get some posh telly for free: Apple TV.
If you’ve never used Apple TV before, it’s basically Apple’s big Netflix rival.
And while Netflix and Disney+ don’t offer free trials, Apple TV still hands out seven-day trial plans.
If you’ve bought an Apple gadget recently – an iPhone, iPad, Apple TV or Mac – then you can get a three-month membership instead.
Just go into the Apple TV app within the first three months of activating your device to claim it.
And if you have a student at home, get them to sign up to the Apple Music Student Plan.
It cuts the cost of Apple Music from £10.99 to £5.99 a month.
But more importantly, it includes Apple TV for free.
Apple TV has a large section of content aimed specifically at children.
And then there’s plenty of more mature telly and movies for teenagers too (that you’ll be able to enjoy alongside them).
As a final note, Lloyds Bank customers with a Club Lloyds bank account, you can choose a full year of Disney+ for free as one of your benefits. So don’t miss that.
FREE GAMES
There are loads of great free games for you and the kids to enjoy this half-term – and I’m not just talking about Fortnite or Roblox.
For a start, both Sky TV and Netflix have stuffed their TV services with loads of free games that plenty of people miss.
Some of the Netflix games even allow you to play together at home, using your phones as game controllers.
So that’s a neat way to have some family fun without paying extra.
Amazon has literally just massively upgraded its Luna gaming service with a huge bonus for Prime members.
Luna lets you play video games without needing a console – they’re beamed to you over the internet instead.
Normally you’d need a paid-for Luna+ membership to play games.
But Amazon is now serving up more than 50 free games via Luna as long as you have a Prime membership.
That includes a hilarious Snoop Dogg AI game that sees the rapper adjudicating over court cases starring you and your family.
You all speak into the microphones on your phones to make your cases, and Snoop Dogg will respond to what you’re actually saying – and ultimately decide who wins the case.
It’s brilliant fun, and every case will be different.
But there are loads of other great family games on Luna too, so just look for the app on your TV or Fire Stick.
If you want a fun multiplayer strategy game that anyone can enjoy, consider Hearthstone.
This is a truly brilliant card-collecting battle game where you play to win with magic and might.
It’s available on your computer, or your phone or tablet, and doesn’t cost a penny.
It’s set in the fantasy universe of World of Warcraft, and you can play against each other at home.
The game is great fun, extremely easy to pick up, and will have you all thinking strategically and playing together.
As a last note, Apple runs a special premium gaming service called Arcade.
It’s packed with exclusive games that don’t have any ads or micro transactions inside.
So you can be sure that your child won’t accidentally end up buying some virtual coins – or an actual product.
Now Apple Arcade normally costs £6.99 a month, but you can get a free one-month trial if you’ve never used it before.
So that’s perfect for half-term.
And if you’ve bought a new iPhone, iPad, Apple TV or Mac recently, you can get three months of Apple Arcade for free.
Just go into the app to claim the offer within the first three months of setting up your new gadget.
FREE BOOKS
Books! They’re important!
We all understand the need to get kids enjoying books in this age of constant distraction.
And trying some free reading (or listening) options is a painless way to get started.
For a start, iPhone or iPad owners can access Apple Books.
This is chock full of free ebooks, with plenty of classics and some newer titles too.
Just load up the app and track down your free books to enjoy.
If you’re a Spotify member, you can get some free audiobooks.
With your Premium subscription, you get automatic access to up to 15 hours of audiobook listening time every single month.
So that should comfortably cover a good chunk of half-term week.
And for Amazon Prime members, you’ve got loads of options.
Amazon owns an audiobook service called Audible, which has a free tier that gives you a rolling audiobook service at no cost.
If you want to try Audible Premium, Prime members can start a 30-day trial that gives you two free audiobooks to keep – instead of the usual one.
Amazon Prime members can also read a load of ebooks for free through the Prime Reading service.
Prime Reading even includes magazines and comics, which your kids might like.
And Amazon’s First Reads scheme lets you choose one of next month’s Kindle books for free too. Nice.
CHEAP DAYS OUT
If you’ve got a mobile provider (and you probably do!), you can get some cheap days out…
Three customers can use the Three+ rewards scheme to claim a discounted English Heritage membership.
That’ll get you access to loads of brilliant historic sites across the UK.
Vodafone’s VeryMe Rewards gives you access to VeryMe Days Out, which is powered by Kids Pass.
That nets you up to 50% off hundreds of UK attractions, including aquariums, museums, theme parks, and cinemas.
And O2 customers can use the O2 Priority scheme to get 20% off tickets for Up at The O2 in London, if you want a bit of a climbing thrill.
FREE PODCASTS
Podcasts are a great way to keep your youngsters entertained.
They can be great to stick on while you’re cooking dinner together, or relaxing in the garden.
And of course, a long car drive to a half-term holiday is a great opportunity for a podcast.
For younger kids, try myth-busting podcast Bust or Trust, which investigates haunted paintings, Stonehenge, and even aliens.
And there’s Thomas & Friends Storytime, which will suit very young children.
Story Pirates is another popular option. It’s a sketch comedy show aimed at kids, and it’s very musical.
For older children and teens, a great educational option includes history podcast You’re Dead To Me.
And a more advanced (and quite fun) alternative is The Rest is History, which is better for teens and adults.
Stuff You Should Know is also a great educational podcast that covers a vast range of topics, including the origins of ketchup, the success of Minecraft, and the Catacombs of Paris.
FREE APPS
There’s a good chance that many British youngsters will gladly scroll on TikTok for the entire half-term.
And there’s obviously plenty of smart stuff on the app, if you know where to look.
But if you want some more fail-safe options, there are a few worth trying.
One great free download is Kinnu, which is described as an app for “superpower learning”.
It gamifies learning, so you choose a topic and then progress through fun courses that teach you about topics in bitesize chunks.
So it might be the Roman Empire or the history of the universe, or even art.
And each category breaks down into smaller segments, all delivered in a fun and easy-to-chew way.
Challenge your kids to complete a section over the half-term – there’s bound to be something on there that they’ll enjoy.
Another good option is Duolingo. It’s hardly a secret, but it really is very good – and perfectly youngster-friendly.
Duolingo gamifies the process of learning a language.
You probably won’t become fluent just from the app, but you can get a very good working knowledge of a language by playing along.
You could try learning the same language as your child, and then see if you can both have a very basic conversation by the end of the week.
And if you pick French, you can reward yourselves with some delicious pastries. Yum.
All prices in this article were correct at the time of writing, but may have since changed.
Always do your own research before making any purchase.