School holidays can be expensive. Jo Haywood comes up with some cheap ideas to keep your children happy (and you teetering on the right side of sanity) until September.

IT'S not enough that you have to spend more time with your kids during the summer holidays, now it has been revealed that you have to spend £2,200 of your hard-earned cash as well.

According to figures released by the National Lottery, this is the average cost of entertaining your off-spring during the six-week break. About £460 is put aside for childcare and unpaid leave, but the rest is spent on days out, treats at home and sporting activities.

The cost of a family holiday isn't included, but would probably push the total past £3,000, which is a figure to scare the life out of your average penniless parent (and one which we will never mention again).

The study was carried out for the National Lottery by the parenting organisation raisingkids.co.uk.

"We just don't appreciate how much money school saves us," says its founder, Dr Pat Spungin.

"It's quite a new thing, and is a question of supervision, because most parents aren't happy to leave their kids out having fun on the streets unsupervised like they used to. Instead, they look for alternatives, and they cost money."

To ease your burden this summer, we've put together a guide to great things for kids today that don't cost the earth...

Cheap and cheerful events on your doorstep...

The National Railway Museum (01904 621261)is free all year round, although you do have to pay whenever Thomas The Tank Engine comes to town. Kids love the train rides, the hands-on activities and the models. Parents love the fact that it is virtually impossible for their kids to break any bits off the big engines.

Jorvik Viking Centre (01904 543403) is hosting a number of free events during the summer holiday including the Giant Viking Games, a viking encampment and a display of viking warfare. Who better to babysit your children than a gang of marauders bent on raping and pillaging?

If your children are forever bringing you lovely gifts from the garden - ancient cat poo and shrivelled up spiders - why not let them loose at Fountains Abbey (01765 608888) where they can take part in the daily butterflies and caterpillars trail and get creative in the subsequent workshop? Normal admission charges apply, but the trail and workshop are free as the birds (butterflies and caterpillars).

Clifford's Tower (01904 646940) is marking the 400th anniversary of Guy Fawkes and the Gunpowder Plot by offering weekend guides by a costumed woman from 1605 who tells tales of the crimes, torture and punishment of York's most infamous son. Admission is £2.80 for adults, £1.40 for children.

The extraordinary tale of two female pirates is being brought to life at Scarborough Castle (01723 372451) from August 29 to September 2 with short, sharp presentations by costumed interpreters from the Royal Armouries. Be prepared to hand over £3.30 for adults, £1.70 for children.

If you were bewitched by Roberta, Peter and Phyllis and their adventures as The Railway Children, you can spend some time in their company at Pickering Castle (01751 474989) on August 27 when their tale is retold by the Storytellers' Theatre Company. Admission is £4 for adults, £2 for children.

Calling all dinosaur spotters! Whitby Abbey (01947 603568) is hosting drop-in sessions throughout the summer associated with the wonderful fossils of the Dinosaur Coast. For only £2 (£4 for adults), junior Jurassic Park fans can make fossil plaster casts, ammonite mobiles and take part in a variety of other road-show activities.

How do you fancy wading your way through the stream to find aquatic mini-beasts at The Bridestones (01751 460396) in Dalby Forest on August 4? All you will need are £1 per person and your wellies.

Marsden Moor (01484 847016) will be the site of a teddy bears' picnic on August 21. There will be a wide range of teddy-related activities including a teddy trail, a best dressed teddy competition and the opportunity to make a teddy all for 50p per child.

:: Where will you be going this summer?

90 per cent of families plan to visit the seaside this summer and 86 per cent are off to the countryside

a zoo or animal park will be the destination of 81 per cent, while 70 per cent will go to a theme park or adventure playground

74 per cent will be heading for a fair or exhibition

48 per cent will choose a stately home or castle

54 per cent will enjoy a leisurely jog to a sports or leisure centre.

Updated: 11:40 Tuesday, August 02, 2005