The summer holidays can be a really long time to keep kids entertained. The cost just to keep them fed can be infinite, but keeping them entertained is wildly expensive. The cost of everything has gone up so much that a day out to anywhere with entry fees is at least £80 for a family of 4. And indoor activities are the same – everything is extortionate.

There are loads of activities you can do for free (or nearly free) though, both in and around Glasgow. I’ve made a wee list of them to help out this summer, because the weeks might be long, but the fun doesn’t have to bankrupt you. These are all things that my own kids have enjoyed, and that us adults have enjoyed doing with them.

Swimming

Swimming is our ultimate summer activity, especially on a hot day when all you want to do is cool down. There are free family swimming sessions in Glasgow life pools at certain times all during the school summer holidays. You can book these on the Glasgow Life website.

If it’s a hot day though, my kids favourite thing is swimming in a loch. Our favourite spots are Dumbrock Loch near Mugodock, Loch Lubnaig near Callendar, Milarrochy Bay and Luss on the banks of Loch Lomond, plus Loch Drunkie and Loch Chon near Aberfoyle. The pools at the Campsie Fells are lovely too.

Always take care if you’re taking kids to swim outdoors. Lochs get really deep, really near the edge and all Scottish waters are cold all year. We have a couple of life jackets from decathlon that the kids chuck on when they’re swimming outdoors. They can swim well, but this just gives everyone peace of mind and I can unclench knowing that they’re safe.

Splashing

The Falkirk Wheel has an excellent splash park with a splash pool and a play area where kids can play with and in water, with water wheels, channels and pumps. There’s a good dry land playpark here too. (There are other paid for activities available here also.)

The Kelpies have a splash park too – some small water jets shooting up out the ground. It’s near their playpark which is really excellent. My kids will play in that playpark for hours. Plus there’s loads of flat paved walkways, great for skates, scooters, cycles etc.

River walks

Go for a wee walk next to the river to cool down on a hot day. Kids will love scrambling around on the rocks, playing by the rivers edge. If you take crocs and spare change of clothes they can have a wee river walk in the river. Some easy places to have a little splash in a river are at Linn Park, Dawsholm Park, Dalmuir Park in Clydebank, Dean Castle Country Park in Kilmarnock and Chatelherault Park in Hamilton.

Again, always take care with kids when playing in water. Be aware that the water levels are very different between summer and winter (I’d never recommend splashing in any river in winter/high water levels!) and can vary if it’s been raining a lot too.

Beaches

A play on a beach never goes amiss on a hot day. You can head almost anywhere along the Ayrshire coast and have a great, cheap as chips days out. Dunure is our favourite with it’s castle, labyrinth and brilliant rock pooling opportunities. Lunderston Bay is also a rocky beach with excellent rock pooling, a lot of beach treasure and a nice playpark – especially good for younger kids.

Ayr is a great sandy beach with a playpark on the front and loads of easy parking. Irvine is our favourite sandy beach with it’s big dragon statue overlooking the coast. Troon is probably the closest to Glasgow and that’s also a lovely big sandy beach.

Boden Boo is a little sandy beach on the River Clyde right under the Erskine Bridge. It’s not massive and I wouldn’t let kids go swimming in the water (terrifying strong currents) so feet in only here! But it’s a lovely wee place to play for a few hours.

As an added extra, I always have the kite in the car. The kids love playing with it on the beach. To be honest, so do I! We’ve had no shortage of wind for the past while so I expect we’ll have it out plenty this summer. I also keep a little bit of firewood and a wee fold-away firepit in the car for marshmallow toasting at the end of a nice beach day.

Playparks

Playing in a playpark is such an easy wee activity to use up an hour or two, and get rid of some of that endless energy that kids have. I’m sure everyone will have a playpark nearby, but we do have some favourites that are worth the little bit of travelling to get to.

  • Glasgow Green – the big sandy playpark next to Free Wheel North. I always recommend this playpark because it really is a good one, and the kids absolutely love it. There are a couple of big towers with tunnel slides coming down from the tops of each of them, with all sorts of bridges and tunnels and other stuff between them.
  • Robertson Park in Renfrew is a big favourite with the kids. It’s quite varied with a big wooden play structure with ropes, firemans pole, climbing wall and a bunch of other bits, spider web climbing frame, wooden assault course stle parts, swings and all sorts. Plus it has a skate park right next to it.
  • Drumpellier has The Crannog, a wooden fort style play area with slides, ropes, bridges, climbing bits, musical toys. Excellent for younger kids and slightly older kids alike.
  • Barshaw Park has a wooden style play park with climbing walls, tall play house, ropes, bridges, logs and lots of adventure play equipment. Plus a second play area right next to it, and a little pump track too.
  • Palacerigg has two playparks. The first is right behind the visitor centre and has a bunch of different swings including a disability swing, a sandy bit with diggers and a couple of climbing parts too. It’s perfect for young kids. The second playpark is a short walk through the woods and is a tall wooden play area with lots of parts to climb, bridges high in the trees and slides to slide down. There’s also lots of adventure play equipment here too.
  • The playpark at Calderglen is excellent for kids of all ages. There’s loads of parts to climb, musical toys and smaller parts for the younger kids, plus big slides and swings and all sorts.
  • Baltic Street is quite different from any play area you’ve been to before. It looks different when you walk in, but trust me, the kids always have a brilliant time here. There are things to climb and swing on and slide down but it’s all child led and if you just let them get on with it they will have the best time.

A walk in the woods

Some days you just need a bit of time away from the traffic and a perfect way to escape is to go for a walk in the woods. There’s something magical about listening to the leaves shuffle in the breeze (or this summer more like the trees creaking in the wind with the gales we’ve been having!) The kids can make as much noise as they want in the hope that they’ll be slightly quieter (and tired) when we get home.

Our favourite nearby places for a walk in the woods within the city are Pollok Park, Rouken Glen, Dawsholm Park and Linn Park. Cambuslang Park isn’t massive, but it’s also really nice with lots of big trees around. And then you have the gorgeous Chatelherault Country Park out in Hamilton; which I know I mention a lot, but it totally deserves evey bit of praise I give it. And Mugdock out past Milngavie is also a great option for a good walk in the trees.

A walk up a hill

Slightly farther afield, there are some truly lovely family friendly walks up hills and through wee glens. I could write a list of about 50 of our favourites, because now that the kids are slightly older it’s my absolute favourite thing to do with them. But I’ll stick to the ones that are their favourites; the ones that the kids have said they really enjoyed, and those have had the least opposition from the kids on the way up!

Ben A’an is located just past Aberfoyle, over the Dukes Pass. It is without a doubt the most beautiful little hill with the best views. The kids like this one because they love clambering over logs and rocks and stuff, and there’s plenty of that to keep them going. The Whangie (pictured below) is only about 15 minutes out past Bearsden and is the perfect little hill to get started. You need to keep right on the paths on the way up and when you get there, the rock formation is really cool, as is the legend that goes along with it. This legend tells that the rock formation was caused by the devil whipping his tail as he came bombing it round the hill, raging that he didn’t get an invitation to a party Jenny the witch was throwing.

Dumyat is another pretty easy hill that doesn’t feel too difficult for little legs. It has the most beautiful views out over Stirling and the Wallace Monument. A walk up the Campsies is something I used to do when I was a kid, and it’s lovely to share that with my own kids as well. It’s the perfect hill for little legs because it’s not too long at all to get to the first cairn, and it’s grassy the whole way up.

Alva Glen, pictured below, is a walk up a glen in the Ochil Hills and is just a beautiful walk no matter what time of year you go. The walk follows Alva Burn all the way up the glen with loads of little waterfalls along the way. One you can have a swim in if you bring your stuff. If you plan to get all the way to smugglers cave, it’s worth taking the water shoes and having a wee play in the river here, especially on a hot day!

The kids absolute favourite walk in the past few months was our visit to Tillicoutry Glen. This is actually located only about 10 minutes from Alva Glen in the Ochil Hills again, and is another stunning gorge walk up a wee hill. It follows Tillicoutry Burn all the way from the bottom of the ravine to the top of the hill, with bridges criss crossing the burn as you walk up, and loads of waterfalls the whole way to the top.

Visit a nature reserve

Right in the city there’s Hamilton Hill Claypits nature reserve. There’s also Seven Lochs Wetlands out in the east of the city which takes in a few other parks like Drumpellier. Most nature reserves are slightly farther afield like RSPB Lochwinnoch or RSPB Loch Lomond. These have a small entry fee but they are worth a visit, especially RSPB Lochwinnoch which has a lovely wooden play area not far from the visitor centre.

The Falls of Clyde nature reserve, starting at New Lanark has some beautiful walks alongside the River Clyde with several sets of waterfalls to find. The red squirrel hide at Aberfoyle in Queen Elizabeth Forest Park is also well worth a visit if you’re into nature watching. I’ve never not seen red squirrels when I’ve been there, and there are also lots of birds to be seen here too.

See some animals

Who doesn’t love seeing some farm animals? Cloybank Farm, located just past Cumbernauld, is our favourite (it has a small entry fee by a little honestly box). You can buy feed for the animals here and feed as many of the different animals as you like. There’s also Tollcross Park Children’s Farm over in the east end which is totally free. Calderglen Childrens Zoo is also a lovely little zoo where you can see animals like the axolotl, meerkats, kookaburra, wallabies, Scottish wildcat, skunk and quite a few more. It’s a really lovely little zoo and well worth a visit. (This is not free but only a few pounds entry).

You can also see the highland cows in both Pollok Park and Dawsholm Park. They are part of the same herd and you’ll sometimes see more of them in one park or the other. They all seem to be pretty used to humans and will happily come over for a pat if they’re in the mood. In summer there are usually some cute little calves to see as well.

Visit a museum

If it’s a bad weather day and you just can’t face being outdoors, a museum is a great option for families to spend a few hours. Most of the glasgow museums are free, so there are quite a few to choose from. (The Tall Ship notably has recently reintroduced an entry fee so if you’re heading there just be aware of that!)

I would say that The Hunterian (pictured below) and Kelvingrove are our favourite museums in Glasgow. There’s lots to see in both, and they both have lots of natural history exhibits. The Hunterian has some medical history exhibits like body parts pickled in jars, and the kids do love a look at those. Kelvingrove is really big and has some interactive exhibits which the kids enjoy too. Since it reopened, the Burrell Collection has loads of new interactive exhibits that the kids really enjoy.

The Riverside Museum is full of cars, trams, bikes and has some great interactive exhibits for kids. St. Mungo Museum isn’t massive, but you can visit Glasgow Cathedral and the Necropolis while you’re here and turn it into more of a day out. My kids really enjoyed filling out the kids trails at both St Mungo and Riverside the time we were there. GoMA is not the kids favourite, but it is also free, and is good for a little break if you’re in town.

Other notable mentions

Tramway, located in the southside in Pollokshields sometimes has really cool exhibitions on (check their website or socials for info) and during the school holidays often host free workshops for kids/families. The Hidden Gardens is just out the back of Tramway, and is a really lovely wee space to meet up with friends. It’s a mostly enclosed space, so it’s especially good for those with younger kids, and it genuinely is a little tranquil oasis, full of flowers in the spring and summertime.

And one of my kids’ favourite things to do is take their pocket money down The Barras. They absolutely love a wee wander down here, and over the past few years have come home with some very random finds. The latest was a singing/dancing knitted cactus that also copies what you say and repeats it back to you in chipmunk, and the wee man has played with this thing and showed it to everyone who’s come into our house for the past 6 weeks. It doesn’t cost me anything because they use their own saved up pennies. (Except there are some really nice stalls down there and I inevitably find a cool bit of wall art or a cake that looks to nice to resist…)