At last! It’s the school summer holidays, the long break you’ve been waiting for. The first couple of weeks are fuelled by a sense of freedom and endless relaxing days stretching ahead of you. Wait a minute though. Six whole weeks? How are you going to stop the kids from killing each other?

You can’t spend every day on expensive trips to the seaside and fun parks: not without declaring bankruptcy by September!

Invest in a couple of giant outdoor games and get them out in the garden for some small budget fun.

Most toy shops and garden centres sell the traditional Skittles and Jenga and you can easily find outlets offering scaled up Connect 4 and big board games like chess and dominos. Or you can get creative and make DIY versions. Try chalk paint in spray cans to mark out games like Twister and Hop-Scotch or make a simple ring toss from painted bottles and old headbands.

You never know, they might even leave their mobiles and computers alone for a couple of hours.