'I'm bored': ten more unusual things to do this weekend for free

It's a Bank Holiday, the end of the month, the end of the summer, and the end of the school holidays. Up and down the country, parents are realising that they don't have endless spare cash to spend on fun days out for the kids, so we can expect homes across Britain to echo to cries of 'I'm bored!'

They've already been to the museums, they've had a thousand picnics, and pyjama days have lost their appeal - so what next?

We reveal seven great ways to entertain the kids for nothing beyond the obvious summer holiday staples.

1. Get stuck into 'I Am Team GB Day'
This Saturday, to celebrate the GB team homecoming, thousands of sporting venues will open their doors for free. There will be chance to discover loads of new sports, and in some locations there will even be an opportunity to meet an Olympian. For your nearest location, visit Iamteamgb.com.

2. Hit the pool
If you happen to have a packet of fish fingers in the house, check whether they are Youngs Omega 3 fish fingers, because if they are you can get a free swim. You just enter the promotional code from the packet on the website, and print off your free voucher. You can check for your nearest participating pool here.

3. Do a speedy 'summer reading challenge'
Local libraries run these every summer, and they continue to run into the first week of school for those who start late. This year the theme is the 'Big Friendly Read', so there are Roald Dahl rewards to be picked up every time the kids read a couple of books - and once they've read six books, they'll get a certificate. Whether they're reading on the beach or in their bedroom on a rainy day, it's a useful way to keep them entertained for nothing.

4. Get messy
This always appeals for some reason. You don't need to be terribly structured about it: most kids can happily spend an hour or so mixing washing up liquid, flour and food colouring into a 'potion'. If you want an 'end result', you could go for something like home-made play dough - which can be made from flour, salt, cream of tartar and oil - plus the food colouring of their choice.

5. Hold a 'yard sale'
It's effectively a car boot sale in the comfort of your own drive. If there are other bored kids living in your road, you can tie up with them and set up a stall each. Before the event, there's all the fun of making posters and sticking them on lamp posts, then sorting out stuff to sell. Finally, there's the thrill of the sale. You could raise money for charity, or reward the kids by spending the profits on a day out.

6. Go Geocaching
This is far easier than it sounds. Geocaching is a modern day treasure hunt where you can use GPS devices to navigate to a specific point where you find a geocache container and sign the log book inside to prove you made it. Some of the more child-friendly boxes also include a swap system where you can leave behind a small trinket and take something for yourself. To get started simply visit geocaching.co.uk and you can download GPS apps onto your smartphone, then you're on your way.

7. Hold a mini Bake Off
You may have done your fair share of baking with the kids this holiday, but have you competed? Call up a few of your friends, and arrange to get together after lunch for judging. Then you can spend the morning baking with the kids, and when you meet their friends after lunch, you'll have the arduous job of tasting everything and awarding the 'master baker' title. If you have sore losers in your crowd, then a number of different titles should do it - like best-looking cake, nicest taste, and so on.

But what do you think? What are your favourite free ways to keep everyone entertained? Let us know in the comments.