Children do not need you to spend a fortune!

I have heard again today via the media that apparently parents are spending on average £80 per child per week to keep them entertained during the holidays! What! Who are these people and how come they have so much money to waste in times of so called austerity?
I certainly do not spend that and I don't know of any parents that can afford it, I think the figures may be skewed a bit here, are they factoring in childcare? Actual holiday costs for travel etc.? I think this must be the case as who can afford to spend that amount consistently for six weeks on entertainment alone without ruining the family finances.
The weather this summer in England has been fantastic so far as well so there really is no need for so much excess.  Monday I met up with friends at Endcliffe Park we all took food for a picnic, four adults and five children from five to fifteen, they all got on great.

Its a big park so they kept going off to the play area or kicking the ball around then coming back to us for a rest, we had a whole afternoon there, the only cost being an ice cream for the children.
This park is not our local but we chose it for a change,everyone has a range of parks in their city they can choose from and they are free!  I don't get why people feel that children can only enjoy the day if they have been taken to a costly holiday event.
Yesterday my two went to the local park in the afternoon for a bit, did some drawing, played computer games, we walked the dogs etc. (every day doesn't have to be planned out for them)  Today we have picked up one of their friends in the afternoon he is sleeping here and then we are going to the pool 'dip for a quid' all of us in the morning.  So it will be Thursday tomorrow, everyone is happy,  no one is bored and I have not come anywhere close to spending that ridiculous figure above.
I have a clubcard voucher for £8.50 which is worth more in rewards so that will be going on  cinema tickets for us.  We will wait for a rainy day for that one, I would not be going if not for that as the cinema is so expensive now for a family, you are looking at over £20 usually just for tickets so we usually just wait until they are on DVD.  Movies for juniors in the mornings are cheap but my oldest is too big for many of those films now.

 On a wet day you could let the kids invite friends round, rent a film from the library and buy pop corn and drinks, much cheaper than a day out at the cinema and having their friends there will make it feel like more of an event. (Just a thought, you may spend a fiver tops)
There are lots of things you can do that don't cost a lot or are completely free, libraries and museums always have events, as do parks, there is grass sledging near us this weekend plus football coaching all free.  I think sometimes people think activities are only worthy if they are costing money and some might shy away from the free stuff or less obvious choices, don't! Keep your money for more pressing emergencies or the actual family holiday or day trip if you are having one, but I don't think children should expect this every day of the week and if they do what are we teaching them? That you can only be happy if you can afford it. Bad message that one.