Financial constraints are weighing heavily on lots of families at the moment and with the summer holidays fast approaching it can be difficult to know how to provide your children with a varied activity programme that won’t cost a fortune.

Here's some ideas of how to do something different in Norwich every day for a week and spend just £55 for a family of four. If you want you can add in some of the optional extras and spend a little more.

Monday 8^th August - Whitlingham Country Park. A great place to spend several hours. Enjoy a walk around the Broad, feed the ducks, geese and swans as you go, then relax on the mini beach  and enjoy a picnic. If you wish you can hire a canoe for 4 from Whitlingham Outdoor Education Centre (£25 hour).

Tuesday 9^th – Take a one-hour City Boat tour from Elm Hill (£16 for family four) and cruise through the City discovering  its history. Follow this with some lunchtime entertainment with Lunchbox outside the Forum (12.30pm-1.30pm) – today it’s juggling on a unicycle. Take a picnic, sit on the steps and be entertained for an hour for free, the kids will love it. Afterwards pop into Fusion and see what’s happening on the giant screen.

Wednesday 10^th – Spend the day at Eaton Park. There’s loads to do at this park, why not have a go at Pitch & Putt, it will cost a family of four £13.

Thursday 11^th – Visit Strangers’ Hall Museum, a magnificent Tudor House (£11.40 family). Follow this with another (different) session of Lunchbox at the Forum. Visit the Castle in the afternoon, if you leave it until 4pm (an hour before closing) you will be charged just £1 each.

Friday 12^th – Enjoy a fun swim at Riverside (£9.90) before heading over to the Norfolk Record Office at Norfolk County Council where there is a free session discovering ‘Victorian Life Below Stairs’ (2pm – 3.30pm).

 Saturday 14^th – Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts, UEA has free drop in family events throughout the summer. After a visit, take a picnic at Earlham Park and then a walk along the Yare Valley.

Sunday 15^th – Watch a free open-air theatre performance Terrible Tudor Tales at Heigham Park, 11am. Follow the performance with a picnic and a play in the park. If you are feeling energetic there’s some lovely grass tennis courts which will cost £17.40 for the family for an hour.