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11 Free things to do in Staffordshire with kids (or cheap family days out)

Days out· home· Staffordshire

17 Sep

We are always on the look out for cheap family days out and things to do in Staffordshire with kids that don’t cost the earth. There are so many lovely days out in Staffordshire for all of the family to enjoy …. from pottery painting and museums to parks and lakes. We are always on the look out for days out for free family days out (or cheap) to inspire us on a weekend or holidays. I have put together a few indoor and outdoor activities for kids or family days out in Staffordshire that are free or extremely cheap, including free days out in Stoke-on-Trent.

You may also enjoy Days out with kids in North Staffordshire on a rainy day

cheap family days out in Staffordshire include a family walk in Keele woods. Outdoor activities near me

Cheap family days out and lots of free things to do in Staffordshire

  • Cheap family days out and lots of free things to do in Staffordshire
    • Brampton Park
    • Cannock Chase
    • The Roaches
    • The Potteries Museum and Art Gallery
    • Rudyard Lake
    • Westport Lake
    • Victoria Park, Stafford
    • Keele Woods
    • The Wolseley Centre, Stafford
    • Middleport Pottery
    • Churnet Valley

Brampton Park

The award winning Brampton Park in Newcastle-under-Lyme is a lovely free kids day out. Here you will find a play park, sand pit, pond, sensory garden, and the Brampton museum – also free.

There is also Cheeky Monkeys indoor soft play and a miniature railway (admission fees apply)

Address – 9 Granville Ave, Newcastle-under-Lyme ST5 1JH

Cannock Chase

Cannock Chase forest is a beautiful setting and a lovely day out to enjoy a walk or take one of the cycle tracks. There is also an adventure playground for kids. You can also make a day of it and enjoy a cheap family day out by taking along a picnic for after that Sunday walk.

Address – Rugeley, WS15 2UQ

The Roaches

The Roaches offers a cheap family day out in Staffordshire with walks and cycling

The Roaches in Staffordshire is an incredible place to explore with the kids.

The Roaches, is an absolute gem and loved by hikers and climbers, with its rugged landscape and breathtaking panoramic views. It is also home to mythical mermaids and gritstone clefts! You can reward yourself with a visit to the award winning Roaches tearoom and restaurant after a fabulous walk in the fresh air.

The Roaches, Leek, ST13 8TA

The Potteries Museum and Art Gallery

An ideal place to visit on a rainy day, The Potteries Museum and Art Gallery is free to visit, and allows visitors to travel back in time to discover the history of the Potteries. There is a secret garden where visitors can enjoy a moment of peace and quiet, or you can just sit back and enjoy a cuppa and Staffordshire oatcake in the museum café.

Address: Bethesda St, Hanley, Stoke-on-Trent, ST1 3DW

Rudyard Lake

Rudyard Lake is a lovely family day out in Staffordshire. Walk or cycle around the lake, spot the wildlife, or learn about the lake at the visitor centre. You can hire a row boat for 30 minutes* or take a boat trip (Easter to Oct). You can also ride on a steam train or take a picnic and enjoy the beautiful view of the lake.

*charges apply to some activities.

Rudyard Lake, Leek, ST13 8PP

Westport Lake

Westport lake is a top family day out in Staffordshire

Westport Lake is one of the best places to visit in the area for bird watching and walking. It is run in partnership between Staffordshire Wildlife Trust and Stoke City Council. Westport Lake Visitor Centre is situated on the edge of Westport Lake and offers a welcoming cafe. There are regular family activities at the visitor centre during the school holidays and a play park next to the visitor centre.

Westport Lake Visitor Centre, Westport Lake Road, Stoke-on-Trent, ST6 4RZ.

Victoria Park, Stafford

Another favourite of ours, Victoria Park is an award winning park in Stafford, located on the banks of the River Sow. Take a stroll around the park, or head to the play area where you will find modern playground equipment, including a small trampoline, climbing frame, sand pit and splash park. There is also a skating area for the adventurous!

Facilities include toilets and parking nearby.

Victoria Park, Stafford, ST16 2QF

Keele Woods

Explore the grounds of Keele woods for a day out with the family in Staffordshire

We love to head out to explore the grounds of Keele University. We often take a stroll or take the scooters to Keele woods over a weekend. The kids love the rope swings and playing in the trickling stream.

Springpool Wood, Newcastle-under-Lyme, ST5 5BN

The Wolseley Centre, Stafford

A favourite of ours, Staffordshire Wildlife Trust’s HQ, The Wolseley Centre, is one of the county’s hidden gems and it’s completely free to visit . Here you will find the Wolseley Visitor Centre with a gift shop, cafe, and 26 acres of grounds to explore. There is also a sensory garden, the wildlife garden, and the play trail … all free.

The Wolseley centre – Staffordshire Wildlife Trust, Stafford, ST17 0WT

The Wolseley centre, Staffordshire offers a free day out with kids

Middleport Pottery

Middleport Pottery is an award-winning visitor attraction in Stoke-on-Trent. Middleport Pottery’s visitor centre hosts regular family-friendly events and activities all year round, including fun days, craft workshops, exhibitions and artisan markets. Also, make sure you add the Christmas event to your diary to meet Father Christmas.

Middleport Pottery Stoke-on-Trent, ST6 3PE

Churnet Valley

Churnet Valley in Staffordshire is an area rich in history, spectacular scenery and wildlife. The Churnet Valley trail is a railway path following the River Churnet through woodland and meadow along the old railway line. We love to take the bikes to Churnet Valley. The railway line is a great place to cycle or take a stroll (particularly with kids). Churnet Valley Railway also offers a lovely family day out taking you on a journey through the beautiful Staffordshire countryside * payable.

Keep an eye out for the Churnet Valley Railway Christmas event.

Cycling around Churnet valley days out Staffordshire

So there you have a few ideas for things to do in Staffordshire this weekend. I love to hear what you get up to, please do let me know if you have any more ideas for family days out in Staffordshire that don’t cost the earth.

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free things to do with kids in Staffordshire

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  1. Cathy (Mummytravels) says

    September 18, 2019 at 12:16 pm

    Fab ideas – a couple of old faves I remember from my childhood!

    Reply

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Vanlife • Camper Family • VWT5


Ad/ Oh the places we will go .......

I’m reall
Ad/ Oh the places we will go .......
 
I’m really hoping better days are coming for us all 🌈
 
Tonight I wanted to tell you about a wonderful campaign by @whsmithofficial and I’m honoured to have been asked to be a part of it. 

Their aim is to encourage people to try something new throughout 2021. @whsmithofficial have some wonderful products to help you plan your trips (products linked in stories).
 
I would really love you to join me on Friday at 6pm over on the @whsmithofficial account, chatting about why we love vanlife, our favourite road trips, and what vanlife means for us. Believe it or not before we purchased our camper, we had never camped before! 
 
If you have any questions for me, I would love you to send them my way via my stories and I will do my best to answer them on Friday. 
 
Look forward to seeing you over on the @whsmithofficial Instagram on Friday at 6pm! 

#bringiton2021 #vanlife #vanlifewithkids #vwt5


Just popping on to check in on everyone, how are y
Just popping on to check in on everyone, how are you all doing? How are you feeling about the announcements tomorrow?

I know so many are finding it all a bit ‘meh’ at the moment.

So this is a little Sunday reminder to keep doing what makes your soul a
smile, check in on each other often and look after yourselves..... and know that better days are coming 🌈🤞🏻🤞🏻🤞🏻 

(My usual Sunday campsite share will be a little late - I’ll post it tomorrow I promise - I’ve been painting the girls bedroom all weekend😆 )

🌈 💕

Last week I chatted to the lovely Jenny @travelynn
Last week I chatted to the lovely Jenny @travelynnfamily as part of her bongo convo series.

Did you catch it?

I think it is the first time I’ve ever chatted on a live, or chatted in front of a camera even 😆

Anyway I just wanted to say thank you  so much for all the messages and lovely comments after the live. I’ve had a few vanlife questions too so I will pop them in my stories for you.

Thank you  Jenny for inviting me to take part in your new live travel chat. Chatting about Van life and road trips .... It definitely made my soul smile :)

🏕Sunday share is back 🏕

My next campsite to
🏕Sunday share is back 🏕

My next campsite to share is a really lovely campsite in Llangollen. We were introduced to this lovely site by my beautiful friend @a_girl_on_the_crescent 

Abbey Farm Campsite

@abbeyfarmllangollen is a working farm set just outside the beautiful town of Llangollen in North Wales.

Suitable  for camping, touring caravans and motor homes and camping pods available.  There are three self-catering cottages to rent and also a static caravan site.

The camping fields are set next to the ruins of Valle Crusis Abbey, and what we loved the most - there is a small brook that runs across the bottom of the field that the kids absolutely loved.

Facilities

Hot showers/ toilets
Laundry room
Bistro/bar
Shop
Electric Hook Up
Dogs Welcome 

What we loved 💕

⭐️Family campsite 
⭐️The brook provided hours of fun
⭐️Picturesque Llangollen a walk away 
⭐️Beautiful location with lots of space and walks
⭐️An ideal base to explore North Wales 

Definitely one to bookmark 

🏡For now the message is to stay at home, but my Sunday share is to inspire and introduce you to new campsites for when the time is right xx


Camping with kids 🏕

I was going to share my ne
Camping with kids 🏕

I was going to share my next favourite campsite but thought I would mix it up a bit with a new topic. Campervan storage. So tell me... What is your favourite storage hack? 

As our Campervan conversion  isn’t quite fully finished we have had to be clever with storage. As a family of five in a T5 space is super tight! 

Our favourite hacks so far....

➡️ Using cushion covers / pillow cases to store items 

➡️ storage hooks on the back of the seats (I think I learned about this one from @daisy_thefamilycamper ) 

➡️ Using a pop up tent to store the large bulky items such as car seats and strollers etc 

➡️ Packing pods to organise the clothes!!! My absolutely favourite thing ever we have used them for years.

➡️ plastic storage bucket for the outside toys that we take to the beach (and can even double up as a baby/toddler bath 

 
 ➡️ Foldable items, folding table, folding scooters, folding chairs, the list goes on but helps with space 

➡️hamman towels. Absolutely wonderful. We were sent some towels to review a few years back and they are incredible. We haven’t looked back and we are fully converted. They don’t take up much space, dry really quickly, have multiple uses  and basically we just love them! 

🌈 I have linked my post in my stories - but would love to hear if you have any campervan storage ideas to share or add? 

Hope you have all had a lovely weekend whatever you have been up to ?


Vanlife with kids - sharing our fave campsites for
Vanlife with kids - sharing our fave campsites for the time when it is safe to travel again 😍🚐

 Sunnyside Croft Touring Site 

This is my next campsite to share... the beautiful Sunnyside Croft Touring Site - an award winning site located between the villages of Arisaig and Mallaig on the West Coast of the Scottish Highlands 

⭐️What we loved 🌈

Direct access to the most beautiful beach 
Family friendly, clean  and quiet 
Dogs allowed 
Eco friendly
Lovely touches - outside shower for wetsuits, infant and toddler washroom with a bath 
Pets allowed 

We loved staying here for two nights as part of our Scotland road trip with our beautiful friends. Mallaig is the nearest village  and we loved visiting Skye and Glenfinnan too. The campsite has direct access to the most spectacular beach - just a walk away along a dedicated path.  Definitely one to bookmark and a campsite we would definitely return to.

📸 Our first view of the beach from the campsite 
 
➡️ swipe for more photos of Arisaig and Mallaig

🌈 #stayathome and keep hoping for sunnier days☀️

#dreamingofvanlife #keepondreaming #arisaigbeach #scotlandphotography


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Ad/ Oh the places we will go ....... I’m reall Ad/ Oh the places we will go .......
 
I’m really hoping better days are coming for us all 🌈
 
Tonight I wanted to tell you about a wonderful campaign by @whsmithofficial and I’m honoured to have been asked to be a part of it. 

Their aim is to encourage people to try something new throughout 2021. @whsmithofficial have some wonderful products to help you plan your trips (products linked in stories).
 
I would really love you to join me on Friday at 6pm over on the @whsmithofficial account, chatting about why we love vanlife, our favourite road trips, and what vanlife means for us. Believe it or not before we purchased our camper, we had never camped before! 
 
If you have any questions for me, I would love you to send them my way via my stories and I will do my best to answer them on Friday. 
 
Look forward to seeing you over on the @whsmithofficial Instagram on Friday at 6pm! 

#bringiton2021 #vanlife #vanlifewithkids #vwt5
Just popping on to check in on everyone, how are y Just popping on to check in on everyone, how are you all doing? How are you feeling about the announcements tomorrow?

I know so many are finding it all a bit ‘meh’ at the moment.

So this is a little Sunday reminder to keep doing what makes your soul a
smile, check in on each other often and look after yourselves..... and know that better days are coming 🌈🤞🏻🤞🏻🤞🏻 

(My usual Sunday campsite share will be a little late - I’ll post it tomorrow I promise - I’ve been painting the girls bedroom all weekend😆 )

🌈 💕
Last week I chatted to the lovely Jenny @travelynn Last week I chatted to the lovely Jenny @travelynnfamily as part of her bongo convo series.

Did you catch it?

I think it is the first time I’ve ever chatted on a live, or chatted in front of a camera even 😆

Anyway I just wanted to say thank you  so much for all the messages and lovely comments after the live. I’ve had a few vanlife questions too so I will pop them in my stories for you.

Thank you  Jenny for inviting me to take part in your new live travel chat. Chatting about Van life and road trips .... It definitely made my soul smile :)
🏕Sunday share is back 🏕 My next campsite to 🏕Sunday share is back 🏕

My next campsite to share is a really lovely campsite in Llangollen. We were introduced to this lovely site by my beautiful friend @a_girl_on_the_crescent 

Abbey Farm Campsite

@abbeyfarmllangollen is a working farm set just outside the beautiful town of Llangollen in North Wales.

Suitable  for camping, touring caravans and motor homes and camping pods available.  There are three self-catering cottages to rent and also a static caravan site.

The camping fields are set next to the ruins of Valle Crusis Abbey, and what we loved the most - there is a small brook that runs across the bottom of the field that the kids absolutely loved.

Facilities

Hot showers/ toilets
Laundry room
Bistro/bar
Shop
Electric Hook Up
Dogs Welcome 

What we loved 💕

⭐️Family campsite 
⭐️The brook provided hours of fun
⭐️Picturesque Llangollen a walk away 
⭐️Beautiful location with lots of space and walks
⭐️An ideal base to explore North Wales 

Definitely one to bookmark 

🏡For now the message is to stay at home, but my Sunday share is to inspire and introduce you to new campsites for when the time is right xx
Camping with kids 🏕 I was going to share my ne Camping with kids 🏕

I was going to share my next favourite campsite but thought I would mix it up a bit with a new topic. Campervan storage. So tell me... What is your favourite storage hack? 

As our Campervan conversion  isn’t quite fully finished we have had to be clever with storage. As a family of five in a T5 space is super tight! 

Our favourite hacks so far....

➡️ Using cushion covers / pillow cases to store items 

➡️ storage hooks on the back of the seats (I think I learned about this one from @daisy_thefamilycamper ) 

➡️ Using a pop up tent to store the large bulky items such as car seats and strollers etc 

➡️ Packing pods to organise the clothes!!! My absolutely favourite thing ever we have used them for years.

➡️ plastic storage bucket for the outside toys that we take to the beach (and can even double up as a baby/toddler bath 

 
 ➡️ Foldable items, folding table, folding scooters, folding chairs, the list goes on but helps with space 

➡️hamman towels. Absolutely wonderful. We were sent some towels to review a few years back and they are incredible. We haven’t looked back and we are fully converted. They don’t take up much space, dry really quickly, have multiple uses  and basically we just love them! 

🌈 I have linked my post in my stories - but would love to hear if you have any campervan storage ideas to share or add? 

Hope you have all had a lovely weekend whatever you have been up to ?
Vanlife with kids - sharing our fave campsites for Vanlife with kids - sharing our fave campsites for the time when it is safe to travel again 😍🚐

 Sunnyside Croft Touring Site 

This is my next campsite to share... the beautiful Sunnyside Croft Touring Site - an award winning site located between the villages of Arisaig and Mallaig on the West Coast of the Scottish Highlands 

⭐️What we loved 🌈

Direct access to the most beautiful beach 
Family friendly, clean  and quiet 
Dogs allowed 
Eco friendly
Lovely touches - outside shower for wetsuits, infant and toddler washroom with a bath 
Pets allowed 

We loved staying here for two nights as part of our Scotland road trip with our beautiful friends. Mallaig is the nearest village  and we loved visiting Skye and Glenfinnan too. The campsite has direct access to the most spectacular beach - just a walk away along a dedicated path.  Definitely one to bookmark and a campsite we would definitely return to.

📸 Our first view of the beach from the campsite 
 
➡️ swipe for more photos of Arisaig and Mallaig

🌈 #stayathome and keep hoping for sunnier days☀️

#dreamingofvanlife #keepondreaming #arisaigbeach #scotlandphotography
Happy Sunday!!! So I have decided on a Sunday fo Happy Sunday!!! 

So I have decided on a Sunday for the next few weeks I am going to do a little campsite share. Sharing our favourite campsites that we have stayed in our #t5camper over the last two or three years. I wanted to (hopefully) give you some inspiration for all those dreaming and planning for when we are able to hit the road in the future. 

My first campsite is @love2stay in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, UK. Set in 22 acres of grounds with touring and Glamping on-site. 

Love2stay is a beautiful resort and an absolute gem of a site. We have booked again for this year and have stayed more than once over the last two years.

Facilities

Love 2 Stay  has serviced pitches and a  glamping village. The toilet block is modern and clean.  There is so much to do on site you won’t want to venture far. 

➡️ swipe for pictures 

There is a natural swimming pool, restaurant and pizzeria, fitness suite and thermal bath, assault course, children’s adventure play zone, barefoot trails, mini and junior craft activities, cinedrome for movie nights, yoga and Pilates classes, paddle boarding and kayaking....... the list goes on 

What we loved 

⭐️So many activities on site for everyone 
⭐️restaurant/pizzeria on site 
⭐️Swimming pool 
⭐️Spa/gym on site 
⭐️Dogs allowed (with separate dog walking area and dog agility course )
⭐️Brilliant size serviced pitches
⭐️Glamping available 
⭐️Usually Open all year round (covid restriction dependent) 

Things to consider 
 
⭐️it gets booked up so book in advance 
⭐️No tents allowed 
⭐️No on-site grocery shop
⭐️it is the most expensive campsite we have ever stayed when you factor in all the additional activities that do -but it’s a wonderful experience and we absolutely love it here and it is a place that we will keep on returning to. 

Please do ask if you have any questions or if you have stayed here too? 

I’ll be back next Sunday with another gem !
Ad🌟Top Tip 🌟 Fairy lights dotted around a Ad🌟Top Tip 🌟

Fairy lights  dotted around a climbing frame
 
= A few more extra hours outside over the winter months 

Add in a flurry of snow ....

#1000hoursoutside 

#wickeyadventure #wickeyplaytime #lockdown3

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