Whilst many of the activities and events for children in Brighton listed on this website do cost money, there are also a good number of things to do for free with your kids.
Here are some FREE activities, and if you know of more, please feel free to contribute by commenting on this blog post!
See also my feature in Brighton Visitor magazine (on page 18) “5 Family Friendly Activities for Free in Brighton“
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The usual suspects: Parks, Playgrounds and our beaches
We have numerous parks and playgrounds in Brighton and Hove, great for passing away a fun afternoon for the kids. Our beaches & outdoor paddling pools are lovely too, and these are obvious choices for doing things for free especially in good weather.
Rock pooling at Rottingdean beach
Read more about when to go rock pooling and what to take with you, all in our listing.
The South Downs – we are surrounded by stunning South Downs countryside and woodland, great for exploring on walks, taking a picnic, and at Devils Dyke you can go to watch all the paragliders and hangliders. Great fun!
Brighton and Hove City Libraries
Our libraries have good facilities and areas for children, in particular Jubilee Library in Jubilee Square. They are great places to just take the children and read some children’s books, but they also run free music groups for babies and toddlers (such as Baby Boogie and Rock n Rhyme), and free story time sessions, all on a regular basis. During seasonal and school holidays they also run free activity sessions (often based on arts and crafts). These are generally listed on my events calendar and also on the Brighton and Hove Libraries website: http://www.brighton-hove.gov.uk/content/leisure-and-libraries/libraries
Brighton and Hove Museums
Admission to our city museums is free (Booth Museum, Brighton Museum & Art Gallery, Hove Museum), they are really lovely places to visit with children, offering both an educational and fun experience. Similar to our libraries, they also run free activity sessions during seasonal and school holidays (such as Picture and Storytime at Hove Museum for children up to age of 5), which again you can find details on my events calendar and on the Brighton and Hove Museums website.
The cost of admission is now £5.00 for adults and £2.80 for children but all Brighton and Hove residents will still get in FREE.
Farm
Mile Oak Farm (Portslade) is the only farm I know of (this close to Brighton) which is FREE. It has goats, donkeys, ducks, horses, chickens and geese.
Children’s Centres
The Children’s Centres in Brighton and Hove provide regular free activities for parents, carers and their babies, toddlers and pre-school children, including baby groups, toddler play groups, toy libraries, and more. Each main Children’s Centre produce an activity diary which can be downloaded from the Council’s website, or can be acquired directly from the Children’s Centres themselves, or from your health visitor. I have also endeavoured to list many of these free groups on my website: https://www.childfriendlybrighton.co.uk/indoor-activities/parent-and-baby-toddler-groups/birth-to-crawling;
Free story time sessions at book shops in Brighton and Hove
Waterstone’s bookshop in Brighton runs story time sessions (“Tiggle’s Chocolate Telescope”) on Saturday mornings (see my events calendar where they are listed), usually followed by arts and crafts activities.
Nearly free activities (!)
Worthy of a mention, there are some activities in Brighton and Hove which are really very cheap indeed!
Cinema:
On Saturday mornings, the cinema at Brighton Marina puts on kids movies plus pre-show entertainment for just £1.
Parent and Toddler Groups:
Many of these charge as little as £1, and most provide refreshments for you and your children included in the admission fee. See https://www.childfriendlybrighton.co.uk/indoor-activities/parent-and-baby-toddler-groups
Please feel free to add your comments!
We regularly go to Hove library which is one of my son’s favourite places and have recently started to go to Hove museum for their art sessions which both my kids enjoy. Well worth a visit