Half-term break to cost parents £1.7bn Londoners will shell out the most, averaging nearly £500 for the week. Keeping your children entertained this half term will be costly. Cash-strapped parents will shell out an average of £230 to keep their children entertained for half-term break, totalling £1.7bn nationwide. One in five mums and dads have put themselves in debt struggling to afford the cost of school holidays, according to research from Sheila’s Wheels home insurance. With more than half of parents admitting that they are concerned about the cost of entertaining the kids as household budgets continue to buckle under the strain of the rising cost of living. According to the findings, a quarter of parents plan to take their children on at least three costly days out over the February half term, with each day out costing an average of £53. Londoners will fork out as much as £67 a day on outings for their children - racking up a total half term spend of £469. What’s more, over a third of parents admit that February half-term is the worst holiday for entertaining children, with a more than four in ten mums and dads revealing the winter weather forces them to splurge on gifts and expensive excursions to keep their kids busy. "In these tough economic times it is no wonder that the costs associated with keeping kids entertained over the holidays are putting added pressure on family finances,” said Jacky Brown, spokesman at the insurer.