Browse the site
Days out can be expensive, especially when you have 2 weeks to fill. So here's our handy guide of things to do in and around Southend throughout the Easter holidays that will hopefully save you a few pennies!
As well as the below, don't forget to check out our 'What's on' Calendar for lots of events. We have handpicked a few of the free events below but there are many more on our calendar and more being added regularly.
Remember that although the events or activities may be free, there may be parking costs to consider. For any activities in Southend, the monthly Southend Parking Permit at £12.50 per month could save you a huge amount of money on parking and you could even just sign up for a limited time if you think you may benefit.
🐣1. Muddy Church Easter Celebration party at Hadleigh Farm Estate - FREE - 19th April 2025 - An Easter trail with family crafts.
🐣2. Meet the farm animals at Scott's of Southend - £5 pp - 10th -12th April - Get up close with some cute farm animals
🐣3. Easter special Lego club - £2 suggested donation - 10th April - Join us for a Shaun the sheep themed Lego play and challenges, plus lots of arts and crafts...
🐣4. Trust Links Easter Party - FREE -11th and 14th April - Celebrate Easter with an egg hunt and Easter themed crafts
🐣5. Easter Family fun day at Hockley Community Centre - FREE entry and bouncy castles £3 easter hunt - 20th April - Bouncy castles, crafts, BBQ and more!
🐣6. Easter craft afternoon - FREE - 5th April - Join Great Wakering Methodist church for a free, family craft event for all ages with creative Easter activities, competitions and refreshments
🐣7. Easter fun day at The Royals - FREE - 19th April - Meet Ryan the Lion, FREE face painting, Easter-themed drawing area for little ones, Spin the Wheel for a chance to win – all in support of Gold Geese Charity
🐣8. Family fun activities at Hadleigh Hub - FREE - 8th - 10th and 15th - 17th April - Take part in an Easter bunny trail, hot cross bunnies, fun with clay. Edible Easter garden and more!
🐣9. Drop-in bird feeder crafts at Belfairs -11th April - Create some bird feeders using recycled materials. Small charge per craft.
🐣10. Self-led egg trail at Belfairs - £3 - 29th - 17th - 20th April - This Easter, follow the self-led trail through the green wood, answer the egg-cellent clues and claim an egg-citing prize!
🐣11. Easter Eggstravaganza at Southchurch Hall Gardens - FREE - 20th April - Easter bonnet parade, scavenger egg hunt, arts and crafts, traditional games
🐣12. Easter community fair at Eastwood Community Centre - 50p entry, Children free - 12th April - FREE Easter treasure hunt, visit from Easter bunny, craft stalls, refreshments all day
🐣13. The big egg hunt at Belchamps - £5pp - 5th - 25th April - A totally awesome trail around acres of outdoor space and woodland. Follow a map and search for clues to win a Easter Treat!
🐣14. Easter fun day with Leigh Community centre - FREE - 19th April - A free event held by Leigh on Sea town council including An Easter egg hunt in Library gardens,, Punch and Judy Show, Quackers, Joe Banana, Make your own Easter bonnets and more!
🐣15. Animal mysteries trail - Hadleigh Park - FREE - Enjoy the Eggscellent Easter Trails at the Essex Country Parks this school holiday. Pick up or download a free Easter trail sheet* from Saturday 5 April until Monday 21 April.
🐣16. Mama Soiree presents Easter Bunny Meet and Greet - FREE - Hop into Easter with a magical family experience at Franks in Leigh! Join us for a special Easter Bunny Meet & Greet, where little ones can meet the Easter Bunny, snap adorable photos, and enjoy a festive afternoon filled with fun and laughter.
🐣17. Leigh Library Easter crafts - £1 per child - 7th, 8th, 9th, 14th - 16th April - Origami art and crafts activity and Badges of nature. Aimed at 5-10 year olds
🐣19. The Waeccar Easter egg hunt - £2pp - Join us for a morning Easter egg hunt from 10-12pm.
🐣20. Walk Southend Pier (PLUS Dino egg hunt) - £2.50 adults, £1.50 children - Join in the Easter egg hunt for an additional £3.00 per child from 5th - 21st April
21. Family Easter disco at Park Inn by Radisson Palace - FREE - 19th April - Join us for a fantastic Family Easter Disco filled with fun, games and great music! With free entry it's the ideal way to celebrate the Easter holidays!
🐣22. Heroes and Villains at Festival Leisure - FREE 20th April- Join us for some FREE family fun this Easter at our Heroes and Villains event here at Festival Leisure Park. Get a selfie with Batman, joke around with The Joker and MORE of your favourite characters. Including a free Easter egg hunt.
🐣23. The Ironworks Family fun day - FREE - 1st April - Break up the Easter holidays with a family party, including games, dancing, treats, creative crafts for adults and children, live music and so much more!
🐣24. Make a spring bonnet at Thames Chase - £4 - 16th April - Join in the Spring time fun at Thames Chase and decorate your very own, Spring hat. A must have accessory for any Easter party or Easter egg hunt!
🐣25. Southend Family centres have a timetable of FREE activities over the holidays. Click here for Week ONE and Week TWO, Siblings are welcome along to stay and play sessions.
🐣26. Mad Hatters tea party at The Victoria Shopping Centre - FREE - 17th April - Join for a full day of free Easter activities
🐣27. Easter Storytelling at The Cliffs - £2pp - 12th April - Children's storytelling with some Easter fun
🐣28. My Pet pals workshops - FREE - 5th-19th April - Come and join in! at Pets at home Southend! Learn some fun facts about our pets and get involved in some crafts and colouring!
🐣29. Good Friday at Holy Trinity - FREE - 18th April - Children's stations of the Cross: A Short 30 minute session. Each Station is a stopping point where part of the Good Friday Story is told in a multi sensory and interactive way. Suitable for Toddlers through to school year 6. Lots of arts and crafts.
🐣30. Visit a local park from our Out and About Category - FREE - From parks, playgrounds, woods and nature reserves. Take your pick!
🐣31. Go Swimming at one of Fusion Leisure Centres
32. Spend the day at Shoebury Common Park and the beach - FREE - Our favourite park in Southend and perfectly situated close enough to the beach to get a change of scenery after lunch and grab an ice cream at Uncle Tom's on the way past. Great for all ages!
🐣33. Kent Elms Chicks and Bunnies treasure trail - FREE - 7th April - Join us for a hop around and find the Easter Characters. Sniff out 10 characters to unlock clues for the final challenge.
🐣34. Visit Two Tree Island Nature Reserve - FREE - Two Tree Island is an ideal location for bug spotting and bird watching! Grab the kids a cheap bug hunting kit or make them a scavenger hunt and see what they can find!
🐣35. Ride the cliff lift - FREE - The shortest funicular railway, run by volunteers. Ok so this is a very short activity and isn't enough to fill the day but can be a good focus to get out of the house during the holidays when you're trying to find something different to do! Make sure you check opening times beforehand.
🐣36. Take in the views on top of Rayleigh Windmill - FREE - The grade II listed buildings is open on selected days and you can explore the windmill, join in the virtual tour and climb to the top with free entry.
🐣37. Hockley Woods - FREE - Hockley Woods is always guaranteed to be a good day out. As well as the woods, you have the large play area and sand pits for before or after your walk!
🐣38. Just Ride Southend - £2.50 donation per rider, carers and parents of children riding are free and welcome to ride.
🐣39. Visit Hadleigh Castle - FREE - A perfect spot for the kids to let off steam and have a picnic.
🐣40. Canvey Miniature Railway - Just £1 for a single ride or 6 rides for £5.00. Babes in arms are free. Open every Sunday throughout the season.
🐣41. The Gruffalo Trail at Thorndon Country Park - FREE - A firm favourite and you can follow the sculpture trail for free or pay £1 for a map. Cafe and picnic areas available!
🐣42. Make use of any annual membership you have at Adventure Island or Sealife Adventure .You can also use your membership and get 50% off to play crazy golf at Adventure Golf. If you don't have an annual pass, check out our article for where to find discounted tickets.
🐣43. Langdon Hills Easter trail - £4pp - 5th - 20th April - Pick up a map from inside the Nature Discovery Centre and venture outside to complete the Easter trail OR The Peter Rabbit trail - FREE - You can complete the trail for free or grab a map for £1 from the Visitor Centre. There's woodland, meadows, lakes and a museum of Plotland Life. No play area unfortunately but a great cafe!
🐣44. The Stick Man Trail at Weald Country Park - FREE - With over 520 acres of woodland, lakes, hay and wildflower meadows, deer park, kid's play areas, open grassland as well as the Stickman Trail, Weald Park is a great place for a day out.
🐣45. Thames Chase - FREE - Follow the new Stickman Trail completely free, by following the markers. You can buy an activity bag for £4 .There's also various activities running at Thames Chase over half term for an additional cost including Easter Bonnet making and arts and crafts.
🐣46. Hyland's Estate - FREE - Spend the day at Hyland's in their award winning castle themed adventure playground and with 574 acres of parkland, there's lots of space for walks/picnics and ball games.
🐣47. Hanningfield Reservoir - FREE - Go for a walk, feed the ducks and play in the play area near the car park. At the Discovery Nature Centre, there is a cafe on site or picnic areas. Follow the Wind in the Willows trail for free or you can purchase a map from the discovery centre.
🐣48.Maldon Promenade - FREE - The Promenade has everything you could want for a day out whether or not you choose to spend any money. With an impressive play area, sand pits, crabbing pool, skateboard park and BMX track. You can also pay to visit Maldon Petting Zoo or the Adventure Golf.
🐣49. Easter atStubbers Adventure Centre - For the admission entry fee of £3.50 adults and £4.50 children (FREE for under 5's), take part in some Easter themed activities, hunt for the bunny, Egg themed discovery trail - PLUS get access to Adventure play areas with a young adventurers area and a bigger play area for the older ones, woodland discovery trail and sand play and paddle beach. All other activities have extra charges however you can certainly get away with not paying for activities with the amount of activities already included in the entry fee.
🐣50. The Easter Quest at Lathcoat's Farm - £5.50 - 29th March - 19th April - Visit us from the 29th March for a fun filled scavenger hunt in our orchards. Grab your activity sheet and embark on an eggciting adventure to uncover the seasonal word by completing a series of challenges. Race to be the first to finish the Easter Egg Bingo, it's the perfect way to celebrate the season with family and friends. Every paying participant will walk away with a delicious Easter treat!
