School holidays. No sooner have you cleared up after one lot before the next is upon you. This year, there was hardly time to draw breath after Christmas before it was half term

And now, hot on the heels of Easter, just as you've cleared the final load of laundry and sorted out the house, there's the summer to plan.

No one can deny that children need a break. But with six weeks off school, organising the holidays is a major headache for most parents, particularly in households where either both of you are working or there's only one of you to shoulder the burden. And it can be expensive too. Earlier this year, the Daycare Trust, a national childcare charity, found that the cost of out-of-school childcare is rising well above the rate of inflation, making it difficult for parents to find affordable places for their children during the holidays.

Add to that the cost of a family holiday, days out and extra spending money, and most of us find we are digging very deep in our pockets by the time term time comes around again.

Of course there's lots you can do that doesn't cost a thing. Many museums do not charge for entry and really come up trumps in the school holidays with imaginative programmes of children's events that combine fun and learning. Then there's the great outdoors.

There's no minimum or maximum age for enjoying a day at the seaside and with more than 31,000 kilometres of coastline in Great Britain, there are plenty of beaches to explore.

Much of the countryside is accessible too, with hundreds of long-distance paths and shorter, waymarked routes to help you discover woodlands, heaths, hills and moors. In addition, organisations such as the National Trust and English Heritage organise family-orientated events that cost no, or little more, than normal admission fees.

That should take care of a couple of weeks and weekends, but what about when your leave rusn out and there's still four weeks of the school holidays?

The summer camp idea may seem as American as apple pie, but they are available on this side of the pond too.

There are around 30 operators in the UK running independent holidays for unaccompanied children from around six years. Typically, the camps offer a daily programme of activities and events to keep children busy all day.

They are held in secure centres, often boarding schools, with round-the-clock supervision.

Camp Beaumont is one of these operators. Now in its 25th year, it runs four residential camps near Bembridge on the Isle of Wight, Runton Sands in Norfolk, Kingswood in Staffordshire and The House exclusively for those tricky 15 to 17 year olds at Overstrand in North Norfolk.

It's summer camps offer two types of residential holidays. Firstly there are multi-activity breaks, which are all about trying a bit of everything from high-octane activities you would never do with them yourself, such as climbing, abseiling and motor sports, to more low-key pastimes you just never get around to at home, such as jewellery making, drama and computing.

Then there are specialist breaks, which are more focused on really getting to grips with a skill or activity your child has really set his or her heart on, such as learning to drive, horse-riding, special agent camps, fit factory or wizards and witches school.

They give children and teenagers a chance to broaden their horizons in a controlled environment where specially trained staff are on hand to provide sup-port, encouragement and inspiration. That means unlike all those other school holidays where good intentions deteriorate into an orgy of TV, crisps and computer games, you can rest assured your children are getting plenty of exercise and not spending your money hanging round fast food outlets.

Of course, this is more important now than ever when, with obesity and anti-social behaviour on the rise, worries about children's health and welfare have never been more acute.

But what about older teenagers?

Camps like The House give teenagers freedom and space with security, a far cry from the street corners where they might otherwise drift.

They can even choose to do yoga, Masterchef or join a Leadership Camp and may even put into practice what they learn at camp when they get home.

So what started as a summer activity could end up changing their lives altogether. Visit campbeaumont.co.uk