Need some good news? The proper family Sunday is back.

It looked irreparably ruined during the boom years — colonised by out-of-town outlet malls, pubs with “toddler zones”, BlackBerry messages from the boss and viciously overpriced theme parks — but it seems the comeback started when the bubble burst.

If you’re looking for a silver lining to our current economic predicament, you might find it on Sundays, as thrifty families start looking to spend some decent time together without spending any money.

And, cheerfully enough, if there’s one thing that Britain still does rather well, it’s the free clan outing.

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We’ve got galleries with wide-open doors, museums that don’t charge a penny, castles to clamber over for nothing and nature reserves to poke around for precisely nowt, as well as gallons of free fresh air; and some of our best public parks have recently been spruced, jazzed and cleaned up to a remarkable degree.

(If you’re trapped with teenagers who’d rather boil in oil than be around you all day, there are always skate parks and frightfully modern “swishing” parties to consider.)

So, gather your unruly mob around the kitchen table and plan more than a month of free family Sundays. We can’t guarantee they will behave themselves, but we can promise that all you’ll pay for is your transport and packed lunch, plus the usual breakages, fines and legal costs associated with a typical family enjoying an exciting, inspirational day out together.

GET THEM OUTDOORS

Dinosaurs in Dorset

If you can come up with something more exciting than finding a real dinosaur bone, you’re an alpha parent beyond compare. Dorset’s Jurassic Coast has raised its game in recent years, providing great education and guidance to match the simple, hearty pleasure of scouring the local beaches for fossils.

Charmouth is a good place to start out from, with its free heritage centre, staffed by wardens who’ll tell you all you need to know. Or take a copy of Fossil Detectives by Cockburn and Palmer (BBC Books £16.99) with you. And consider Durlston Country Park, where the dino-stuff combines with an equally intriguing way to pass the time — dolphin-spotting. Get closer to the action in a sea kayak — Weymouth Outdoor Education Centre offers half-day taster sessions (8-17 years) for £12; dorsetforyou.com . jurassiccoast.com ; durlston.co.uk.

Free history

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