If you're a parent, what's the first thing you think of when the holidays roll around? Well, maybe it's menu planning. Or who's coming for chag. But I'm going to guess that the big question - and it doesn't matter whether it's Sukkot, Hanukah or Pesach - is: what are you going to do with the kids.

That's right, holidays mean school vacations. Long ones. And if you've got smaller children, they need to be occupied. Hey, even bigger children can drive you to distraction if you don't have some activities planned.

Now, let me add an even tougher question. What are you going to do with the kids that doesn't cost an arm and a leg? Don't tell me you're just going to stick the kids in front of the TV - we all know how our kids quickly turn into boob-tube zombies after the 17th straight hour of Mary Kate and Ashley videos.

You don't have to go into overdraft to keep your kids from murdering each other - or you from murdering them. But you do have to remember the most important rule: plan your week out in advance. That's right - it's the same guideline I recommend in my classes for when you go grocery shopping or when you make your monthly budget. Know what you're going to do and then stick to it.

Let me give you an example from the most recent school vacation. Apply this to the upcoming Pesach holiday.

We decided for example that this year we could affort to budget real money on only one activity during the week. In our case, it was the zoo. We love the Tisch Family Biblical Zoo in Jerusalem where we live. We even used to have an annual family membership - which can be a really good deal if you make it your "second backyard."

So what about the rest of the week? Well, on the second day of vacation, we took the kids to the "Mifletzet" - the wild monster sculpture in Jerusalem's Kiryat HaYovel neighborhood which has slides for tongues. We packed a picnic lunch and fortunately the weather was accomodating. No charge at all, other than the gas to get there by car. No matter where you live in the country, there's usually a decent park and picnic site not to far a drive away.

On our third day off, we did the unthinkable: we went to the Mall. I know, I know, I teach in my classes never go shopping as an "activity." But you can bend this a bit if you lay down strict rules ahead of time. We were going to "look," not buy. Remarkably, the kids were into it. And the malls in Israel usually put on all kinds of shows during the holidays at little or no cost to draw in the customers.

Our only splurge - we got one sweet treat for everyone. Not a full burger meal. Just dessert. And even then we shoppd around. Ne'eman was charging too much for rugelach. But the bakery across the way had a deal. Although we didn't sample both, the cheaper baker was still better than the supermarket variety.

The next day we went to the English library in Ramot. JELLY - the Jerusalem English Language Library for Youth - was putting on a whole day of activities - ongoing story hours, arts and crafts and even a short musical performance. We packed lunches again and ended up the day going to the "Porcupine Park" in Ramot which has swings and beautiful views. Cost: absolutely zero.

Finally, we set aside one afternoon for a family project. We had taken a family trip to Europe last summer on the way to visit family in the States (free stopovers on European carriers are a great and inexpensive way to build in extra vacation time). So I bought a photo album that can be used as a scrapbook. We had saved ticket stubs and menus and maps. Brian led the whole family in laying out the assorted items. Other than the cost of the album (which we needed anyway), it was another free activity. We ended the day by letting the kids watch a video.

Would our kids have loved to have gone to Kiftzuba - the big play park with go-carts and Lego and jumping towers? Sure. Would they also have enjoyed taking in a kids' performance at the Jerusalem Theater? Absolutely. But we made our plan, stuck to our budget, and no one dired of boredom by the end of the week.