I’m a dad of 12 – this fun activity will keep kids occupied for hours and costs nothing

A SAVVY dad has revealed how to keep kids entertained without paying a penny – by making your own instruments.

Ben Sullivan, 49, and wife Zoe, 45, have one of Scotland’s biggest families with 12 children.

The thrifty couple are parents to Elisabeth, 19, Olivia, 17, Noah, 14, Evangeline, 12, Tobias, 11, Agnes, seven, Joseph, five, Florence, two, and two sets of twins – Charlotte and Isabelle, 16, and Leah and Erin, eight.

They have their own YouTube channel and yesterday’s episode demonstrated how easy it is to make music on the beach.

The bumper brood live in a six-bedroom house in Burghead, Moray, which is where they enjoyed their day out with buckets and spades.

Dad Ben first told the kids: “I want you to find teeny little stones as small as you can find them.”

He then explained how they’d take empty toilet roll tubes and seal one side so they could add pebbles and sand.

Afterwards they’d seal the other side and add elastic bands so it could replicate both a guitar and shaker.

He said: “What we’re going to do first is take one of the circles we’ve already cut and put it over the end of the toilet rolls.

“Then you can either put an elastic band around it or I’ve got loads of tape with me.

“The next stage is putting some stones in the middle to make a shaker and maybe a bit of sand.

“You seal the other end and you have a little homemade musical instrument on the beach for loads of family fun.”

Mum Zoe previously revealed the B&M bargains you need to pick up for your kids now they’re back in school.

First up was a 98p water bottle which she insisted was great when her kids drop and break them so often that she has to buy in replacements.

She also found lunch boxes for £1 and a three-pack of snack boxes with multiple compartments for £2.97.

There were also colour-changing cups, and glitter water bottles up for grabs which Zoe said were cheaper than usual.