5 Fun Ideas of Things to Do with Your Family

I'm not a rich person, my family makes just enough money to get by with minimum strain. But with having children I'm always finding things to do that will cost little no no money but still having fun. Sometimes this can be a difficult things but other times it comes easy. However its always great to have a list of activities that go on in your area plus ideas from outside sources.

1. Visiting a park. There are plenty of parks in any city. Fun for children and their adults. Its also an opportunity for parents to meet one another and make friends while their children play and expend energy. There are also parents groups that meet in parks, where parents can interact with other parents while the kids play with children their own ages. Such groups often lead to lasting friendships between children and parents. A park in my city often has what they call music in the park. Its a stage where local musical groups throw a musical party. They put on a concert, often with free hot dogs and sodas for eat. Games are often put out as well for kids to play while listening to the music.

2. Go to a museum or arts center. We have a place called the Imaganarim in the city here. It costs around 5 dollars for adults, 3 for children 6-12 and free for children under 6. Seeing both of my children are under 6, they get in free and its a minimal payment for my husband and I. Inside there is an abundance of activities that are for children to expand their minds. There is a room full of starts and constellations. There is a huge pendulum that constantly swings and makes markings in sand below and shows the rotation of the earth. There is a room of bubbles, including a place where you can stand and blow a bubble around the person in the center. They often have visors from the zoo, generally birds of prey which are available to children and adults alike where they can hold a bird, touch a bird and learn about them. There is also a museum of state history. Here in Alaska, the museum is centered around the different Eskimo cultures. Outside there are different homes that traditionally Eskimos made, and inside there are dancers and different outfits and artifacts by the different tribes. There are art museums and art shows that go on nearly weekly in summer. You can have fun with out spending much money.

3. Take a drive to a local tourist attraction. In my town there are several tourist attractions that are fun for natives to visit. There is a mine which was active less then 50 years ago as well as several who are active now. You can visit the inactive mine, its now a state park. Tour the buildings that were the mess hall and dorm houses, go inside several mine shafts and view the ruins of the mining buildings and tracks. The view from the mountains is break taking and going there always means hours of walking and looking at different things in the park. There is also a muskox, reindeer and wolf farm. Where the animals live in huge preserved areas, ( fenced for safety, but the areas are massive) There are safe viewing areas, as well as guides who teach visitors about the animals.

4. A family picnic or bike ride. We like to take a picnic lunch and visit campgrounds. I often pack leftovers made into sandwiches and snacks. We bring our fishing poles, marshmallows and life jackets. Sometimes we go to rivers, sometimes to a lake. But we always have allot of fun, be it swimming with the kids, or fishing on the bank. We will often take long walks and hikes while on these family outings. You can also take long bike rides together. Riding bikes are great exercise, as well as fun. You can take in the sights on the trip, and communicate easily with the people you are with.

5. Read or do small crafts together. You can find great kids books at the library or online to read together with your family. Children love being read to, or learning to read, or reading to their siblings and parents. Libraries often have children story hours for free where volunteers read to children of various ages. They also often have reading lists with prizes for reading certain books at certain age groups. Many craft projects are free to very little cost. I have several articles written about low cost to free craft and fun game ideas for children. Board games also fall here. Older children might be interested in playing card games as well. Its a fun group project.

As you can see there are many easy ideas and things that you can do for little to no cost with your family. Many other ideas can stem from the ideas that other people give you. So be creative and come up with fun inexpensive things to do with your family.