Entertaining Kids on a Budget
A Frugal Mom's Advice
Make it a point to know where the free places to visit in your town are. Keep a notebook or a word processing file with a list of places and their phone numbers. Museums, parks, kids eat free, concert events, should all have a place in this notebook. You can read my article Free Things to do with Kids in Raleigh, NC for some examples. There is nothing like a change of scenery to cure cabin fever.
Keep a supply of inexpensive art and craft supplies on hand. This is one of my favorite ways to entertain young boys on a budget. A favorite activity for my boys when they were little was to put flour and water into a disposable aluminum baking pan and let them make "mud". Cars and action figures went into this muck and they played for hours. All it took was a cheap bag of flour and a pitcher of water. Make sure you do this on tile floors or over a drop cloth.
Another entertaining activity for young kids is to use beans and sand toys. Rainy day blues can be cured with a trip to the "beach". Spread out a blanket, put a bunch of dried beans into a large shallow pan and bring out the sand toys. Sand and water wheels work well, so do trucks, shovels and pails, and cooking utensils. If your children are under two, watch them very carefully with the beans. Small children tend to put beans into places beans should not go (ears, noses, the dog). We want to have fun, and a trip to the emergency room does not fit into the fun category.
Finally, keep a stash of board games. Trivia Pursuit, Trouble, Twister, Scrabble, Cranium, Sorry and others can make for a great time. Entertaining kids on a budget is one of the major challenges of parenthood. Once you have a "magic bag of tricks" to draw from, entertaining your kids is easy as mud pies.
For more articles by this author on things to do with kids click on the links below:
Thanksgiving Placemat Projects for Kids
Thanksgiving Craft Projects for First Graders
Published by Lynda Altman
Lynda Altman is a freelance writer, blogger and researcher. Her experience includes published print articles in Family Chronicle Magazine, writing and researching for private clients, and writing online cont... View profile
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- Keep a stash of inexpensive arts and crafts items to use whenever the need arises.
- Beans and rice can make for indoor sand.
- Have a list of free or almost free things to visit in your city.
2 Comments
Post a CommentI have 4 kids, I homeschool the youngest and I work from home. I need to have free tricks up my sleeve. If you know Anyone in Raleigh NC, I wrote an article about free things to do in Raleigh. Coming soon - free things to do with Mom on Mother's Day.
What creative ideas! All moms on a budget should read this!