Free Things to Do with Your Kids

Having little money I find is not an uncommon issue among parents. I like to keep the kids busy and find ways to spend our time together which do not cost us money.

Last summer we had a giant refridgerator box, I layed the box on it's side and cut several holes big enough for our heads in the longside. We each took turns beign the "gopher" and popping our heads out of these holes. The rest of the family took turns squirting the gopher with the hose. That was great fun!

After a heavy rain we have quite a "river" running through the ditches on the side of our roads. The kids and I love to make boats out of all sorts of things that will float. We have used bark, sticks, leaves, bowls and just about anything they can think of to send down our 'rivers".

Playing in the dirt is always fun. We like to open a restaurant from time to time. I bring out old dishes and interesting dishes like strainers and potato mashers. We gather leaves of all colors and sizes to be chopped up for salads and look for sandy dirt and different shades of dirt for "spices". Dried wood that is.. actually i guess rotting, but dry, breaks apart like shredded chicken. The kids really run with thier imagination when we play restaurant. It is always a mess, but usually will take up hours of time!

We love board games here. The same games over and over get boring though. We like to make our own games up from time to time. A large piece of card board and some game pieces (dice, pawns) crayons and imagination are all you need. Think of a theme (we just did a St. Patrick's day). Then get to work. Draw a finish and starting point. Use relating themes to determine the shapes of the spaces to land on. (we did clovers) decorate the board with bridges and forests. (horse shoe bridge and leprechan forest) Make some cards that determine moving ahead or back to special spaces. Alot of the fun does come from making up the whole game. Then you can save the game for future play in ziplocks.

The key to free fun is always using your imagination. Keep your eyes and thoughts open to using items on hand rather than buying something new. Our kids often enjoy the interaction of coming up with ideas and brainstorming. Thier thoughts and ideas are usually the most entertaining part of this process for me.