Hobbies And Interests
Online Games
If you have a computer in your home, you have access to many websites that offer educational and fun games for kids to play for free. Most of these websites have games promoting memory, logic, reading and math skills. Kids can have fun playing online while at the same time developing and building various skills. If you don't have a computer in your home, check out your local library; many have computers with free games for children, or which can be used to get online.
Outdoor Games
To get kids moving, consider free games played outside. Kids can divide into teams to have relay races with the goal to be the fastest team. If you have a ball, kids can also play a game of soccer or dodgeball. Another outdoor game is freeze tag, where one child is "It," chasing the other children until he has tagged them frozen before they land on base, which could be a tree. If you have a jump rope, kids can jump to different jumping rhymes; if you don't recall any from your own childhood, these can be found online. These type of free outdoor games develop team building skills while getting kids exercising.
Water Games
During warm months have kids play various water games in your backyard, pool or community pool. Smaller children might enjoy painting with water. All you need is a bucket of water and a paint brush and let them paint the driveway, sidewalks, or even the house. If you have a pool available, parents and children can play the traditional water game "Marco Polo." Parents close their eyes and count to ten while the kids spread out in the pool. Parents call out "Marco" and children respond with "Polo." The object is for parents to find the children -- who can move around -- without opening their eyes. If you don't have a pool, just use a water hose. You can spray a hose in the air while they run through or kids can amuse themselves by simply watering the grass or flowers.
Traditional games
Many traditional games exist for children to play that won't cost anything. Duck, Duck, Goose has children sitting in a circle while one child walks around the circle lightly tapping each child's head saying "Duck" each time. When the child says "Goose," instead, that child has to get up quickly and chase the other child around the circle before the other child sits back in his spot. If you have chalk, draw a hopscotch board on the sidewalk for kids to play on. Kids also love to play Red Light, Green Light, which can be played in any open space. One child stands well away away from other children and calls out "Red light" or "Green light." Red makes the kids stop, green makes the kids go. The object is for the kids to reach the child calling out the commands; the first one to do so wins the round and gets to call out lights the next time.