Cheap Fun Activities for Kids

Exercise

• Exercise is a necessary part of your child's health. You can give yourself and the child the foundations of good physical habits whether your sport is going to the swimming pool, kicking around a soccer ball or simply going to a playground. Putting on dance music and encouraging your children to show their best moves is another way that you can encourage children to be active and take care of their bodies.

Reading

• Reading is an enjoyable and useful pastime to encourage in your children. Set aside family time for you and your children to read. You may read out loud or have silent reading time. Reading does not have to be an indoor activity but one that you can take outside if the weather permits. Take a blanket outside and find a level area to place this, preferably under the shade of a tree. Invite the children to join you in the reading time.

Art

• Creating art together is a way to introduce children to color and other aspects of artistic expression. You can finger-paint with tempera paint or edible pudding. Explore mediums like watercolors, pastels and charcoal. There are kits available at toy stores that are not expensive or you may opt to use markers, pencils, pens and crayons that you have at home. Drawing and painting are not the only art forms that you can do at home. Carve designs into Styrofoam trays or potatoes and use these as printing tools on scrap paper. Please be sure that young children do not handle knives and there is adult supervision. Making your own dough clay that you can dry in the kitchen oven is an inexpensive way to introduce children to sculpture.

Sewing

• Sewing is a useful skill for both girls and boys. Cut out cardboard shapes for younger children and have them thread the shapes with yarn. Choose cloth remnants for older children and use easy to thread needles. Keep sharp tools like scissors away from younger children. Projects like quilting or making a first handbag are simple activities for the beginning seamstress or tailor.

Baking And Cooking

• Baking and cooking can create delicious memories. Food preparation gives children the ability to take care of their nutrition needs when they are older and gives them heritage when you pass along family recipes to a new generation. You are giving, whether you are baking cookies or making stew, memories and skills to your children to last their lifetimes

The Family Album

• Create a family album. Share your memories with your children as you go through snapshots or digital files you have collected. Make captions for the pictures or explanatory notes on the photo back to capture dates and significance of the event.