Hey Moms and Dads, kids love to play, and playtime is a great way to bond and have silly fun with our kids. We need our kids as much as they need us, and the great things about having kids is they can escape from the pressures of daily life. Here are some fun activities that don’t have to cost an arm and a leg we can enjoy with our children:
Fun Kids Activities
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- How about having a picnic? Requires food out of the fridge and stuff from around the house, use paper plates for easy clean up, spread a blanket out right outside your house and have a picnic. Raining, snowing, or just too darn hot outside? No problem, move the furniture out of the way and have a picnic on the living room floor.
- Go buy a puzzle and make it together. This is a great learning activity. Check out Ann Bowers article on “Teaching with Puzzles“. Ann has been an educator for over 20 years at a k-8 public charter school and provides great insight on the effectiveness of puzzles in teaching children skills and concepts.
- Go to the local park, playground, garden path, or whatever you have for gathering of children in your area with no admission fees! Even if you go to the local school during “off time” usually weekends and after 6:00 pm on weekdays get some play time in and have a ride on the swings
- Take pictures ~ what better way to see the world through your child’s eyes than to hand the camera and let them snap a few shots. If your kids are like mine, they love it when the camera comes out.
- Play a board game, but be creative and create new rules!!
- Go to the movies. At home! Make a big bowl of popcorn and snuggle up to watch a favorite movie together, remember to turn out the lights for super theater effect.
- You know that video game they like to play? Play it with them, trust me there will be laughing, a lot of it.
- Play hide and seek. Classic, and still fun.
- Draw pictures together and use your imagination to create a story for that picture.
- Here is a very easy and relaxing activity. How about taking a walk …. Anywhere! Around the yard, around the block, just walk chit chat and spend some time together without the bustling noise of video games, televisions, or phones
- Make and fly a kite.
- Make up a song about them…or you…or the dog…or anything! Then sing it of course.
- Teach them to play cards
- Write a story with your child about something crazy and fun!
- This is a great one when you are cooped up in the house: Make a scavenger hunt and hide things around the house.
- Read a book and at the end of the book use your imagination and create alternative endings.
Here are some neat ideas you can do with paper or a paper bag. I bet you never thought that a paper bag could be so much fun.
- Take a class, learn Origami together, and use it for origami projects. Challenging but fun.
- Make a puppet
- Pack a lunch
- Here is an easy one, trying painting a picture on your paper bag and show it to daddy when he gets home.
- Make a book cover
- Recycle it. Or just recycle in general. My son loves taking out bags, newspapers and boxes to the recycle plant. Not only do I make it a fun activity, but it also provides a valuable lesson on conservation
- Try decorating your paper bag with stickers and use it as a gift bag
- Make your own microwave popcorn (kernels, oil, etc… tape shut, microwave)
- Cut it up and make craft labels, scrap book bits, or gift cards from it
- Use it to make paper-mache
- Make a luminary for your yard
- Use it to collect donations for charity
Share your ideas!! Scroll down to the bottom of this page and tell us some fun activities you do with your kids. Don’t forget you can also get a school play set installation at home, this way you can interact with your kids a lot more.
DISCLAIMER: Use of these ideas for kids are at your own risk and you as the adult are responsible to make sure you supply the adult supervision needed with each of these ideas. We make no warranty, express or implied, regarding you or your child’s individual safety. Also, remember that depending on your kid’s age these activities could change, some kids may prefer to get together and play board games or play something like a Team Murder Mystery Game.
What are some fun, low-cost activities to do with my kids?
Plenty that don’t cost an arm and a leg: have a picnic in the backyard or on the living-room floor, build a puzzle together, visit a free park or playground, play a board game with made-up rules, have an at-home movie night with popcorn, play hide and seek, fly a kite, or draw pictures and invent a story to go with them.
What can we do with the kids when we’re stuck indoors?
Move the furniture aside and have an indoor picnic, set up a scavenger hunt by hiding things around the house, draw pictures and create stories together, build a puzzle, or play a board or card game. Rainy, snowy, or too hot outside is no problem — plenty of the fun moves right inside.
What can kids make with just a paper bag?
More than you’d think. Turn a plain paper bag into a puppet, paint a picture on it, make a book cover or a decorated gift bag, build a luminary for the yard, use it for paper-mache, make homemade microwave popcorn, or cut it up for craft labels and scrapbook bits.
Why is playtime with my child so valuable?
Kids love to play, and playtime is a great way to bond and have silly fun together. It’s also an escape from the pressures of daily life — for them and for us. As the article reminds us, we need our kids as much as they need us, and these simple shared activities are where a lot of that connection happens.
Thanks for helping me feel like a better mom today! I was able to check of several of those ideas just this week as things we’ve done! 😉
Hugs,
Holly
This was a great post. Thanks for writing it. Gave me some good ideas.
bake a cake and decorate it with your kids. i think this will be a good add-on 🙂
rip up paper. kids love the noice of paper ripping. Also make bubles. They love bubbles.
Read a book. Make it a routine.
Do a painting together. Children love paint.
Bring them to school.
Be Proud of them=)