Easy Ways to Have Fun With Your Kids – No Money Required – Part 2

Get Into Space Exploration

A big cardboard box is what you’ll need here.  And of course you can tell them which planets they can head to.  This is a great way to describe which planets are hot and which are cold.  For example, let them know that if you are going to head to Mercury, it will be very hot there.  No need to take warm sweaters for this one.

A Sticky Situation

This one can work just as well with the kids left on their own with a journal book and the stickers and their imagination.  Or why not have them wrap a gift and use the stickers to decorate the box?  This can turn a regular brown-paper wrapped gift into something that looks exciting.  They can make a tambourine with two paper plates stapled together and filled with dry beans.  Then they can use stickers to decorate the outside.

Make a Treasure Hunt

Two siblings can play this if one of them is not too young, or a parent can play too.  Get one of the kids to draw or write clues on miniature post-it notes and have them all lead to a secret treasure – wrapped or buried of course!

Origami

You may need to help them a bit on this one.  Look up the internet or get a book on simple origami items to make and let them get active with paper and safety scissors.  Once they’re done, they can hang their creations with a thread and blue tack from their bedroom ceiling.

Take a Photo book

Family vacation photos that you have printed out on your home computer are fun to put into a photo album or arrange together in a pretty collage.  How about displaying it in their room or sending it to grandma so she can see what fun they had on their vacation?

Smooch Picture

Using lipstick and crayons, get your child to apply lipstick to her lips and then “kiss” the middle of a sheet of paper.  Draw the face and features (the eyes and nose etc) around the lips.  This can even work well as a play date item so long as everybody gets to use their own lipstick to avoid spreading germs

Walk in Nature

One way to get the kids out and using their energy is to go on a nature walk.  Either collect items you find (a leaf, an interesting rock, a pine cone etc) or take pictures of them.  Keep them in a box and when dad gets back from the office, let your kids ask HIM all about them, while you go off and have a long, leisurely soak in a hot bath!

Letter Puzzle

For children who can write (or for those who can’t, use a photograph of the child or the whole family), ask them to write a note or a postcard to grandma.  But then have them cut it up into puzzle pieces.  Once done, they can put it in an envelope to send it to grandma.  When grandma wants to read it, she will have to put the puzzle together!

For a rainy day or any day where you want to give your child some entertainment that’s fun and easy, and that doesn't require much money, then try any of the above.