10 Low-Cost Ways to Keep Your Kids Entertained This Summer
Summer is coming quickly, and with it comes school vacation. If you need some ideas to keep your kids busy this summer, we have some fun and educational suggestions that don’t cost a lot.
1. Giant yard Twister
This one is really fun and works for all ages. Instructables has a tutorial with photographs on how to put it together, but basically you’re spray painting circles onto your yard. One reader suggested you instead paint the circles on a big sheet of builder plastic so that the game is portable (plus you’ve spared your grass).
After they dry, turn the kids loose. You can spin the board if you have one, or just call out random combinations of hands and feet on the circles.
2. ABC scavenger hunt
What a fun and educational one this is for preschoolers. Choose a letter such as B. Place things around the room or yard that begin with that letter, like a balloon, baseball, bucket, baby doll, blanket. Then have your child find them.
You can even customize the container to place them in, like using a basket to collect all of the B items. You could even have the child color a large picture of the letter and keep that on the refrigerator all week.
3. Make homemade Play-Doh
I have a favorite homemade Play-Doh recipe that I’ve been using for years. It’s fast, simple, and better than any of the other ones out there, in my humble opinion. Luckily for you, I’m willing to share.
Mix together:
1 cup flour
2 tablespoons of cream of tartar
After you’ve mixed those together, slowly add:
½ cup salt
2 tablespoons of vegetable oil
1 cup water
1 teaspoon food coloring
2 teaspoons flavoring (My favorite combination is mint flavoring with green food coloring.)
Cook together over medium heat until the mixture pulls away from the side of the pan. Allow to cool, and then use cookie cutters, rolling pins, or whatever else you have on hand to play with it.
4. Play baseball with pool noodles and balloons
This one is really fun because the noodles and balloons are so much bigger than a bat and ball. Preschoolers should love the giant size that they can still handle.
5. Make homemade Orange Julius
As much as I like to make green smoothies (camouflaged with berries to turn them purple), I thought I’d include a recipe for a homemade Orange Julius. They’re so simple.
1 6-ounce container of orange juice
1 cup of water
1 cup of milk
½ cup of sugar
1 teaspoon of vanilla flavoring
10 to 12 ice cubes
Mix together in the blender and voila — you have homemade Orange Julius. Next time you can use frozen berries, spinach, vanilla, a little honey, and milk or water. The kids may never know how sneaky and health conscious you are.
6. Catch and observe insects
When my daughter was younger, she had the coolest little container that would hold insects. It was clear plastic and had a magnifying viewer.
I found this similar one that I think is really nifty and great for those of us who never want to touch a bug. Of course, if you really want to go crazy, you could give them an ant farm.
All you really need to do, though, is to walk outside and look around.
7. Make bark rubbings
Go out into your yard or a nearby park with some paper and crayons. Find a great tree with nice bark. Peel off the paper from the side of the crayon. Place the big paper on the bark of the tree and rub with the side of the crayon.
Art projects don’t get much simpler than this, and it’s great for nature lovers. Identifying the tree can add more educational value to this, but I recommend keeping it fun and pressure-free.
8. Make a model
Model cars and airplanes are fun. If you are looking for something different, Dover Publications has some great model castles, buildings and trains that require little more than a glue stick and some time. This really should be a fun experience.
9. Draw a life-sized self portrait
Get some freezer paper and cut a piece that is longer than your child. Lay it on the floor and have them lie on top of it. Trace around your child.
Let them draw in their own hair, eyes, mouth, clothing, etc. These are great and fun to hang on a door or wall.
10. Download a free classic audiobook to take on road trips
My favorite place to download free audiobooks is LibriVox. They have many classic children’s books in their catalog. They’re older books that are in the public domain, but they have stood the test of time.
All of these are free, and the readers who record the books are volunteers. This means you may like some readers better than others, but there really are some good ones who have donated their time.
Your children can enjoy a summer with activities that won’t cost you a fortune. For more ideas, see “10 Fun and Inexpensive Things to Do With Your Child This Weekend.”
Do you have more to add to our list? Comment below or on our Facebook page.
This article was originally published on MoneyTalksNews.com as '10 Low-Cost Ways to Keep Your Kids Entertained This Summer'.
