Thrifty Mommy » activities

Inexpensive Activities to Do with Your Kids

Karen Weideman — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 14:18:11 +0000

It’s important to spend time with our children. They’ll only be little for a short while and it’s our job to provide learning opportunities and teaching moments. The problem is, many people associate quality time with expensive outings to the beach, eating out, and theater shows. Finances are tough for many people. There are many activities you can do that cost little to no money.

1. Go to the park.
2. Watch a dvd and eat popcorn.
3. Make pancakes.
4. Make playdough.
5. Play with playdough.
6. Build something with blocks.
7. Play school. Let your child be the teacher.
8. Paint or draw together.
9. Ride bikes.
10. Go for a walk around the neighborhood.
11. Garden together.
12. Visit a neighbor.
13. Do something special for an elderly person such as clean their house, do their errands, cook, or visit.
14. Write a card or letter to someone.
15. Sing songs.
16. Play video games together.
17. Pray for the needy.
18. Make Oobleck.
19. Go through all of the toys and organize them.
20. Visit a farm to pick fruits and vegetables.
21. Have a picnic lunch.
22. Play board games.
23. Create a photo book or scrapbook.
24. Go camping.
25. Tell jokes.

Also, check out these free winter fun ideas. What low cost fun activities can you suggest?

image (c) Karen Weideman

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Target Summer Savings

Karen Weideman — Sun, 17 May 2009 00:42:56 +0000

I received a Target sale catalog in the mail today called “splash into summer for less”. You may have received one too, but before you toss it into the recycling bin be sure to look on the back. Attached, you should find a coupon packet valued at over $55. You may find some of the coupons to be useful.

Here are some of the sale items that caught my eye:

Fisher-Price sand tools $3.49
Wigglin’ Water Sprinkler $8.99
Cootie Games $4.99
Primary Journal (room for writing and drawing on each page) $2.99
No-Spill Mini Bubble Bucket $4.99
No-Spill Bubble Blitzer (blows up to 3,000 bubbles a minute without re-dipping) $4.99
Crayola 3-D Sidewalk Chalk $4.99, $3.99 after $1 coupon in catalog
Littlest Pet Shop Band-Aids $1.89, $.89 afte $1 coupon in catalog
Mega Blocks Dora Big Backyard Adventures $9.99

This sale ends June 1, 2009. Enjoy!

image from target

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Shameless Plug: Little Fun; Little Learning

Karen Weideman — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 22:52:40 +0000

Some of you may not know this, but I also author Little Fun; Little Learning. It’s a site geared towards preschool and kindergarten. There are craft ideas, links to helpful websites, songs, fingerplays, games, and so much more. I hope you’ll drop by and check out the fun!

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Save Money with Your Local Library

Karen Weideman — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 02:07:48 +0000

Everybody knows that as long as you remember to get the books back in time, libraries are a great place to save some money. The word has even started to get out that you can checkout videos and music for free or cheap. You might even already know that you can buy used books for cheap which is really nice for kids that read books faster than you can buy them.

Our library offers a bunch of other opportunities to save a few pennies.

Classes for kids - Our library runs a ton of weekly classes that are normally about a half hour. Most of them are storytime based with an arts and craft project toward the end. But they also have more hip things such as Guitar Hero night.
Computer use - Most libraries these days are practically littered with computers that allow you to use the internet which is a great opportunity for anybody who can’t afford a computer or internet service and for people when their computers are being repaired. We also get free Wi-Fi if you have your own laptop.
Arts & Crafts for kids - Kids are allowed to do one free art project each day. Any additional projects are a dirt cheap 25 cents. You seriously can’t buy your own supplies for that cheap.
Play area - Inside the library, there is a wing with all of the kid books. In that wing, there is a play area complete with play kitchen, puzzles, buckets and shelves full of toys. It is quite a popular place for people to bring their kids when the weather outside isn’t so great.

What type of perks and services do your libraries offer for cheap?

Thanks so much to Mike for today’s guest post. He is the father of 5 year old twins and a new baby. You can find him writing about IVF, raising children, raising a child with autism, and fatherhood. I hope you’ll visit him at Be A Good Dad!

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Free Site for Finding Halloween Activities

Karen Weideman — Wed, 03 Oct 2007 14:34:56 +0000

Looking for a festival or carnival to take your kids to? Want to promote your church or school fall festival? If so, then check out GooGhoul. Simply type in your zip code and GooGhoul will show you the activities in your area. Be sure and check back later in the month after more events have been posted.

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Crayola Games for Kids

Karen Weideman — Sun, 01 Jul 2007 14:43:03 +0000

Looking for more stuff to keep the kids busy? Let me them play with this fireworks show at Crayola Creativity Central. Crayola also has many other options such as coloring pages, craft ideas, card creator, certificate maker, as well as many neat looking games.

We’re looking for more free activities to keep the kids busy this summer. If you have some ideas, please paste a link below. Perhaps I can look through them and put all the links together.

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Free Stuff for Kids

Karen Weideman — Thu, 28 Jun 2007 19:33:43 +0000

In most places, school has been out for a few weeks now. Are the kids making you crazy yet? Do you wish you had some things to keep them busy?

Char, from Weary Parent, has sent me some information on a free summer book for kids. Char and Randa have worked hard on getting some activities together to help fight off the summer boredom. They have created two printable Summer Fun Books (one for younger kids and one for older kids) full of great activities for your kids – word searches, coloring pages, pencil fun activities and more.

Click here for a free book from Printables 4 Kids.

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