50 Free Things To Do With Your Children

This recession has made things especially tight for the family. Most of these are free or don’t cost very much. Here is a list of some ways to have fun without spending a lot of money:

1. Play sports together: soccer, basketball, baseball, kickball or football.
2. Paint or draw together.
3. Create a fort in your living room out of blankets or cardboard boxes.
4. Go on a hike.
5. Have a sunset picnic at a park or beach.
6. Play board or card games.
7. Go to a playground.
8. Find out what day your museum has a free day. Most do.
9. Play hide-and-seek.
10. Ride bikes or scooters.
11. Watch a movie and make popcorn.
12. Bake cookies (let the kids help).
13. Go to the zoo.
14. Go to the library.
15. Create a scrapbook.
16. Color together.
17. Make play dough from scratch.
18. Make homemade mini pizzas.
19. Go to a public place, people watch, and make up imaginary stories about people.
20. Visit family.
21. Create a treasure hunt for them (leaving clues around the house or yard).
22. Create a family book, with information and pictures about each family member.
23. Fly kites.
24. Donate stuff to charity.
25. Pitch a tent and sleep outside with marshmallows that you roast.
26. Have a water balloon fight.
27. Explore your yard and look for insects.
28. Go for a walk and explore the neighborhood.
29. Make hot cocoa.
30. Play school.
31. Play in the dirt together. Make mud pies or plates. You can even make up restaurant situations.
32. Sing songs.
33. Bake a cake and decorate it.
34. Play dress-up.
35. Thumb-wrestle, play mercy, or have a tickle fight.
36. Play “I Spy” in the car or during a walk.
37. Draw on the sidewalk with chalk
38. Set up plastic bottles and a ball to play a bowling game.
39. Make a mobile.
40. Take a Firehouse Tour
41. Create a collage
42. Make sock puppets.
43. Make pasta necklaces.
44. Go to the dog park.
45. Make a mask out of paper, string, and crayons.
46. Go sledding
47. Play Simon Says.
48. Catch lightning bugs.
49. Go to a community movie. Most cities have them.
50. Make and bury a time capsule.