10 Easy Cheap Activities for Kids

1.  Tracing:  Give them a coloring page, a pencil, and a window.  They can place the front side against the window and trace onto the back.  My daughter got this idea, when someone bought her an expensive tracing machine from Target.  She would get so frustrated because the little lamp kept moving and the picture she was tracing was getting messed up.  Little smartie experimented against a window and found it worked better.  It's free and she even had her little sister try it.  They are getting so good at their freestyle because of the tracing practice.  

2.  Puppets:  You can have them make little paper puppets.  Get some popsicle sticks, crayons, and paper.  Help them make little characters or cut out magazine characters and put on a puppet show.    

3.  Cootie catchers/Origami:  Did you forget about those?  My daughter has different cootie catchers.  One she says is a boy one and one is a girl one.  The boy one says things like "you will turn into bacon" and "Duck a goose is coming".  The girl one says "I love you" and "you are the best".  She got into origami, from making these cootie catchers. 

4.  Yarn jewelry:  They can learn to braid from this.  I let them pick out three colors, tie one end in a knot, place that end under a sofa leg so it stays put, and let them braid at their own pace.  You can also create your own tying board, so they can practice tying bows for their shoes.  

5.  Chalk:  They can crush it up and put some water in it and make it paint.  My girls love that.  They pretend it's food, paint, or mud.  Get them outside and let them get dirty.  It's the best thing for them to use their imagination.  


6.  Making Cards:  Get out your craft box, stamps, stickers, ribbons, scrapbooking paper, buttons, sticky gems.  Let them get creative and make something for their grandma or dad.  It lets them express their feelings and use their imagination.  Both are really important.  


7.  Collections:  Bottlecaps, beads, rocks, miscellaneous trinkets.  My daughter has a box of treasures that she keeps her little trinkets in.  She likes to give some away to friends.  It gives her a sense of ownership.  They don't need expensive toys and video games.  Show them how to appreciate the small things in life. 

8. Painting:  Go to Michael's and buy the big water-based bottles of paint.  They are $2 to $3 each.  Mine have lasted over a year now.  It's a great investment.  Whenever my kids are bored, they grab their paintbrushes and some paper.  It's better than the t.v.  They can also paint those rocks they've been collecting.  

9.  Make Books:  Get some paper, pencil, and a stapler.  My daughter recently did a comic book, but she loves to make lots of different kinds of books.  

10.  Bead Jewelry:  We got a big tub of beads at Michael's and some elastic string.  You don't have to get the expensive ones.  This helps with their dexterity and their focus.  

     


 Brit


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