100 Ways to Have Fun with Your Kids for Free or Cheap

Yesterday I posted about Family Day, where we try to have fun together as a family, often for free or without spending much money. I thought it would be useful to list some ways to have fun with your kids without spending a lot of money:

1. Have a reading marathon.
2. Write stories together.
3. Play soccer.
4. Paint or draw together.
5. Create a fort in your living room out of blankets or cardboard boxes.
6. Go on a hike.
7. Have a sunset picnic at a park or beach.
8. Play board games.
9. Play kickball.
10. Get up early, pack breakfast, and have a sunrise breakfast.
11. Go to a museum.
12. Go to a playground.
13. Play hide-and-seek.
14. Have a pillow fight.
15. Ride bikes.
16. Build sandcastles.
17. Rent a dvd and make popcorn.
18. Tell stories.
19. Have a scavenger hunt.
20. Make mazes or puzzles for each other to solve.
21. Play card games.
22. Garden together.
23. Bake cookies (let the kids help).
24. Go to the zoo.
25. Go to the library.
26. Shop at a thrift shop.
27. Create a blog together.
28. Create a scrapbook.
29. Make a movie using a camcorder and computer.
30. Learn to play music.
31. Fingerpaint.
32. Make play dough from scratch.
33. Make homemade mini pizzas.
34. Buy popsicles.
35. Make hand-painted T-shirts.
36. Set up a hammock, make lemonade, relax.
37. Go to a pool.
38. Go to a public place, people watch, and make up imaginary stories about people.
39. Visit family.
40. Write letters to family.
41. Paint or decorate the kids' room.
42. Make milkshakes.
43. Play freeze tag.
44. Create a treasure hunt for them (leaving clues around the house or yard).
45. Decorate a pair of jeans.
46. Do a science experiment.
47. Play games online.
48. Teach them to play chess.
49. Learn magic tricks.
50. Create a family book, with information and pictures about each family member.
51. Fly kites.
52. Go snorkeling.
53. Barbecue.
54. Volunteer.
55. Donate stuff to charity.
56. Compete in a three-legged or other race.
57. Create an obstacle course.
58. Pitch a tent and sleep outside with marshmallows.
59. Roast marshmallows.
60. Play loud music and dance crazy.
61. Write and produce a play (to perform before other family members).
62. Paint each other's faces.
63. Have a water balloon fight.
64. Have a gun-fight with those foam dart guns.
65. Explore your yard and look for insects.
66. Go for a walk and explore the neighborhood.
67. Go jogging.
68. Take pictures of nature.
69. Play a trivia game.
70. Make up trivia questions about each other.
71. Make hot cocoa.
72. Play house.
73. Decorate the house with decorations you make.
74. Make popsicles.
75. Play school.
76. Do shadow puppets.
77. Make a comic book.
78. Play in the rain.
79. Make mud pies.
80. Blow bubbles.
81. Take turns saying tongue twisters.
82. Sing songs.
83. Tell ghost stories in the dark with a flashlight.
84. Build stuff with Legos.
85. Give them a bubble bath.
86. Play with squirt guns.
87. Play video games together.
88. Play wiffleball.
89. Play nerf football.
90. Build a rocket from a kit.
91. Bake a cake and decorate it.
92. Play dress-up.
93. Thumb-wrestle, play mercy, or have a tickle fight.
94. Make a gingerbread house, or decorate gingerbread men.
95. Learn and tell each other jokes.
96. Play basketball.
97. Learn to juggle.
98. Walk barefoot in the grass and pick flowers.
99. Build paper airplanes and have a flying contest.
100. Prank call their grandparents, using disguised, humorous voices.

See also:

• Family Day and Family Meetings
• Baby Makes Eight: Raising Six Kids, Part 1 (finances)
• Baby Makes Eight: Raising Six Kids, Part 2 (organizing and scheduling)
• Positive Parenting