Mom’s Money

Kids Home From School? You Need A Frugal Kid-Friendly Hobby!

You knew it was coming… the last day of school.  Of course you meant to have a plan to keep the kids busy and happy, as well as occupied so you could maintain your own scheduled tasks.  How about a few ideas for quick things to do that won’t require a big investment in either time or money?

Food:

You’ve got to eat anyway, so maybe now is the time to get your kids involved in the kitchen.  Start simply with lunchtime snacks like celery with peanut butter and raisins, aka “Ants On A Log” and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.  Depending on the age of your children, have them do as much of the preparation as possible.  It not only gives them something new to learn, but kids who help prepare their own food often are more inclined to try new foods.  You may want to cook up a couple batches of pasta and rice to keep in the fridge.  Then, have a variety of frozen veggies that the kids like, so you can have them just throw together their very own “casserole.”

Gardening:

A great way to teach your kids about gardening is to start with a couple simple tomato plants.  Get a clay pot or other outdoor-style planter clean and ready, with your kids helping, of course.  Buy good potting soil suitable for vegetable plants.  Give your kids the tools they need, and a little instruction, and watch the intensity they exhibit when they start planting.  This is serious work for most kids and it keeps them interested for a long time as they watch their plant blossom, then produce.  Individual containers work well, but if you have a garden spot in the ground, that’s great.  A fun idea is to plant a “naturally pest-free” mini-garden.  In a larger container, plant two or three grape or cherry tomatoes, and include a stake for support.  Then, around the parameter of the container, plant green onions, and between the onions and the tomato plants, plant a sprinkling of dwarf marigolds.  The combination of onions and marigolds is a natural defense against bugs that love tomatoes.

Crafts:

Projects for the sake of fun are great, but when you provide a craft that will actually create a needed item, kids will give more attention to it, and take more pride in the completion of the project.  Look around the house for things that your family can use.  Do you have a bunch of pictures piled up waiting to be put in frames or a picture album?  Can you hand some of those pictures off to the kids to creatively frame and display?  There are many ways to create frames that are inexpensive and unique. Start at garage sales and thrift shops.  Purchase a variety of old frames along with other interesting objects, such as buttons, old sheet music, or anything that looks interesting.  Lay everything out for the kids, give them a bit of instruction, and ask them to go ahead and design a frame or two.  Once they get started, they’ll be looking for all kinds of objects to create frames, especially if they’re framing pictures of themselves!  The same applies to photo albums.  It’s easy to cut and paste and turn a plain scrap book into a special family album.  Other items you may need around your house will come to mind as you look around.  How about a bulletin board or two?  Or some artwork for the family room?  Placemats, coasters, and bookends are all projects that can easily be designed and built by kids.  The idea is to help your kids develop a vested interest in their craft by creating a useful object.

These are just a few ideas for filling the time your kids have now that their days are not occupied with school.  When Autumn rolls around again and the kids are back at school, you’ll all have memories of a summer well-spent!