Year after year I despise school coming to an end because I know what it means, bored kids! Having bored kids while being a work-at-home-mom is not a fun combination. In fact, it can almost be torture. My husband got tired of me complaining day after day, and finally told me I needed to come up with a plan. I needed a way to keep the kids entertained all while making sure not to break the budget doing it. Today, I’m sharing my frugal ways to entertain the kids during the summer.
5 Frugal Ways to Keep Kids Busy During Summer
Geocaching – Geocaching is something that my family has not done, but I put it on my list every year. I’ve spent sometime researching geocaching, and it looks like a ton of fun and best of all it’s extremely frugal. Geocaching is like taking the children on a modern day treasure hunt, and best of all, if you have a mobile phone with GPS on it, you have everything you need. The kids will have a blast, and you might even get in a little education at the same time. You really can’t beat a frugal treasure hunt that provides some education.
Go Hiking – It really does the body good to just get out and enjoy nature. More times than not we stay cooped up in our homes, the kids don’t get to let off energy which in turn means bored kids and grumpy parents. Going hiking is a good way to enjoy the outdoors, get in some exercise, and let the kids burn off some of that energy. Google hiking trails in your area and pick one based on your fitness level and your kids ages. Most hikes will tell you the difficulty level. If you are new to hiking, consider doing a hike that is a loop.
Visit Local Swimming Holes – Most kids love swimming and with good reason, it’s a lot of fun! Swimming burns so many calories that it’s guaranteed to leave just about any child worn out. Look for local rivers and lakes as these places are usually much cheaper than public swimming pools. If you don’t have any local watering holes, consider getting a season pass to your local swimming pool. It might just be the best investment you make all summer!
Game Days – As much as I like to get the kids outdoors during the summer, sometimes it just isn’t possible. In my neck of the woods temperatures can easily reach 110 degrees. When we get heat waves, you couldn’t pay me to go outside. My kids love video games, but they also love attention from me, so I make a game out of it. We pick out a few video games, and we make a day of it. It’s a lot of fun to interact with the kids doing something out of my comfort zone and doing something they love.
If your kids aren’t into video games that’s okay. Instead try playing board games, indoor hike-and-go-seek, or maybe do some crafts. It really doesn’t matter what you are doing. The point is to spend some good quality time together.
Bowling, Miniature Golfing, or Laser Tag – All three of these suggestions are normally pretty frugal for an outdoor outing. I like to look online for discounts starting at the website of the place we are going. If that doesn’t work, I will often find some great deals on Groupon. Taking my kids bowling, miniature golfing, or out for a game of laser tag doesn’t usually cost me much at all and we all have a blast doing it.
How do you keep your children entertained on a budget?
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