Inexpensive Summer Fun for Children
With outrageous fuel costs and hot summer temperatures approaching, parents may wonder how to keep their children occupied on a budget. There are many inexpensive summer fun ideas to keep children busy. Things that can be done inside the home or in the backyard are plentiful.
One of the most obvious inexpensive summer fun ideas for children is the kiddy pool. Plastic, inflatable or not, pools that don’t hold a large amount of water are fun for young children to cool off in on hot summer days. Always be sure to use sunscreen and never leave preschoolers unattended in the pool.
Young children love bubbles! Make an inexpensive homemade bubble solution with a bucket of water and a few squirts of liquid dish soap. Use fly-swatter to dip into the solution and watch the bubbles fly in the breeze.
Summer fun can be creative fun with the help of sidewalk chalk. A box of a dozen large chalks can be purchased at most dollar stores. The chalk works great on decks, sidewalks or cement driveways where the rain or a hose can wash off the art work for easy clean up.
Plant a few vegetables and allow your children to help with the watering and other care. They will be more likely to eat vegetables that they have helped to grow and will learn about biology and botany.
If the weather permits, have a picnic outdoors. If the weather will not allow for an outdoor meal, have the picnic on the kitchen or living room floor. Have your children help you to squeeze lemons or add sugar for homemade lemonade. Cut sandwiches into fun shapes with cookie cutters.
Inexpensive summer fun doesn’t have to take place outside. For those in very hot and humid climates, indoor activities are important. Read, play with play-doh, allow children to “cook” with flour and water, play I-Spy and hide and seek. If it’s too hot to get in the outdoor pool, let your preschooler play (supervised) in the bathtub and add food coloring (as long as he or she has no sensitivities to food dyes) for fun.
Away from home, though the cost of gas may prohibit some from participating often, there are local activities to be found through the Parks and Recreation department of most cities. Check out the parks in your area, as well as museums and movie theatres for special summer prices for kids.
Children should not and do not have to spend the hot days of summer in front of the television. Summer fun for children doesn’t have to involve lots of travel or expense. The point is to fill their days with fun and learning and most of all, quality time with family.
