I have done a pretty good job of unspoiling my kids over the past few months. A year ago my girls, ages three and four, would expect a “surprise” from me every day when I picked them up from the babysitters. This usually entailed a sucker, candy bar, or one dollar toy but still added up pretty quickly.
In my effort to keep my budget inline while also entertaining and unspoiling my children we have been enjoying a regular routine that is built around them learning and having fun on the cheap.
I have found several cheap ways to entertain young kids. Here is what I do to entertain my preschool aged kids for very little money.
# 1 – We Have Pretend School
Seeing as I have preschool aged kids they love to learn. They are both at the asking questions age. Almost every answer ends up with another “why.”
They soak up everything around them which is why our pretend school does wonders. I bought both of them huge workbooks that have 300 – 400 pages in them.
When we sit down for school I pick out a few pages for them to work on. These work books cost around eight dollars each but should easily last us for a good three months.
# 2 – We Read
Not too long ago I was able to snag 50+ kids’ books off of the Facebook Yard Sale for ten bucks. We read all of the time and still haven’t managed to get through all of these books yet.
The girls usually end up with a few favorites that get reread over and over.
I also check EReader Girl on a regular basis to see what free kids books I can download to my Kindle.
# 3 – We Take Nature Walks
My dad has a pretty nice set up at his house. It’s located far off the road in a beautiful setting. He has woods that we go exploring in and a pond that we regularly fish.
I took the girls to the Coon Hunters Club for the first time a couple months ago and they loved it. The club has a huge creek in it. We have been making regular visits and always try to catch the Minos and crawl dads out of the creek.
# 4 – We Paint Our Nails
So this one may not apply to preschool aged boys but my girls LOVE painting their nails. I now let them do it all by themselves. They could sit and paint their nails for hours on end.
It sometimes turns out pretty messy but if I need a little time to myself I just whip out the nail polish.
# 5 – We Cook Together
I have been on a baking kick here lately. We’ve been picking wild blackberries and making a ton of cobblers. I always let the girls in on cooking even if I know it will turn out disastrous.
They get such a feeling of independence doing things on their own and knowing that they’re “helping mommy”. There’s always a mess to be cleaned afterward but I wouldn’t take this feeling away from them for anything.
We Enjoy Each Other
Those are the main ways I keep my girls entertained and unspoiled on the cheap (and without a TV). I am sure there are several different ways that you can do this. For me, focusing on time spent together and teaching them the value of enjoying each day is priceless.
Teaching them that they can’t have everything they want was very rough in the beginning (think: hour long temper tantrums) but it has been so worth it!
How do you entertain your kids on the cheap? What are their favorite activities?
Great ideas! Glad to hear you unspoiled them, that would have been hard to keep up with over the long run. I am going to have to steal some of these ideas for our little ones. We have a 3 year old, a 1 year old and one due any day now.
Congrats on the new addition! It sounds like you are going to have your hand pretty full! 🙂
You didn’t mention chores. I don’t know their specific ages, but my 3 year old LOVES to have a spray bottle (usually with just water, or a tiny drop of dish soap added) to spray around the kitchen and wipe up with a towel. They can help fold washcloths or other easy laundry, set the table, unload the dishwasher, put their toys away, etc. They think it’s fun. 😉
Oh man! I really can’t believe I forgot chores! My girls love getting in on the cleaning action. Especially washing dishes. It always ends with them being soaking wet plus a pile of water on the floor but they BEG to help me wash dishes.
The workbooks and reading keeps my kids busy. Well use to since the boys are now in 8 and 9th grade. The little one enjoys listening to me read but it will be awhile before she does work books. I really like hearing people spend time with their kids vs just putting them in front of a video game.
My three year old really doesn’t understand the concept of the workbooks too much but since her big sister is so into them she has to be too 😉 My little one is always copying whatever her big sister does. We definitely prefer learning activities over tv or video games.
I’m definitely going to need these tips down the road! I am lucky if I can keep my cousins busy for more than a couple hours. I think some kids are easier than others, though, as my one cousin (who is now in 1st grade) can watch a movie and be fine for a couple hours, or can play by herself for hours on end. Others need a lot more attention!
My girls require constant attention! I have to be involved in all of their activities to keep them entertained. Well, except for the nail polish. If I need to to do something myself for a few nail polish is my secret weapon 😉
Enjoy the pretend schooling, funny how when it becomes an obligation kids aren’t too keen on doing homework anymore. With my niece we do “pate a sel”, I don’t know the English term for it, you make a sort of play dough with flour, lots of salt and water, then form shapes and you can leave it dry for a few days then paint it. Super cheap and she can play for hours.
I have made homemade play dough before but never dried or painted it. That is actually a fantastic idea that I may just do sometime this week. Thanks for the suggestion!
Those are pretty good ideas to keep your kids engaged. I liked your idea of cooking together and nature walks. It brings good attachment as you spend more time with each other
Absolutely! We are very close and I hope it stays that way forever!
I remember when my baby girl was that age. So easy to entertain now she just started high school and let me tell you that I am blessed with a daughter that loves books and loves simple things. She wants something she works for it. Wish I was like this when I was her age. 🙂
These are great ideas and in the long run will pay off. Thanks for the post, Alexa. 🙂
It sounds like you are very lucky! I just hope that my girls also appreciate the simple things in life at that age. I sure didn’t!
My kids are 4 and 2 and it’s pretty easy to keep the entertained on the cheap. They LOVE to color and will literally color for hours on end. They also love to play outdoors and ride their bikes!
I love the idea of a pretend school! My daughter is nearly 3 and will be starting preschool in January. This seems like a great way to familarise them somewhat with a school environment and surely will benefit their early years education. We go for lots of nature walks too and paint our nails together frequently!
Hey Alexa, first off, your babies are adorable! It looks like you really know how to have a great time with them. I can’t wait to have kids of my own…thanks for making me more eager! See ya around!
Great tips! And your girls are adorable! When I was little, all I really needed was paper and some crayons – I could spend hours drawing.
Good tips for when my boy gets older (I’m not sure about fingernail painting…my sister and cousin did that to me when I was a kid!). It’s definitely true that it doesn’t have to be expensive to entertain kids…maybe not preschool ones, but I’ve seen plenty of parents who buy a nice expensive toy and the infant plays with the box instead. Ultimately I think kids would prefer time with their parents…doesn’t matter as much what you do.
It sounds like you are doing a great job. When I babysat, I used to love going outside and hanging out with the birds and frogs. It was so calming. the kids loved it too.
My kids expect McDonalds every time I pick them up from daycare (once in a great while). I’ve got to break them from that habit.
I taught my kids how to play tennis and that is a very inexpensive sport for us to play and keep busy with. The park is always free. And then afterwards they can go nuts on the park toys while I get in some quiet reading time.
Sounds like fun ! ~ Christie
Sounds great! DO you play sports? Cuz you can take them to play something they like. Or maybe that’s a guy thing, I’m not sure.
Love it! I have 3 kids (11, 8, 6) and have been down this road many times. It always amazed me how many fun and completely free things we came up with. Forts in the living room, pretend store, and lemonade stand were some of their favorites. Amazing memories created with the TV off!
I used to take nature walks with my parents when I was little. Such a wonderful way to explore the forest without spending any money!
It really doesn’t take much to keep little ones entertained. My daughter loves rocks. She could look for them, carry them around, paint them, arrange them, etc for hours. I’ve found rocks in some very interesting places around the house and in the car. I’m not sure if it’s a good fascination or not, but it keeps her busy.
Right now my 3 yr old just loves to go outside and play baseball or swing on the swingset. It’s been in the 90’s here in the Midwest, but that hasn’t stopped him. It takes a little nudging to get me out there, though!
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