Fun & Fairly Free!!!

[Suzimom]

As the cost of so many aspects of our lives has increased, DH, DS, and & I have been working to find fun in interesting ways... we're looking for more ideas. Let's share!!! I just have a few...please post what you do for fun that are budget-savers...I need FUN ideas!! Here's an idea we started with...


DH LOVES Chicago Cubs...we live in Des Moines, Iowa...so have some connection with our I-Cubs....for a recent Chicago home game that was fortunately broadcast on our cable -- (sadly many games are not at this point), DS & I planned a Wrigley Field (at-home) game...we made a garage door sign welcoming DH to Wrigley Field at-home & taped a "ticket" to the garage door. We had brats and hot dogs for various prices (back rubs, foot rubs, hugs, kisses, etc.). I found REAL Cubbies peanuts in our produce aisle -- Our black/white border collie mix dog, Lucy, was Cubby Bear for our special events pictures...we had I-Cubs cups from our I-Cubs games (Iowa Cubs are the DM feeder team to Chicago). We had pop/beer in our I-Cubs cups...display of I-Cubs/Chicago Cubs hats/shirts we own for "sale" for hugs, etc. as listed above. We moved our furniture out of the way & had front/box seats to the game in our own living room. DS initiated the wave once in awhile....DH ate it UP!!!! He came home from a busy day at work with a HUGE smile on his face....

I'll see if DS or DH can help me post pictures...it was so much fun!!! Of course this was the game that was cut short by bad weather (tornadoes, thunderstorms a few Mondays ago...)

I want more really FUN, creative ideas of ways to pretend you are "elsewhere" or just enjoying the moment....DH isn't usually a pretend-kind of guy, but he was completely thrilled by our effort & we had fun until the weather hit Chicago...and then we adjusted by doing at-home stuff like Wii...

Susan

 

[crazyme5kids]

What a great idea! My husband has been a little down in the dumps lately, this might cheer him up .

 

[Suzimom]

I hope you have fun...I'm looking for some new ideas, so please share if you have any!!

 

[java]

Well I discovered that my kids really love a picnic. So we load up the car- head out someplace remote- near water is a plus-We are close to the Delaware River so we end up someplace near there usually. A playground is a plus- and we all relax and have a picnic. I keep a vinyl table cloth in the car to put ontop of any picnic tables we may find and a bag full of soccer balls and frisbies. So we are ready at any time!

We are huge baseball fans ourselves, but with a family of 6 stadium games are priced out of our league for a family outing so instead we hit the local AAA park- for $8 we each get in and usually there is some giveaway and the kids enjoy the autograph sessions. I have to pay better attention because if I would have gotten Yankee tickets we could have seen Duncan, Hughes, Wang or Kennedy at $8 a ticket!!!

I have in the past made a "theme" dinner and gotten a movie to go along with it. Even DH enjoys those nights.

Keep ideas coming I am always looking for some good ones.

 

[unionville]

We love having "Family Wii Night Tournaments". We also go to the driving range which is cheaper than a round of golf for the whole family. We used to go to the movies every week, now we have Netflix and watch movies at home as a family.

 

[shortbun]

Good old fashioned family dinners where everyone cooks. Spaghetti and meatballs with a salad and pudding for dessert. Finish off with a great game of Scrabble or Chutes and Ladders depending on the age of the children.

Invite another family or two over for Family Olympics! Have sack races, a real running race, horse shoes, badmitten, croquet(we've been playing croquet in our family a lot) and bocce( we like this too but have amended the game a bit to fit our terrain). Amend the rules to fit the ages and have medals made by the children or other awards. The family with the most awards wins... or don't keep track of that.
Basketball, frisbee, softball toss(like shotput) and many other skills can be part of the contest. Serve ice cream and some fruit or make your own pizzas as one of the contests.

 

[Suzimom]

I have in the past made a "theme" dinner and gotten a movie to go along with it. Even DH enjoys those nights.

What kind of theme dinners/movies have you done? That sounds like a lot of fun!!

Great ideas, everyone!!

 

[Dismom55]

We still have drive in theaters in our area, we make a bunch of popcorn at home, pack drinks in a cooler and enjoy 2 movies cheaper than the walk in theaters.

Also our area during the summer has movies in the parks. FREE.

Another for us is the Air Force museum, it is free, and the kids loved it when they were younger, my son who is about to turn 16 loves it even more now.

Family camping is also fairly low in cost. We have a tent and camping equipment, but you should be able to borrow or purchase in a garage sale. Just plan your meals and you have the whole weekend of fun. There is a small charge to camp, but should be low cost in most places. Just don't try to go on a Holiday weekend for the first time, can be very crowded then.

One plain and simple and totally free family activity is just get out and take a walk as a family, go to a park close by if you do not want to walk around the neighborhood. If you do, you will get to know some of your neighbors, and enjoy a nice chat with your kids. Also, very healthy and it is free.

Hope some of my ideas get your imaginations running.

 

[merekc]

Our kids love to eat by candlelight. Simple and they think it is so cool.

Good ol' fashioned game night. DS6 loves to play board games.

Ice cream sundae night. Have lots of toppings (many might be able to be scavaged from pantry). Cheaper than buying ice cream out.

In the spring, go mushroom hunting.

Give your kids a camara and then make a scrapbook together. (This may not appeal to all families).

As fall approaches, make piles of leaves and play in them. We've done this a couple times with the kids and really had a lot of fun.

Fly a kite.

Work on decorating house for holidays together. Maybe make some decorations (great ideas at familyfun.com and other sites).

Plan football parties at home with friends. Or go and tailgate at a game that you don't have tickets to. Just being in the parking lot listening to the game can be a lot of fun.

Have a poker party. We do this every couple of months. The kids play together while the adults play poker.

Start a family bunko group with a couple other families.

Plan a bonfire/wienie/marshmallow roast. Can do this in someone's outside fireplace or some parks have fire pits.

Go apple/berry/pumpkin picking at an orchard or farm. In the fall, many farms have really turned into inexpensive family destinations. We've got pumpkin farms with hayrides, haunted houses, mazes, pumpkin painting and more.

In the spring/summer, join a community garden or put one in your backyard, for the family to work on together and reap some benefit.

Find a cheap rate this winter for a hotel (close to home) with a pool. Spend the night and swim. Would be especially nice if you got the Super 8 ($8 room deal).

 

[MrsPooh]

Both dd's love just going to the park - free and relaxing for me while fun for them.

We do family movie nights. I request older Disney movies or other family movies from the library so no cost. I make an easy dinner (like homemade pizza) and we eat in front of the tv. If it is a double feature I make popcorn for the second movie.

This summer I did themed movie days for the girls - most were all Disney movies. I used alot of movies we had but purchased a few a Goodwill and a resale shop. I'd put it in a gift bag along with some movie themed goodies and try to plan a meal that went with the movie. At the beginning of the summer I got them each a binder and decorated it with their name and clipart from the movies we'd be seeing over the summer. Each week the bag had coloring pages from the movie that I found online - usually two or three pages. After coloring they could keep them in the binder - now that summer is nearly over they enjoy looking at it. If we had toys around the house that matched the movie I put them in the bag and sometimes I'd found a snack or toy at the dollar store that went with it. They looked forward to it every week. It did take a bunch of time for me to plan but I got them all ready at the beginning of the summer so then I didn't have to plan every week.

Our library has programs for kids and about once a month they schedule one in the evenings. The younger one enjoys the program while the older one has free time in the library. Everyone likes that.

 

[java]

What kind of theme dinners/movies have you done? That sounds like a lot of fun!!

Great ideas, everyone!!

Ex.

Ratatouille- french food (and yes I made a little Ratatouille too!) We had souffle(the kids loved that !!)

Sound of Music-we stretched it a little and made fondue

Little Mermaid- We had an under the sea theme- (I got free clam shells from the fish market and filled them with the rice that went along with our fish(and I also made chicken strips for the non-fish eaters and we called it chicken of the sea)

Just be creative. I do try to decorate the table too- not too hard with the kid movies.

Wizard of Oz. We had a "picnic" out of a basket like Dorothy had. And dessert was emerald city(a cake decorated to look like emerald city- not too hard I used ice cream cones to make it look very castley- and used edible glitter and green food coloring to tint it.

First pick a movie then work around it. We watched bend it like beckham and had Indian food. (which I don't think my kids would have eaten without the movie lol and they found some things they enjoyed)

Mulan- Chinese food obviously.

It just makes a regular movie a little more special.

There is a show on tv that gave me the idea- they do more adult movies and get very involved meals -

 

[Grumpy's Gal]

I cannot even believe I am going to admit this....but I will. Just for you!

Have anyone watched the show "The Singing Office"?

We NEVER watch tv while we eat. Not allowed in this house.

ok - we taped the show and then one friday night, we made sub sandwiches and we all went to the basement and ate dinner and watched. We had the best time.

Kids are asking to do it again soon.

 

[stsomewhere]

We get the neighbors together for a bonfire.

Shoot some baskets at the court down the street.

go to a local metropark with a free nature center.

Get an annual membership tp local zoo or muesuem. Can go and look at different thingss throughout year.

beach
picnic at the park

Bike trails

movie night

sleepout in backyard

game night
craft night
decorate cupcakes

wii tournement

 

[annsteere]

I had some adult lady friends over for the movie "Chocolat." It is beautiful, sensual and even has Johnny Depp.

I got two matching boxes that each had small chocolate bars from 10 different countries. That meant all four of us could have half of each mini bar. They each brought something with chocolate in it.

As a take-away I'd picked up (at 25 cents at garage sales) paperbook books by the same author. One was "Five sections of orange" and right now I can't remember the other.

You could do this with just DH and dip your own strawberries in chocolate for a romantic evening at home.


You could to the same with the movie "Like Water for Chocolate" (also for adults, not kids).

I've gotten Chinese food for "The Road Home" and Moroccan for "The Sheltering Sky."

 

[IDoDis]

We have a movie projector hooked up to the ceiling in our family room and a projector screen bolted to a wall that we pull down to watch movies on. The movies are run through the dvd player like usual, and we run the sound through some old computer speakers that are loud and actually sound really good! It's better than being at the movies because we can lay on the couch & lounge chairs and have this huge screen right in front of us (the screen takes up a whole wall). We have movie night on Saturday evenings, with popcorn and drinks.

We very rarely pay for first run movies at the theater (maybe twice a year). We have a subscription to Netflix instead.

 

[Disneyluvr]

These are some great ideas, keep 'em coming

 

[smfritz03]

We like to eat by candle light too as a special thing. What we do for a twist is, I make name cards up for the kids (using unique names, not their real names) and arrange them in the dining room. Hubby and I pretend like we are waiters w/ a very pretend french accent. The kids have to wait before coming into the dining room and we give an arm escort for each one to their "special" seat for the night and pull the chair out and arrange their napkin. We then just serve their food and have a laugh as we all try out our french or any other accent that happens to come to the table.

We also have a karokee so we do our own "American Idol" night. Each child is a performer and dh and I are the judges. They have to dig into the closets (can even use ours) and create their own special outfit and they have to do a song and a dance. We obviously don't pick out just one winner, we have a special winner for song choice, outfit, dance, etc. The have a blast with this and I always end up taking a bunch of pics of them in their outfits.


We also do game night/ junk food night and eitehr do it just us or invite friends over. This is the one time when kids are expected to try a little of everything. We just have pizza, cookies, brownies, ice cream, chips, etc. You're allowed to eat what you want while we play games and have fun together.

And, one thing we do every night at dinner is a game called highs/lows. You can have as many as you wish, but you have to have one of each. Each person gets a chance and tells one high point about their day and one low point. I know, sounds corney but this is one tradition the kids love to do and won't let us forget about. It keeps us involved in the little things that is going on in their lives while they are in school, at a friends, or at their sports and not able to see everything that goes on.

 

[Harvest02]

Great ideas! Keep them coming! Unfortunately, everyone else took my ideas to share!!!!

 

[loveabargin]

Over the summer we have sometimes done theme weeks. I take my kids to the library and we pick an area/region to study about. For example, they wanted to learn about Mexico. We picked up all kinds of kid-friendly books on Mexico. We made a pinata as a craft. We made mexican food. We learned some easy words and a lot about the culture. Then, at the end of the week we went to our favorite Mexican restaurant.

This past year, my daughter was in 4th grade and had to do a huge project on our state (NC) so we made fun weekends out of the research. We learned a lot that we didn't know about our immediate area!

One thing I want to do with our girl scout troop this year is make a notebook about our area. I'd like them to experience all the cool and unique places that make our area unique. I think it will be fun and inexpensive (especially considering gas prices!)

My friend in our neighborhood does family movie night outside. They have a nice projector that they play family-friendly movies onto the wall outside their house. Everyone brings their own snacks, chairs, etc. and we all have a great family time together (when it's not too hot!)

I work for a non-profit, so I also wanted to say that volunteering is a rewarding family experience for any family. It makes you thankful for what you have when you help others who are less fortunate. There are many places that will let kids volunteer as long as their parents are right there with them. Try your local soup kitchen, shelter, community center, etc.

 

[BusyMom2Three]

It is easier to do free and nearly free things in the summer, so we have been doing a lot lately.

We have 3 really nice parks/playgrounds nearby (free)

We have 2 nature trails nearby (free)

A beach just a few minutes away (it is $3 per vehicle)

Library, which also offers all kinds of story times, crafts, etc (free)

Go for bike rides

Go for walks, often with neighborhood friends

Pick fruit at a nearby orchard (usually only $1 for what each child picks, $2 at most, with free hay rides, free animals to view)

We have free entry to a museum nearby on Saturdays

We are members of MOMS Club, which is an international organization for stay at home moms & their kids of any ages ($20 for a whole year for the family, and several times a week there are playdates, field trips, meetings, etc)

Also love movie and game nights

Also not totally free but here it only costs us $4 per child for bowling ($2 if you have your own shoes)

We do the cheapie things once a week and the free things the other days, which mostly consists of the nature-oriented things and socializing with friends.

I am looking forward to reading more ideas!