Subscribe: Fun, Free and Low-Cost Summer Vacation Activities for Kids
TV viewing by young children skyrockets during the summer months as exhausted parents look for ways to fill the day. According to the Smart Television Alliance, children’s television viewing during the summer increases 150 percent compared to the rest of the year.
The AAP recommends no television under age 2 and limited television by children above age 2, but studies published in Parents Magazine show that a majority of parents do not abide by the recommendation. In my experience, TV viewing escalates during the summer months as parents who want the3 best for their children struggle for a free way to pass the time. With gas prices hitting or exceeding $4 a gallon, trips to the museum, zoo, beach and other local attractions have become harder for families to afford.
One of my favorite books is Unplugged Play: No Batteries. No Plugs. Pure Fun.
We reviewed Unplugged Play last December on Mamanista because it is full of imaginative, interactive activities for infants, toddlers and elementary school children that were perfect for a snowy day during winter vacation.
Unplugged Play: No Batteries. No Plugs. Pure Fun is a parent’s best friend. It has tips for free activities perfect for beautiful, summer days and rainy, dull days, for times when you want to play one-on-one with your child and those moments when you want to distract your little one with a busy activity so you can get dinner on the table or finish that email.
These activities trigger the imagination and help children develop their motor skills and problem solving abilities. But, most importantly, they are good, plain fun and do not require much money– just imagination and a sense of whimsy. In fact, some of my favorite activities in the book involved just a laundry basket and rolled up socks!
Win It:
Leave a comment on this post by July 11, 2008 letting us know your favorite low cost or no cost summer activity for kids.
Want It:
Buy Unplugged Play: No Batteries. No Plugs. Pure Fun from Amazon.com for just $11.53. And get playing!
making our own playdough and using a pouch on koolaid for scent and color
Using sheets and chairs or low tree branches to make “tents” in the yard…
Swimming! Well I guess it’s not free if you have to buy the pool. But I already have one. lol. We also like to camp in the yard, play tag, catch lightning bugs, and have water hose fights. Thanks so much for the opportunity.
Hunting for wild berries. We got quite a few this morning on our hunt.
Our libraries local reading program, free to the public and we have a wide variety of books to choose from , they have a weekly story time on top of the activities we do at home, they also provide a free craft to do each week with snack!
When I was young, my friends and I would often camp outside during the summer. We would make a big circle of tents and enjoy the night. My sister lives about 10 minutes away and so I take a crew of children to her pool! We also play Badminton and sand volleyball throughout the summer.
Thanks, Cindi
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We play in the sprinkler in the backyard.
my grandaughter likes to run thru the sprinkler an ride her bike,but shes a bit bigger,but my 3 yr old grandson likes for Mamaw to go out an play bubbles with him an watch him play in his little pool,I walk him in the stroller to the park an watch him slide an he wants me to watch him run like”super Jacob” an of course he runs sooooooo fast an is the fastest little boy ive ever seen,lol,I just loooove being a gramma,thanks
vlbelk@hotmail.com
We are fortunate to have a park at the end of our block. Our favorite no-cost activity is walking the dog and going to the park.
We love to play in the sprinkler and go on nature walks.
My favorite free thing to do is play out in your front or backyard, or just go on a walk checking out the neighborhood!! We always make new friends doing that!!! We also like to go swimming at grandma and grandpas!!!
My favorite free thing to do is play out in your front or backyard, or just go on a walk checking out the neighborhood!! We always make new friends doing that!!!
Well we love going to our local splash pad and having a “splash”. Or just playing out in the kiddie pool in our yard.
We mostly play in the yard or garage (it’s my studio).
going to the park or play dates.
We enjoy checking out new playgrounds in the area (though not free since GAS is so high!) and going to local Vacation Bible Schools!
playing in the kiddy pool in the back yard
We go to the local mall about an hour before any of the stores open with my daughter who is about to turn 2. It is air conditioned and while there are some people their walking, it is pretty empty except for people getting the shops ready. She runs up and down the halls and looks in the stores and has a wonderful time. We take her dollie stroller and she pushes it around — perfect for a day when it is too hot to be at the park outside.
The wading pool, swingset, and sandbox are in constant use in the summer.
My kids spend a lot of time in our pool. They also enjoy going on bike rides & roller blading.
The park is another cheap place to go, especially if you bring a cooler with your drinks & food!
I would loooove this book! Our favorite activities include picnics, walks, swings, and backyard pools!!
We love bike rides and gardening. The garden is great because it is a great way to be “green”, it is great family time, good excercise and it really does get the kids to eat their veggies. It gives them a great pride in that they harvested food from a tiny seed they planted.
We like to go swimming in the river near our house!
we do a lot of swimming, water gun fights and if it’s not too hot bike rides down by the river
It is tough to beat running through the sprinkler
My son absolutely loves the park and the beach!
Running through the sprinkler with the dog!
Swimming at my sister’s pool!
I have a 6 month old so I am looking for ideas! Right now we go to the library for their free classes for moms or dads and babies.
Hunting for fireflies. Thanks for the chance.
I would love to win this. Please enter me.
we live next to a big lake alot of water fun
Good old-fashioned reading!
play in the park. with drive way chalk, teach them phonics.
going to local state parks for the day and hiking on there trails :)
Going to the park or swimming at the lake are my favorite summer activities
swimming in an inflatable swimmingpool
picnic in the park
swimming in a local river
It’s a toss up between the pool or the skatepark (I prefer the pool)
gkstratos@ yahoo.com
the kiddie pool
Going to the library.
1 word- Swimming!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Best thing to do in summer, its fun and great excerise.
Off to the pool for us and weekend road trips to see all the natural resources that are available to us
Touching nature before it is gone.
I like making coffee-can ice cream. You can find the recipe on the Web with any major search engine. The kids start to get tired of rolling the can back and forth (it takes quite a while to get done), but they really want to eat the ice cream, so we think of variations on how we can roll it. It’s a great way of teaching delayed gratification!
The garden hose…kids love it!
we go fishing at the lake. the kids love it. My son who is 6 has caught 2 fish in the last month.
Hiking
swimming!
To the pool!!! when we have extra time and going to the library.
Running a lemonade stand, teaches kids about business at a young age!
Digging in the garden.
Playing in the sprinkler in the backyard, or taking nature walks.
My low cost activity is to map out all of the city parks and each week we pick a new park or two to visit. We bring our park kit which has lunch, kites, pail and shovel and other toys.
Going to the beach is a summertime activity that can’t be beat as long as you live near enough to one not to have to pay a lot for gas!!
Keep the children occupied with fun educationa learning opportunities!!!! Many Thanks SW
bicycling
Colored chalk for the kids to play hopscotch or get creative on the sidewalk/driveway.
We love to get the kids in their swimsuits and let them run through the sprinklers. We found a really cool sprinkler attachment for about $7 and it makes it more fun. We also found a fun recipe online for sidewalk chalk paint that’s made with things you normally have around the kitchen. We’ve been tight on money this summer but we’ve still made it lots of fun for the kids.
going to the library
Going to the beach.
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