Cheap Indoor Fun When You Can’t Go Outside
When weather or illness keeps your kids stuck in the house, try one of these cheap indoor fun ideas and take the boredom out of being indoors.
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Sometimes it isn’t possible to do activities with your child outside, due to the weather, allergies, or illness. You don’t need to spend a lot of money. Nor, do you want the kids spending it in front of the TV or computer screen. But, sometimes doing fun activities can be hard. Listed below is a list of cheap indoor fun activities that you and your child can take part in.
1. Cook and bake with your child.
Kids love to have the opportunity to do things with you. Helping in the kitchen is a great option to consider when looking for some cheap activities to do. Making pie crusts, pizza, and biscuits can be some of the most fun things for kids because they enjoy the feeling of the squeezing of dough through their fingers.
2. Make roads for toy cars using colored tape on floors.
This activity will keep your child busy by playing with their toy cars on the makeshift “road” you built for them. It will keep them busy for hours and is a very cheap entertainment idea that takes little time in making.
3. Have fun with arts and crafts.
For many kids, finger painting and coloring are great activities to do to fill their time. It can obviously be messy so ensure that if painting, you put some old newspaper down on your table to prevent messes and any hassle. Experiment with these cheap fun indoor activities involving arts and crafts:
- Create collages with food such as cereal or popcorn.
- Make paint with flavored gelatin mix. Mix with a little water. Kids will love the smell and colors.
- Craft pasta jewelry. You can even dye pasta so it’s colorful.
- Mix up some homemade playdough or slime.
- Craft salt dough ornaments.
4. Play some board games.
This is especially cheap if you already own some board games to play. This type of activity can be a lot of fun and is a great opportunity to bond with your child.
5. Transform an old box into a slide.
If you have a set of stairs and a big enough box, simply take the box apart and lay it flat on the set of stairs. This will act as a fun slide for your child to slide down on and is a very cheap alternative to purchasing a playground. Be sure though, that if you do decide to make this type of a slide, you’re careful that no one gets hurt. Ensure that there isn’t anything your child can bump into on the way down or any other dangers that could be looming.
6. Bring the Outdoors In
One of the coolest fun cheap activities is to bring the outdoors inside. Here are a few ideas I did with my preschooler classes.
- Too cold to play in the snow outdoors? Bring in a tub of snow and let the kids play in it. With some bowls, cups, or sandbox toys the kids have a ton of fun without freezing outside.
- Keep a tub of play sand for rainy days. Same idea as the snow but your hands won’t get cold.
- Put a drop of food color into bubble liquid. Kids can then blow bubbles, creating art, on large white sheets of paper.
7. Make a fort.
Drape some blankets and pillows over some chairs in the living room and make a fort. String up Christmas lights for cool-looking lighting. And, have a picnic lunch inside your fort. If it’s winter, make some homemade cocoa. On rainy days, make s’mores!
Conclusion
Sometimes Mother Nature has different plans for us, so having some fun things to do indoors is a bonus. It’s an even bigger bonus when the things you do inside are fun, cheap, and offer you the opportunity to bond with your loved ones. These activities can provide hours of creative entertainment for even the tightest of family budgets.
