Playing doesn't have to cost the earth! (Inexpensive Home Made Toys and Activity Ideas)

Member Name: Claribella

Product:	Inexpensive Home Made Toys and Activity Ideas
Date:	24/02/09 (39 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Cheap and fun

Disadvantages: Some of it is no good if the weather is bad.

If you don't know by now I have two boys, one is only 6 months and the other has just turned two. I am a mum that stays at home so we tend to do a lot of things that are based around my home or area. It's not practical for us to go on trips out every single day because for a start it would be too expensive and secondly those of us who have kids know that if you are going for a big day out then it's a lot to organise. The following is a list of a few ideas that I use to keep my little one entertained on a day to day basis without him getting too bored.

Meet up with friends.
This might sound ridiculously obvious to some but it really is a good way of passing a few hours. I have friends of Noah's age over for lunch and they entertain themselves for hours on end. They play, imagine and run together. I find that Noah has much more fun with kids of his own age than he does with just me and his little brother absolutely loves watching all the madness.

Junk modelling.
Start collecting all of your old bits of rubbish in a bag; boxes, bottles, sweet wrappers, whatever you fancy. Once you have a sackful you can empty it out onto the floor and let your child choose what they want to use. You don't even have to buy glue. I mix a bit of water with some flour and that works just as well as a pritt stick.

Mini beast collecting.
Take a trip out into your back garden or around the block, get down on your hands and knees and start turning stones. You will probably find alsorts of mini beasts especially if it's been raining. You are garanteed to find at atleast a snail!

Park.
The local parks around our area are really nice and I generally tend to take Noah's bike with us so he can play on the swings and then have a little ride too. We sometimes take a ball too.

Picnic.
When the weather is ok we pack up some lunch and go and sit out in the back garden or over the park. I always make sure that Noah is included in choosing which food to pack up and he helps put them in lunch boxes and bags. I find that he is much more likely to eat he food we take if he's been included in the 'Packing up' process.

Story telling.
Noah has always been into books and loves a good story. What we normally do at least once a day is tell him a story but do it in a way where he is included. There are no books or pictures and it goes a little something like this:

Noah was out walking in the............ He couldn't believe his eyes when he saw a massive............ He walked over to it and said...........

The gaps are meant for Noah to fill. It makes the story really interesting because he will come out with some random word (He's just learning to put sentences together!) and you have to base the next part of the story around what he has said. I always include him in the story and familiar family and friends which keeps him interested.

These are just a few of the things that we do in the week and there is so much more. Sometimes we go into town and spend half an hour in The Early Learning centre so he can play with all of the toys without actually having to buy anything. Its stingy but works! He enjoys the walk in too and he's stimulated by whats going on around him. Obviously this is a list for children that are around the same age as Noah. It would be no good asking your fifteen year girl to have a picnic in the local park with you as I'm pretty sure she'd tell you where to go!

Hope these ideas have helped a bit.

Summary: Some ideas to help keep your little ones entertained.