What are some great bonding activities I can do with my 3 year old son, (thats not costly)?

Answer 1

Reading to your child is a great way. Don't just read what the books says....use your imagination and get silly. I taught my son "I Spy" and we still play that together. It taught him shapes and colors. He and I will be in line at a store and he'll start saying Mama, I spy something purple. We have a good time, and I'm glad this is something he and I share together.

Answer 2

You don't have to pay out big money to bond with your little boy. Reading to him, giving him a bath and telling him stories don't cost anything. If you don't have any books in the house, you can always take him to the library and for the price of library card get him all kinds of books , videos, dvds, cds.

Letting him ' help' rake leaves , wash the car , do the dishes with you are all bonding experiences.

Playing with him , not video games, but using his and your imagination to play together is a great bonding experience.

I don't know where parents today came up with the idea that spending time with their children had to cost them big bucks. Making memories of the simplest things are what bonding is all about. Going fishing, helping you build stuff if that's what you're into, playing catch or football together in your yard or at a park. Just being together and really enjoying that time together is what bonds you together.

One of my favourite memories of my dad is when he and I would drive in the car and he'd sing songs to me from broadway plays or big bands, I always associate Standin on the corner watching all the girls go or there's no business like show business with my dad.

He was a brave enough man when I was 13 to be the only man other than the performers at a Paul Revere and the Raiders Concert, 45,000 screaming teeny boppers and their mums and me and my dad. Now that's bravery. LOL.
And it cost only the price of the ticket and the gas to go to Buffalo, but it's one of my best memories of my dad.

Answer 3

Make puppets out of socks and have a puppet show for him, bubbles (you can't go wrong with bubbles), go to the park and SLIDE down the slides with him (this one is somewhat difficult for me at 42 with a 2 year old hehe), my son loves to go outside and gather acorns until we have counted to ten and then throw them in the air or put them in a basket, play hide and seek, try a Reader Rabbit cd for Toddlers on your computer with him (fairly inexpensive at Walmart and teaches a,b,c's and 123's, let him help you "wash" dishes or take put clothes in the washer/dryer, unload the dishwasher (watch him closely with the breakables lol), give him a broom or the unplugged vacuum cleaner (they love to help you do any stuff like that). The bonding doesn't come so much from the activity but from your frame of mind and as long as you both are having fun and enjoying each others company it will happen quite naturally.

Answer 4

I used to spend a lot of time with my first son taking walks. We would walk to the park and I would point out everything I could see along the way. (pretty flowers, a dog, a bird, an insect etc.) He had a question about just about everything I would point out. I would ask him questions too, " look at that cat, what do you think his name is?" anything to get him talking. We used to go to the library and when we got there I used to let him pick out a book and I would read it to him. I would bring along a stroller sometimes so if his little legs got tired he could ride for a while. As he got older we would bring things to the park, like a football, basketball or rollerblades. It was our time together when mommy wasn't involved in anything else but him. I don't know if this helps you at all, but I remember that as a special time that we had together. He is 16 now and doesn't open up much to me all the time (teenager and all).Sometimes I take him out of school for a day or some other time or reason where we can be alone in the car for an extended period driving. That is usually when he opens up to me and we talk about everything together, just like the old days, before his two brothers came along. I always ask him at times like those "remember when we used to go for walks together?". When the other two came along it was all three of us, but he still remembers the special times we had.

Answer 5

Making funny faces together (free)
Go to the theater for a G rated movie (not free, but lots of fun, especially if you get popcorn.)
Read books, magazines, etc. together. (free at the library)
Play tag (free)
Eat happy meals and let him play for a long time at the playland (around here happy meals are discounted on Tuesday evenings)
Go to a tractor supply store and look at the equipment, kids seem to love that stuff.


Anything you do with your child can be a bonding activity. Just pay attention to your child and don't rush though the day. Take the time to talk about what you see, hear, smell,, etc. and ask your son questions.

Answer 6

Reading is the best. Let him use his imagination to make up stories to the picture on the pages of the book too. Playing together at a park or in the backyard is great too. Find a big box, like a frig box and make a fort together. IMAGINATIONS are the best and you two will have a good time and memories being made to laugh about when is older. (my favorite with my daughter was to dress up in funny outfits and play )

Answer 7

The library is a great place to go. I have a 4 year old grandson that I share custody of. He loves to play with Play-doh. We have suce a good time making things. I love to see his imagination at work. We have bought all the colors, its cheap and when it gets too hard to work with, you can replace it for hardly anything. We have also told aunts and uncles and great grandparents to look for the sets that go with the play-doh to make different things for him for christmas. We also have the Leap Pad and buy books for it. We can sit and do the things in the books together. He has one that has the skeletal system in it, and by the time he was 2 and 1/2, he could tell you what each bone was just by you pointing to one. I commend you for wanting more time to spend doing things with your son.....Good Luck !!!!!

Answer 8

My 3 year old little boy likes to go out to dinner with me one-on-one (he picks where we go...usually McDonalds LOL). Since his sister was born 2 months ago he really craves personal attention without anyone else to distract me, so this is a great time for that. We leave sis with Daddy and just the two of us go for dinner and ice cream about once every other week.

Answer 9

All of the suggestions I have seen on here are wonderful ones. We go to the library once a week. My girls love it.(2 & 4) Also something they love to do is we make what they call 'gooey goo" lol It's 1 part colored water(any color you like) to 4 parts cornstarch. Sitr it up & have a ball. It's cheap easy & not too messy. It's also super easy clean up. I sit down with them & play in my own goo. It's fun to squish in your hands too & drys almost imediately when you take it out of the bowl.

Answer 10

Baking of any sort.
Pack a lunch and take a walk/hike/go to the park, stop to eat along the way.
Routines...for example, my son and I go to the library on Sat mornings and stop at the veggie/fruit stand on the way home.