has anyone got any ideas?

Question

on how to amuse my children at the weekends. They are happy to watch t.v but I would rather them do something different. I dont have a lot of money to spare. Any ideas? Serious answers only plz.

oh sorry they are 9 and 10 boy and girl.

Answer 1

I used to take my kids tot he park.I would take a magazine and a blanket, a sanwich ,cut up fruit and biscits etc, and we'd have a picnic and they would play on the swings and climbing frame thingy. I was lucky to find parks with shady spots and toys to play on.They had their favourite parks after a while. As they got older we had friends meet us there too and made an afternoon of it. ohhh,I miss those days :)
just notriced teri ages, thats ok my eldes t was about 12 wehn he stopped coming and I took the other 2,I just had to take better snacks lol.so sometimes we'd jsut grab $2 worth of chips and take some buttered bread and a bottle of sauce and a 2L bottle of cordial made up.

Answer 2

I live in Germany right now, and the Germans always are out and about with their kids. They go for walks on the weekend, out to parks, stuff like that. And they do it now matter what the weather. We try to do that too, although not as often as the Germans do. We also try to get together with friends who have kids that are friends of our daughter's at least twice a month. Seeing other kids on the weekend breaks up the monotony. They key is to get out of the house. If you are stuck inside the house, do things with your kids. Make cookies or cupcakes. Make some salt dough and let them make ornaments. Since it's almost Valentine's Day you could make them heart-shaped and paint them red. And let your kids choose and activity, either have them just let you know what they want to do, or have a jar filled with slips of papers, each with a different activity, and have the kids choose one. Also, look for a community sports program, many places have low cost sports and activities for children.
Salt dough recipe: http://www.gigglemoose.com/salt_dough_recipe.htm

Answer 3

I bought an inflatable boat with a carrying capacity of about 3 adults for $60 when I was in america and brought it when I came back to India. Now I use it as (1) A Garden / Indoor Pool - by filling the boat with water after inflating it (2) A slide by keeping the inflated boat upside down at an angle on a sofa (3) A Trampoline - by keeping the boat upside down on the floor and (4) As an inflatable boat when I go to the near by river.

My 3 yr old and his friends enjoy this thing more than anything I have ever been able to provide them including water theme parks etc.

Answer 4

Have them put on a play. This takes hours and hours and is so fun. The can write it or get a book from the library with short childrens plays. Or they can improvise their lines. They can make sets, assemble costumes, make popcorn for the audience and "sell" tickets to the performance. My daughter gave countless plays with her puppets popping up behind the couch. I miss those days!
How about setting aside an hour a day for reading out loud a wonderful book? I read to my children way after they could read to themselves because it is such a special connecting time. Make it a tradition - blankets, hot chocolate...
Love your kids while you still have them! It is the best investment you can make. Kids spell love T I M E.

Answer 5

Growing potatoes amused me for weeks… still kinda does.
(Just give them a potato, and tell them to plant it. It’ll grow in about a week, and have other potatoes growing in its root system in a few weeks.)

Get a few small pots, and some seeds or cuttings off other plants for your kids to grow. (Daisies seem to grow pretty well.)

Put the kids in charge of making a compost heap, and send them worm hunting. My parents did this to me and my sister, and it not only kept us amused for hours, we got a thriving compost heap.


I always have loved baking with my parents/grandparents. (I started when I was like 2, and still love it at 23) www.allrecipes.com has great kid friendly recipes that aren’t expensive to make.

Make different colour icing and get the kids to ice the cookies.

Make up a batch of icing, put it in an icing bag, and let the kids decorate the kitchen table. Once again, this kept me and my sister amused for hours.

My mum used to get me and my sister to make up stories to tell her… but this nearly always ended in arguments. Me and my sister bickered like crazy about everything though, so you might not have this problem.

Get a block of clay and let your kids go nuts. You can get clay that fires in a home oven, but if you can’t get it most local councils will have somewhere you can get the clay fired for virtually nothing.

A bag of Plaster of Paris kept me amused for weeks.
I made a simple play dough (1 cup flour, 1 cup salt, and enough water to make a dough) and took moulds of stuff I found in the garden, or of my pet’s feet.
(The beauty of the flour/salt play dough is that it won’t hurt the dog that inevitably eats it.)

Answer 6

Remember the days when we all used to just go outside and play? A bicycle, a jump rope, and a ball. Have fun!

Answer 7

You could get them a base ball and let them throw it for exercise. Or get them outdoor chalk and let them draw on the carport.I know you'd have to wash it with a water hose but I think there are erasers for the chalk so that they can do more stuff with it.

Answer 8

BRING A BALL OUT THE BACK GARDEN AND MAKE UP GAMES TOGETHER. THERE ARE COUNTRY PARKS WHICH DO DIFERENT THINGS EVERY WEEK AND YOU CAN BUY A TICKET FOR A MONTH OR SOMMAT FOR ABOUT £20 THEN ONCE YOUR IN EVERY THING IS FREE. THE ONE NEAR ME HAS HORSE RIDING, TREASURE HUNTS LOADS OF STUFF
HOPE THIS HELPS!!! :D

Answer 9

My kids almost always have friends over or go to a friends house on weekends.

Answer 10

I use this site daily to get ideas for activities with my 2 children.
www.familyfun.com. If you sign up (free) with them they will send you weekly crafts/recipes/etc that can be done with your kids. They also coincide with upcoming holidays...its a no-brainer!