8 Simple, Fun, and Cost-Saving Activities

School is out and summer is here! There are many affordable and fun summer activities that often get overlooked such as playing football or having a simple picnic outside. Simple and inexpensive activities are right under your nose and you can easily keep your children entertained this summer! Here is a list of 8 simple, fun, and cost-saving activities the whole family can do together.

1. See free or cheap kids’ movies. There are plenty of movie theaters that show free or cheap kids’ films during weekday mornings. In addition, many cities or towns have outdoor film festivals. If there isn’t a close theater, don’t sweat it. Going to the library to get movies for the kids to watch will work just as good!

2. Go to a concert in the park. Many cities or towns have free concerts in the park during the summer. Take your children out to enjoy these free concerts and to mingle with the other little ones in the community! 

3. Play board games or card games. Traditional board games and card games is a great way to have fun with the family. Take out the old board games you’ve stuffed in the back of the closet and have a go at it with your family.


4. Let the kids help you cook. Planning on cooking a simple spaghetti meal or baking your favorite batch of chocolate chip cookies? Let your children help you cook! This is a great and simple way to let your kids experience something new and to have fun. Psst – it also means less cooking for you! 

5. Share a hobby or craft. If you have a hobby like knitting or collecting coins, summer is the perfect time to teach your children. They’ll have tons of fun learning your hobby, researching and making crafts together with you. 

6. Explore your local library. Take your children to the library. The library is like a vast jungle of mysteries yet to be discovered by your children. Books are free to borrow and most libraries have summer reading programs that your children can indulge in!

7. Visit your town’s free attractions. Scope out free and less popular museums around town and take your children to them. These attractions may seem cheesy to you, but to your children they will be like magic. 

8. Camp out in the backyard. Pull out a tent and set it up in the backyard. It’s free and there can even be sleepover parties with the neighborhood kids. This is a great way to experience the outdoors without actually putting too much effort!

These 8 simple, fun, and cost-savings activities can be done by anyone! Have fun and make memories with your children this summer!

3 Ways to get Your Child Excited for School

School Should be Fun, Right?

Welcome to 2014! How excited was your child to go back to school after a carefree, fun, and relaxing break? Chances are he or she was not too thrilled. They just had a couple weeks of late night slumber parties, movie nights, sleeping in every day, and most importantly, no homework. Getting your child back into the routine of waking up early and doing homework can be quite a struggle, that’s why it is important to get them excited about learning. Here are some tips that will help your child get excited about going back to school.

1) Start Fresh

Maybe your child didn’t have such a great first half of the year. If they have negative thoughts towards how they are going to do this half, help them shake that feeling off. Let them know it’s a new year and they will have plenty of opportunities to succeed and do rock star work. If able to, get them a new writing utensils and notebooks, a back pack and lunch box; maybe even personalize them. They will for sure be starting out completely fresh now. Just staying positive with them is key. Let them know you will be there 100% when they really need your help.

After school, ask them how their day went; that’s when they know you really care about them. If it wasn’t such a good day, listen and give them you’re advice. If they had a great day, praise them and let them know how proud you are of them; this will make them want to succeed all the time.

2) Get Back into a Routine

Waking up early is so rough when you’re a kid, especially after you were up all night gossiping and watching movies with your best friends. A few days before break is over, start back up with their school bed time; that way it will be easier for them to get up in the mornings. Once break is over, you won’t have to drag them out of bed. Start their mornings out with a fun and well-balanced breakfast. Remember it’s the most important meal of the day!

3) Get them Involved in Extracurricular Activities

Sign your child up for an activity or two. Playing a sport or having a piano lesson gives them something to look forward too instead of having to go straight home and do more school work. It will also help them blow off some steam if they had a bad day. Maybe they will make a new friendship! Make time to watch their practices and games, and attend lessons; you know they want to show off their mad skills to you.

Now that you know a few tips that will help your child get back into the groove of things at school, try them out! You will have a much happier child and they will want to go to school every day.