We’re a month into summer and you’ve already heard some “I’m bored!” comments.
We’ve got you covered!
Here are some fresh ideas for frugal fun activities to do with your gradeschooler!
1. Plant. If you don’t have a garden, get a small pot and plant something they can care for and watch grow. Flowers like zinneas are easy to grow from seeds. You can also buy inexpensive seeds like spinach or lettuce that they can plant, tend, harvest, and eat!
2. Geocaching. Kids love to treasure hunt! This is a great activity you can do as a family or just one-on-one with your child. You can find all the details at www.geocaching.com/guide!
3. Food. Try a unique fruit or vegetable each week. Make sure you include some different ones like Ugli Fruit (a mix between a grapefruit, orange, and tangerine) or Kohlrabi (a tasty member of the cabbage family). Have the kids keep a list or a journal of their tasting experiences.
4. Bingo Nature Walk. Taking a walk is always a good idea, but adding in the game of Bingo and paying attention to the nature around gives it a different twist! You can find free downloadable Bingo cards for every season here.
5. Good Grade Freebies. If you haven’t already, cash in at all the places that give out free stuff for good grades! Although you may need to call your local business to verify participation, most allow you to cash in on grades through June. You can find a list here.
6. Scrapbook. Have your kids make a scrapbook from their best school work this past year. They can also make a photo album with their own captions and memories from photos you took since last summer. You can make your own scrapbooks using the unused portions of school notebooks (they only used about half of each of those one subject notebooks you bought them last year!)
7. Write letters. Do you have some family members who live far from you? Grandparents, aunts, uncles, or cousins? Have the kids write letters to them letting them know how their school year went and what they are doing this summer. They can also include a picture they drew or colored, if they’d like. Make sure you have them address and stamp the envelopes themselves!
8. Interview. Have your child interview an older relative about what they did in the summer when they were the same age as the child. What did they do with friends? What chores did they have to do? What memories do they have? Have your child give a report after dinner one evening.
9. Recipe. Give your child a recipe book with pictures (if you don’t have any, you can find them at the library.) Ask them to find one recipe that looks good to them. Take them to the store to buy the ingredients and then help them to make the recipe at home.
10. Scavenger Hunt. Do an A-Z scavenger hunt where they have to find something that starts with every letter. They can do the hunt around the house or in the neighborhood, whichever you prefer.
What about you? What fun, frugal ideas would you add to the list?
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