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Free & Cheap Things to Do With Your Kids When Everybody’s Bored 😂
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items Because somehow “I’m bored” starts approximately 12 minutes after they wake up. 😂 These are my go-to free or cheap things to do with the kids when we need to get out of the house, break up the weekend, or make a regular day feel a little more fun—wi...
Libraries are seriously underrated. Let everybody choose their own books, comics, movies, or activities and hang out for a while. Check your local library calendar too—there are usually free kids' events you didn't even know existed
Library Trip + Let Them Pick Anything
Make sandwiches, grab whatever snacks are already in the pantry, throw everything in a bag and head to the park. Somehow the same lunch they complain about at the kitchen table becomes AMAZING when it's eaten on a blanket outside. 😂
Pack Lunch & Have a Park Picnic
Check for the free kids' workshops offered at participating Home Depot stores. The kids get to build something with their own hands, and you get an actual activity without buying another pile of toys.
Free Home Depot Kids Workshops
Another one worth checking! Lowe's offers kids' workshops at participating stores where children can complete simple building projects. It's hands-on, different and gives everybody somewhere to go on a weekend.
Free Lowe's Kids Workshops
You don’t need a pool. Turn on the sprinkler, pull out buckets, water balloons or whatever you already have and let them go crazy outside. Bonus points because they’ll probably be exhausted afterward. That’s called strategy. 😂
Backyard Water Day
Let one kid choose the movie, make popcorn, turn the lights down and bring blankets into the living room. The trick is making it feel like an EVENT instead of everybody staring at separate screens.
Family Movie Night at Home
Make a list before you leave: something red, a pinecone, three different leaves, a bird, a flower, something shaped like a heart, etc. Then head to a park or walking trail and see who can find everything first.
Go on a Nature Scavenger Hunt
Give each child a tiny budget and a challenge—find the funniest item, pick something for somebody else, choose supplies for a craft, or find something everyone can use together. Set the budget BEFORE walking through those doors because the dollar sto...
Dollar-Store Challenge
Search for a park you’ve never visited and make that the adventure. Kids don’t need Disney every weekend. Sometimes a different slide is apparently the greatest thing that’s ever happened to them.
Visit a New Playground
Check the pantry and see what you can make together—cookies, brownies, cupcakes, pancakes or even decorated toast. Let the kids judge everybody’s creation afterward.
Have a Bake-Off With What You Already Have
Check your library, parks department, community center and local event calendars. Festivals, outdoor movies, concerts, kids’ activities and seasonal events are often completely free.
Free Community Events
UNO. Monopoly. Connect Four. Cards. Whatever you already own. Make a ridiculous championship title and let everybody compete for bragging rights.
Family Game Tournament
Instead of collecting things, have the kids photograph them. Find something yellow, something tiny, something weird, something beautiful, something that makes them laugh, and the best family selfie.
Go on a Photo Scavenger Hunt
Give them a budget and let them choose the meal. Older kids can help compare prices and younger kids can pick ingredients. Then everybody helps cook it together.
Let the Kids Plan Dinner
Walk around, look at everything, try samples when available and let each child choose one inexpensive fruit, snack or treat they’ve never tried before.
Visit a Farmers Market