What are your kids doing this summer while you work? – 7 No Cost Tips

Are you having a hard time keeping your kids busy this summer while you fulfill your work responsibilities?

Here are several no-cost tips to help keep them busy while you accomplish your goals:

1. Check out programs at your local library.

There are often contests during the summer to encourage reading. Some libraries have a weekly or monthly movie afternoon and offer classes on a variety of subjects.

2. Plant something.

This is fun and costs nearly nothing. For example, use an old plastic cup (hammer a nail through the bottom a few times to make holes for drainage) and fill it with dirt from the yard. Then, grow a dandelion!

This may sound funny to plant one just for fun, but it’s very easy and grows fast. And for just a few cents, you can buy a packet of seeds.

3. Check for classes offered at local stores.

Call nearby gardening centers and craft stores. Often, they offer free, or very low cost, classes that appeal to both kids and parents.

4. Get your kids to help you.

If you work from home, look for various tasks to give to your children. Once they know the alphabet, you can have them alphabetize or file documents.

Fun jobs can include sticking mailing labels on envelopes, sorting papers, organizing your desk drawers, and shredding papers (if they are old enough to think safety first).

5. Review catalogs.
Save all the catalogs you receive. Then, have your kids go through them with a marker circling things they’re interested in.

Later on, you can look them together and review what they’ve found. If nothing else, you’ll have some great ideas for gifts your kids will be happy to receive.

6. Teach household chores.
Provide some lessons on tasks to do around the house. For example, you can show your children how to separate dirty clothes for the washing machine, fold clean clothes, set the table, dust, and water the plants.

Older children can do the laundry, load the dishwasher or make a simple meal. To make it fun, you can offer simple rewards for finished tasks that are completed in a timely manner.

7. Have children organize their room.
Try to turn this into a fun activity by providing a specific goal. For instance, have younger children place all their books, dolls, action figures, blocks, or other toys in a pile then sort through them by subject, color, characters, etc.

With older kids, give them a task (vacuum, dust, make the bed, take out the garbage, etc.) with specific deadline times. Then, reward each task accordingly. Maybe they collect a sticker for each accomplished task and then turn them in at the end of the month for an ice cream cone, CD, trip to the park, special family time, etc.

The summer months can be a fun and productive time for both you and your children. Be creative and think of ways to get your children involved in educational activities that will help them learn and grow.

And it doesn’t need to be difficult. Remember, just by conducting some research and planning activities in advance, you can save a lot of time, money and stress.