by Victoria H

Created on: March 26, 2009

So many people in this world have at least one child (I myself have 3) and have a hard time finding things to do during summer break. Well here are my tips and ideas for how to entertain your little ones (or not so little ones) during their summer break.

The first thing you must consider is the age range of your children. Being that mine are younger I try to find things that appeal to them.

There are things that are free and things that aren't free, you have to figure out what you are willing to do, and if you are willing to pay to entertain your children.

I love to do arts and crafts with my children, because it shows their creative side. In our house my kids love to draw, write, color, and paint!

If your children like to paint, then find cheap t-shirts (you can usually find them for pretty cheap at places like CVS, yes CVS sells t-shirts) or old ones that you don't mind them painting on. You can then use your printer to make stencils or you can cut out shape on wax paper, then iron the wax paper to the shirt (waxy side on the fabric, if you are writing words remember to reverse them, or else it will be backwards), and then paint normally.

If you don't feel like having your children paint on shirts, then you could have them paint on canvas that you get from craft stores (even some Walmart's carry it, in the arts and crafts section), then you can display their artwork afterwards.

If you have a little girl that's old enough to use a sewing machine, then you could teach her how to use a sewing machine, and you could help her make her own clothes (shorts, t-shirt, sweatshirt, dress, etc) or even purses/bags/backpacks. There are so many options out there, and there are even free sewing patterns all over the Internet.

You could even teach your children how to bake, or let them help you mix the ingredients! My kids love to help cook or bake!

Play board games, the games that they want to play!

If someones birthday is around the corner have your children make the birthday person a homemade birthday card! Not only will it give your little one something to do, but it will give the person receiving the card a big smile!

If its a hot day, you can take your little ones to your local public swim club (we have at least 2 of them in our area), you can also get them swim lessons or give them lessons yourself.

If you are an active person, you could take your children to your local bike trail (if your area has one) you can either walk the trail, roller skate/ roller blade, or ride bikes (this is a great place to teach your child(ren) how to ride a bike).

If you have a park close by your area, that has decent play equipment then head on over, play a game of tag, or red light green light. Take pictures of them laughing and smiling while playing at the park, you can get some great pictures this way.

If you are interested in spending a few bucks, then check out your local aquarium (ours has dolphin shows every 15 to 30 minutes), your local zoo, your local science center, and any other museum.

There are honestly so many things that you could do to entertain your children during summer break, without having to break the bank.

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