Build a Cave or Tent
Give your child some pillows, bed sheets, and blankets and let your child build a cave or tent using chairs and the living room couch as anchors to hold the sheets. Give them toys and a flashlight so they have things to play with while going in and out of the cave or tent.
Drawing and Coloring
Give your young ones some crayons, colored markers, and some paper and allow them to make pictures and drawings. If you have coloring books you can give them those as well to color in. Another idea would be to print online a connect the dots game, where your child connects the numbered dots to create a picture. After your child has connected all the dots, they can then use their crayons or colored markers to color in the picture they just created.
Create a Collage
If you have some old magazines hanging around the house, give them to your kids to make a collage. Give them some poster board, glue sticks, and child safe scissors and let them go to work and get creative! Assign each child a theme for their collage like “my favorite things” or “summer time” and have them cut out pictures and letters to arrange and glue on to the poster board.
Baking
How about baking a sweet dessert with your kids such as cookies, cupcakes, or brownies. It’s good for kids to learn to cook and its fun for them to help with the mixing and pouring of ingredients. Kids can practice their math skills as they measure out the ingredients. They can also practice reading skills as they read the recipe in the cookbook. If your children are old enough to use the computer, have them look up recipes on reliable websites. After the goodies are finished baking, let them decorate the cupcakes or cookies with icing and sprinkles.
Painting
You can give them a paint-by-number set to play with. Sets usually come with water based paint which makes it easy for clean up, and some paint-by-number pictures. Have your child play the connect the dots game by connecting the numbered dots and then paint the picture they just created.
Reading
Have your child pick out a book he or she likes and have them read the book out loud to you. Not only will this keep them busy but it will give your child a chance to improve their reading skills and to fit a little learning into the course of the day.
Teach Them a New Craft/Hobby
This one is for older children. Teach your child how to sew, knit, or make soap. If you’re skilled in one of these areas you can buy the supplies you need and have your child create something. As for soap making, a lot of art supply stores carry soap making kits that don’t require one to work with dangerous Lye, so it’s safe to include your kids when making the soap. The kits often include glycerin soap blocks, coloring, fun shaped soap molds, and maybe even fragrance to scent the soap.
So as you can see, there are tons of ways to keep your child busy with little to no cost. Sometimes all you need are the right tools and supplies, and the rest you can leave up to the imagination of your little ones.