Share your inexpensive family activity ideas

So we are on a pretty strict budget. However, it's nice to do SOMETHING besides be at home or go to the mall Winter is coming up as well, which can make out door activities more difficult. So I thought that a thread like this might give us mums some ideas to help us keep our sanity

So here are a few cheap family activity ideas

Please add your ideas as well

1) Side walk Chalk Art
2)Make your own play doh
3)Visit a local farm
4)Sail boat races at a local stream
5)Bubbles
6)Collect cans/bottles and let the kids trade them in for money and buy a treat of their choice.
7)Organize your own bike parade at a local park by getting you kid's friends together and letting the kids decorate their bikes and ride around.
8)Build a rock garden
9)Crafts
10)Indoor camping
11)Make puppets
12)Turn on some music and have a dance party
13)Put on a talent show with another family
14)5-Minute Make-Your-Own- Ice Cream. In a quart ziplock bag, put in a cup of milk, a teaspoon of vanilla and . In a gallon ziplock bag, put in a 1/3 of a cup of salt and fill the bag ¾ of the way full with ice cubes. Place the smaller bag inside the larger bag, and shake for 5 minutes. Open and serve!
15)Act out your favorite book or movie
16)Let your kids write and illustrate their own books
17)Make a movie or play with a video camera
18)Volunteer somewhere
19)Make your own audio books. Record your child reading their favorite story, then play it for them at night before bed
20)Teach your children to cook.

1. go on a picnic - indoors or outside
2. go to the museums - some are free or cost under $10 to get in and kids usually get in free
3. have a toy swap with a neighbor or friend
4. plant paper whites or other bulb flowers indoors and let your child water and watch for growth each day
5. make a paper chain for christmas
6. go swimming in the bathtub! Owen loves this!!!
7. have movie night. disney has some great movies from the 60's that are not animated and we loved these as kids. we used to rent them for free at the library!

These are the things jesse loves to do the most.

Go feed the ducks at the pond
Go and see the boats at the wharf - if you have a wharf
Go to the museum, he loves seeing the old cars.
Go and visit the fire station - My step dad is the chief of the one here but usually they dont mind kids stopping in if its been arranged.
His all time favourite is having a "Happy un birthday party" We make a cake sometimes just with a sanwhich! have the candles blow up some balloons, have some stramers no presents though, and have all his teddybears out and sing happy birthday! I realise some of the kids here may be a bit to young for that but its something for when they get older.
Also we have adopted a grandparent from the local resthome who has no family, jesse goes and sees her once a month for an hour, the oldies love the wee ones!

We often have backwards days
breakfast for dinner
dessert before dinner
Jammies all day long

We also do alot of baking and take it to other people

We have a ceramic place in town where you can go pick your own ceramic to paint for pretty cheap

Rollerskating/Iceskating indoors

StoneFire Pizza...kinda like Chuck E Cheese, but there a food buffet and you can keep going back for more, we could spend 5 hours there!

Sleepovers & playdates are getting popular with us now. Coupla of girlfriends to spend the night. They pretty well entertain each other.

The high school has open swim times, only for $2

The high school puts on theatre shows geared towards kids, $3 per person

Build indoor forts throughout the house

I can't think of anything else that wasn't mentioned already.