Want 70+ Free Activities for Kids? Yes, please!
This year, I am looking for ways to spend less and enjoy more quality time with my kids – without spending money. Now, I know. Finding free activities for kids is a tall order.
But here I am, eagerly searching for ways for us to get out of the house without spending a dime.
So I searched to discover the best ideas to try myself and share with you.
Inside you will find 70+ free activities for kids broken down into two categories.
- Free activities to do in the home
- Free activities to do in your city
RELATED: Want quick and easy ideas for home? You’ll love our activity cards.
But first, what kind of activities do children enjoy?
This answer is so much easier than we think.
Kids want to:
- Feel loved
- Be wanted
- Spend time with family members
We can attain this without spending money.
So whether it be a simple idea for your toddler to do at home (such as playing with soap and water) or taking your preschooler on a new bike path, the answer always comes back to simple ideas that are free or inexpensive.
Just like this list of toddler activities, or these ideas for one-year-olds, this list of free activities will help pass the time during the long days at home with kids.
Children do not need you to spend money to feel complete. All they ask is for us to spend time with us as a family.
RELATED: 50+ Play Ideas are right at your fingertips! Try these activities next!
Fun and Free Preschool Activities
40+ Free Activities for Kids at Home:
- Introduce a sensory bin. Here is everything you need to get started.
- Sort transportation toys
- Pretend camping with forts and a fire pit (kraft paper and blankets)
- Paint – Painting for Beginners
- Paint some more – Here are 40+ Painting Ideas for Kids to keep everyone going!
- Playing restaurant
- Cut spaghetti
- DIY movement dice
- Pretend movie theatre
- Create a box road
- Make a DIY rainbow game
- Make a treasure map
- Practice your phone number
- Reverse rolls – preschooler becomes the parent, the parent becomes the preschooler, OR preschooler becomes the Dr., the parent becomes the patient, etc.
- Color noodles
- GIANT tic-tac-toe
- Save paper tubes and try one of these 40+ paper tube easy ideas.
- Play Go-Find-It
- Try a cardboard name build
- Changing seasons fashion show – parenting hack – preschooler is showing mom what still fits.
- Try a Breakfast Invitation
- Indoor picnic
- Make a fort
- Cookie sheet painting – Happily Ever Mom
- Tea parties
- Practice balancing to improve reading
- Freeze dance
- Pom pom matching game
- Box forts
- Make a nature mural
- Match alike stickers
- Design a cardboard box tree
- Create with that box of pom poms sitting in your closet.
- Painter’s tape secret road
- Flashlight games
- Bubble wrap art
- Color sorting
- Popsicle bath – Busy Toddler
- Indoor obstacle courses with furniture
- Water Play
- Draw under the table on large kraft paper
- Paint Ice
- Blanket forts for reading with a flashlight
- Use bottle caps for size exploration
- Play birthday party – Allow your preschooler to wrap gifts (toys) in tissue paper, and you guess what is inside.
- Make “decorations” for the upcoming holiday
- Make a measurement game with your blocks
- Paint rocks – then hiding in the house to find
- Cutting stations
RELATED: Rainy day? Take a peek at these 40 Indoor Games for Kids!
30+ Free Activities for Kids Outside of the Home:
Let’s take our toddler and preschooler out to have some fun away from home!
- Visit Home Depot to play with PVC Piping (Just put it back in the correct bin)
- Read books at a local bookstore
- Collect Flowers
- Explore the Target toy aisle – take pictures of toys you want to remember (wink, wink)
- Nature Scavenger Hunt
- Nature Color Hunt
- Clean out the pantry and visit a local fire department
- Grab a Camera and Walk out the Door – take pictures of what you find
- Tricycle Wash
- Shaving Cream Play
- Use Chalk to Color Bricks
- Google “free movie near me.”
- Play in a toy store
- Outdoor Picnic at a nearby park
- Library – Look to see if there is a toddler time
- Google “kids eat free near me.”
- Visit mom at work
- Visit dad at work
- Squirt Colored Water Outside
- Search for storytimes at your library
- Google “parks near me” – visit a new one!
- Search your local calendar for a parade
- Find somewhere that has a map and use it as you walk. Find a map in our 30+ Scavenger Hunts list.
- Measure hunt – Take the tape measure outside to measure what you find
- Cut the grass with scissors
- Wash the windows
- Go to your local nursery
- Visit a local tree farm
- Bring a basket outside to search for things that roll
- Play with the toy cars at CVS
- Go for a Walk
- Collect rocks
- Outdoor painting
- Find a local pump track to practice riding bikes
- Visit a nearby skate park