Free Fun in Your Own Community

As a single mom sometimes money is tight but I still want to give my child the world just as my own mother did.  I spend a lot of time online looking up as you are doing now, FREE things to do with my child and add my own spin on it to accomodate my two year old light of my life, Kendyll!  Some of the best times we have had are those that didn't cost me a penny and turns every activity into a learning activity.

Below I have outlined some of these activities that you can do at home with your little ones as well...

Look through photo albums:  naming our family members and answering questions about them.  This helps her recognize her family and builds her vocabulary immensly by describing what they are wearing, their pets names, where they are etc.  

A day at the pet store: About once a  week Kendyll and I will go to the local petsmart and go around and name the  animals, describe them, watch them play and even take pictures of our fun.  She loves to go down the isle of dog or cat toys and name the colors, feel the textures, name the shapes (yes she is only 2), and count them.  We talk about how to take care of her pets and we find pet food and always bring home a special bone (cookie) for our dog at home.  She is so excited to give Jake his "present" .

Nature Walk: The first time Kendyll and I did this she really lucked out.  We took her sesame street tote bag and filled it with leaves, flowers, grass, sticks and rocks.  She was so excited she had found it all and called to tell Grandma about it when we got back inside.  This was a walk only about 6 houses each way on our street but for her little 2ft. self it felt like she had walked around the world.  

Sidewalk Chalk Inside:  Living here in Florida you know how hot it can be outside and we as parents don't always want to sit out in the heat and play with bubbles or sidewalk chalk so I did the next best thing.  Let her use in on the tile in the kitchen.  It wipes up with water and is much cooler inside than the 95 degrees it is outside :)

Recycle Fun: One of our favorite times is craft time in our house.  If I empty a box of cereal or a water jug, toilet paper tubes, old cd's, or anything else that I come accross I save it in a box in the garage.  When we need a change of activity (which happens often when your two) I go out to the garage and bring in 4 of those items and along with her crayons, paints, glue and scissors we go to town making some pretty cool projects!  We always end by taking a picture so we can talk about it later and remember the fun.

This is only a taste of the fun that we have.  I will  be posting more ideas every Sunday to give you some fun ideas for the week ahead.  Be sure to comment below and add your own