If you’re working to pay off debts and stay afloat, the last thing you want to do is listen to your children complain they’re bored.  Even the best behaved children sometimes get a little tired of playing with their same toys and need a change of pace to keep it interesting.  How do you entertain the family when you don’t have any money left over for entertainment?

There are a number of activities that are free and enjoyable – and then even more activities that might require money to get started, but that can be used over and over again to more than recover your initial purchase.  Here are a few ideas to get you started – I bet you can come up with more:

  • Go for a bike ride.  Most kids have bikes already – if yours do not, hit a few yard sales and pick up bikes for the family.
  • Visit a state park or playground near by.  You can make a day of a park, by packing a lunch, some beverages and a good book or magazine for you to read while the kids are playing!
  • Croquet is the game with mallots and various colored balls that you hit through wire wickets.  You can set up various courses, making it as challenging as you want (try putting wicket four on the hill!) for a good hour of fun every time you play.  Don’t forget to “send” each other into the weeds to keep it interesting!
  • Season passes to your closest and favorite attraction can save you hundreds of dollars.  If your kids enjoy amusement parks or another attraction that is near your home, you might consider a season pass.  Typically you save money after going just twice; so for the cost of a ticket and a half per person in most cases, you can go all summer long for that initial price.  This is a wise investment for families with middle school and high school aged kids who prefer non-stop thrills and entertainment.
  • When the weather keeps you indoors, don’t forget all of the goodies like board games, play dough, arts and crafts in addition to the standard video game and movie.  If you keep up a variety of activities, the kids will be more likely to spend time at each activity rather than start it and quit after three minutes to go off and find something better to do!

For 90 other low cost or no cost activities, try reading my article on DestroyDebt.com – these are things you can do to entertain the kids all summer long, and most don’t cost a thing.