Taking Care of Moms and Having Fun

Taking Care of Moms and Having Fun

Making meaningful memories with your child is crucial to their growth and development.

Creating memorable moments with your child is a great way to strengthen your bond with them. Moms don't always have the financial resources to do the things they'd like to do with their kids.

In light of this, I have compiled a list of things I used to do with my son (now 17) when he was younger. Some of these games and crafts date back to my days of home-based babysitting.

Low-Cost Ways to Have Fun with Your Kid

Arcades may occasionally feature air hockey games, which are less expensive than the current video-interactive games but do not have a time limit. Find a soccer game and challenge your kid to it, claiming you can win by scoring the most goals. Make sure the puck stops short of the goal line if you're playing with a young child; this will give him a chance to effectively defend his net and send the puck back in your direction.

Near-misses, good saves, and a thrilling "SCORE!" can keep you entertained for hours. When my son was eight, I could stretch a fifty-cent air hockey game into an hour of his time. Surely you're thinking, "My child will want to play the other games, too!" My old promise to my son was that after we played air hockey, he could pick two more games to play. This method was effective, and for less than $5.00, I was able to spend several hours with my son.

Fun can be had with shaving cream

Using a spray bottle, liberally coat the kitchen table or other smooth surface with shaving cream (but first, make sure it won't stain the table by spraying a small amount on a hidden area). While the foam lasts, you and your kid can get creative and doodle in it, mold it into a snowman, etc.

Wear anything that can easily be washed in the washing machine. A simple wipe-down of the table is all that's needed once the shaving foam has begun to disperse. I really liked doing this because it doesn't make much of a mess, it freshens the air, and it actually cleans your furniture. Your kid will think you're awesome for letting them mess around with shaving cream. Almost as if you were encouraging them to engage in some form of mischief.

Needed Items:Cream for Shaving, Damp Rag for Cleaning Up Spills

Color Stroll

Get a container of washable finger paint and a roll of fax paper or any other cheap paper you can find in a roll. Get your kid dressed for painting. Spread out some newspapers just to be safe, and on top of those, stretch out a very long strip of paper (ten feet or more, if you wish). At one end of the paper roll, set the baking pan with the paint, and at the other, set the baking pan with the water.

Remove your kid's footwear. After stepping in the paint, your child can walk or dance over the paper and then into the water at the end of the roll. Irrigate their feet. Put up the paper with tape and let it dry overnight.

These prints make wonderful presents for grandparents for Christmas. I used to do this every year during the holiday season with the kids I babysat or worked with at a daycare facility, so that they could give them to their parents. The kids were well-behaved because they were so amazed that I let them step in paint. The best surface for this enjoyable activity is a hard floor.

Essential materials: a cheap roll of paper, such as fax paper. Finger paint that can be easily washed off. You can dress your kid in your old clothes. Hanging tape for drying papers

Canvas Drop Cloths

Find a cheap white sheet that fits your child's bed size at garage sales when the weather is beautiful. (Both new and colored sheets will do; garage sale sheets will merely be less expensive.) Sheets should be washed and dried outside. Get some non-toxic, permanent paint from a craft store. Get your kid dressed for painting. Provide your kid with a paintbrush and let him or her go to town on the paper. It should be washed and dried again after the sheet has dried. The kid will appreciate going to bed with sheets they decorated themselves. Even you, Mom, have artistic potential.

Your child will always remember the day he or she spent painting sheets with Mom (and here's a sweet idea: conserve the painted sheets for when your child has his or her first child and include the painted sheet in a shower present for the mother-to-be!).

Some advice:If you wash the sheet after the youngster has painted on it, the surface will be rough. You can soften the sheet again by soaking it in fabric softener before washing it.

The painted sheets can be put to a variety of uses, including: You can use the painted sheet as a playhouse roof by draping it over a table if the thought of the youngster sleeping on it gives you pause. Identify the front, back, sides, and top of the sheet and label them as such. Then, have the child lay out the sheet and decorate it as he or she sees fit (as a playhouse cover, a fort cover, a fire station cover, a barn cover, a fairy princess castle cover, etc.). Set the table up and drape the sheet over it to create a playhouse for your kid. Keep in mind that it makes no difference if the flowers actually resemble flowers or not. The fact that the kid sees a bouquet of flowers where you see a glob of paint is all that matters.

 

Essential materials:You can use this sheet for your kid's bed or to cover their table. Paint that is both non-toxic and resistant to washing away. To paint with a brush.

Hopscotch

Hopscotch, a long-forgotten pastime, is always an option. You can spend a day at the park or at home with your kiddo, teaching them the joys of hopping, skipping, and jumping with nothing more complicated than a piece of sidewalk chalk. But beware; the day I did this in front of my apartments, half the mothers in my neighborhood joined in, and we all ended up having a blast, giggling like little girls the whole time.