Free Ways to Have Fun With Your Kids

With a recession on it is hard to keep taking your kids to the movies or buy them new toys. Here are some free ways that you can have fun with your kids without spending much money or any money at all!

One thing that most kids find fun is to go on a nature walk. Pick up natural items from the forest floor or the side of a stream and then when you get home create natural collages together. You can collect objects that are seasonal and make a collage about 'autumn' or collect objects near the ocean and make it about 'the seaside.' The artistic and educational options are endless and the kids learn things too.

Another way to have fun with your kids is to just go to the park and feed the ducks or squirrels. This teaches them to bond with small animals as well and to show respect for them.

You can also take your kid on a trip to clean up a local creek or park. Make them feel good about themselves by having them pick up litter. Make sure they wear gloves and explain how they are helping the environment when they do so.

If you have an overweight kid walks in the park can help take the pounds off. However nothing beats a few rounds of hula hooping to help trim that child's waste.

Older children enjoy being read to, especially if you take the time to read them some comic books.

Finger painting is a fun past-time for the younger child. On a rainy day just hand over the paper and paint and let them go wild.

One thing that kids of all ages enjoy is simply going to a park, blowing up balloons and giving them to other people who look like they need some fun or cheering up.

If your kid is a young entrepreneur set him or her up with a lemonade stand. This teaches them to cook and a bit about business. It also helps them to make a bit of money on the side to spend on a treat!

If your kid seems a little bit grumpy do some crazy things together like wear your socks on your hands and yoru mittens on your feet. Wear crazy socks and your shirts inside out. Kids today are very worried about things they should not be like money and environmental disasters. Being as playful as possible helps keep them motivated and in a good mood.

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How to Get a Teenager to Clean Up a Messy Room

If you want to get a teenager to clean up a messy room then the worst thing to do is shut the door and ignore the problem. The room will just get messier and messier. In fact if you do that the problem could get so large that the kid will never attempt to clean up. As a parent it is your job to get them to clean it up and organize it.

The first thing you should do is try and reason with your child. Don't nag him or her but ask him calmly and quietly why cleaning the room up is such a problem. Ask them what the problem is when it comes to cleaning up the room.

After talking, help them assess the room and find out if they need shelves on which to store their music or other knick knacks. If your kid is a teen there might be a lot of make up around. Be clever about what you can store things in. Old cups and bowls can be used to store items. You can also use plastic tubs. Old boxes and shoe boxes can be good free storage containers for smaller items as well.

You can put smaller boxes inside drawers to help the teen stay organized as well. Get organizers with shelves and label the drawers and organizers so they know where to put things each time they clean.

One way to encourage them to get the room looking clean is to have them try to get all surfaces clean. This gets them out of the habit of cluttering up surfaces all of the time.

Kids that have messy rooms sometimes do not have the basics. They will need a place to store pencils, pens, calculators, rulers, art supplies and glue. Plastic tackle boxes and plastic work boxes can also help a disorganized teen keep things straight.

To help reduce the amount of trash that might be lying around make sure that you place trash baskets in strategic spots and designate a day when they must take out their own trash. Keep a tote basket full of the cleaning supplies he or she will need to keep their bedroom upstairs pristine. This prevents them from experiencing'the drat' of searching downstairs for the things that they need.

Once your child does master keeping the room clean then praise him or her so that they keep on doing it again and again. Reward them with movie tickets or something else they might prize to keep the motivation there in their heads.

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