My husband and i are currently seperated but he spends every weekend with our girls. He has been taking them to Putt Putt and Chuckie Cheese but it's starting to become kind of expensive so he is wanting to do crafts with them this weekend to save money! What I was wondering is if anyone has any cute ideas of a craft or project that would be fun for my girls and their Dad to give them a chance to bond and have fun together? Any suggestions would be appreciated! Thanks in advance!
Crayola.com has some cute ideas to do as well. You need to sign up for it but its free. Another idea is write out a list of people to give c-mas gifts too and break up each weekend to make something for each person on the list. Will help with craft ideas AND get c-mas done early with some cute personalized gifts. :)
Hi N. -
Check out www.familyfun.com. It's the website for family fun magazine. You can look up ideas for different ages - it's a great website. You can subscribe to their magazine - but I think everything in their magazine is actually on the website. It's a great source to come up with new things. My sister and I have done tons of things from this magazine.
Good luck!
S.
Micheal's has kid crafts to do and it doesn't cost much on alot of them.
Craft form is great to work with and things can be made
if the kids enjoys sports go and practice soccer, or baseball,
another great site to get idea for parents to do with thier kids is www.familyconer.com. a great site.
If dad has a computer get a few computer games for them to do or there are a few game online that can be played.
reading is good and kids needs to read to grown up... act out an play act. go in the backyard and build...
go to the park to play in the sand..
I also thing kids needs to give input as well. plus kids needs to learn that having fun is not always with spending money for that teaches them wrong kind of values...
Down in Glen Rose is the Dino park a few thing, but not sure how much they charge now. so give them a call 1st.
flying kites and you can pick up kites at Dollar Tree
making flying saucers out of paper plates then go fly them.
wash the car together...
Hi, N.. My husband is in the same situation. We are separated and he is unemployed and cannot spend money on our daughters who are 5 and 8. Here are some non-craft ideas of things he can do with your girls that are free or inexpensive.
1. A picnic at White Rock Lake or another park
2. Fly a kite
3. Ride bicycles
4. Have a tea party (he's a guy but girls just love this)
5. Go fishing (this is not expensive)
6. Bake a cake and decorate it
7. Go to a pet store and play with the animals
8. Do a mission project together for a local nonprofit agency
9. We love the dollar movie theater in Mesquite on Hwy. 80
10.Take them to Dickey's Barbeque on Sundays when kids eat free
My kids like to play board games. Tell him to get Linda Morley's book "Outings & Adventures with Kids". She has a lot of good ideas in there about where to take your kids in the Dallas area that are age-appropriate. You can probably find a copy at Half Price Books. Also, we always buy an annual family membership to the Arboretum and the Dallas Zoo. Once you purchase the membership you can come and go as often as you'd like throughout the year. My girls really love the playhouses and the Toad Fountain at the Arboretum and the Children's Zoo area at the Dallas Zoo. Be sure they wear their swim suits so they can splash in the water this summer.
Here's a great website I found...
I have got to suggest they do Indian Princess through the YMCA. It's like Indian Guides (now called Adventure Guides to be politically correct), but for daddy/daughter. I went with my dad and sister, we went camping, went on field trips, had craft nights once a month at another member's house... so fun!
http://www.ymcadallas.org/Index.cfm?FuseAction=Page&P... This is Dallas' YMCA, but one around where you live can give you info. Just ask for the Princess Adventure Guides.
Some crafts we did were just get little wooden things and paint them really cute. Of course then they would need to buy some paint and brushes. He could go to Micheal's or even Walmart and get $20 worth of things. Maybe a large wooden letter for their first name to hang on their wall, and they can paint them.
Or, if the weather is good, he can take them to a park, they can gather leaves, little sticks, flowers and them take them home and create a collage on a piece of paper together. They can put it in an inexpensive frame and put a picture of all of them together in the middle. (Collage around it, like a matted picture).
Basically, anything with glue, paint, ribbon, glitter, beads, feathers... and something to glue them on would be fun. Micheals has cute wooden ready to paint mirrors and picture frames for only a dollar.
I am a crafter by profession, so if you need any more ideas or questions on how to do something specifically, just ask!
A few things that my daughter enjoys with her dad.....building anything...Home Depot has small wood craft kits you can buy. Also they coud get pine cones roll in PB and then in bird seed and tie on a string for a bird feeder. Make a garden...kids love to help with that and that is also something that will need to be tended to often so they can continue to help out. Kids love to wash cars (I know its not a craft but my daughter loves it). At $ Tree on Denton Hwy they have tons of kites too and sidewalk chalk and bubbles for some stuff to do outdoors. Playdough is always something my hubby enjoys (esp b/c its not Barbies). Well I hope that may have gave you a few ideas ...I know its hard to come up with things to do...esp free things. .......The first Sat of the month at Home Depot they have a kids built it your self to do w./ the parents and its all free.I believe the second Sat Lowes does the same thing. Also on Tues they have from 6-8pm $1 ice creams at Baskin Robinds on Rufe Snow & Mid Cities Rd......... Also on Tues its .50 day at Movies 8. Hope yall come up with plenty to do!
