need some kid friendly ideas

[halloweenfreak]

next week is spring break and i need some ideas to keep my 5 year old entertained. my husband will only have 1 day off so we have decided to go to either the childrens museum and see the dinosaur bones or make a trip to the zoo. then i am taking my son and his 4 year old cousin to the circus and movies on friday to see the ninja turtles. any ideas on some frugal activities? as i dont want to be spending money on things all week long. the only thing i can think of is the park, but its a good 35 minutes away so thats quite a drive to play at a park.

[Athena31]

When my brother and I were younger on rainy days (not that is has to be rainy to do this) My mom would let us "build" a fort in the dining room under and around the dining room table and chairs. She woudl help us clothespisn blankets and stuff to makes "walls" and then we would cart all sorts of stuff under there to play with. the only condition was we had to pick it all up at the end of the day.

What about a cook with Mom day? Bake cookies and make dinner together?

What about the library?

Schedule a play date at your house with one or two of his friends? (Other parents appreciate this also!)

Go through the family pictures and tell him all about the people and places and stuff. My daughter LOVES to do this.

[geckoace]

try www.familyfun.com
they have a lot of activities and you can sort by age
how about a scavenger hunt for some silly prize or a pj and movie day where you have all downtime and really take a break. its spring so maybe you can paint some flowerpots and plant some seeds. make something paper mache thats basically free. get a recipe for slime or playdoh or something like that from the internet....how about rock salt ice cream although you will probably do most of the work there. invite another kid over let them play dress up and put on a play
keep it simple my son can stay entertained forever with some sidewalk chalk and a bucket of bubbles LOL