Fun, Free Indoor Things To Do With Young Kids in the Winter

Entertaining kids on a budget is never easy.  Entertaining kids for free seems damn near impossible.  But the truth is the best things in life are free, and quality time with the kids is the best thing in life.  The last several weekends have been bitterly cold, and while there are many things for kids to do in the house, sooner or later you need to get out.  Younger kids don't last long outdoors, and if they're my kids they don't even last as long as it takes to get them all bundled up.  Its time to find some free indoor activities out of the house.

Don't expect to find anything to do in consumer land.  Even if you have the cash to dish out at the mall,  you can only look forward to a long day of nagging as your kids whine for sweatshop trinkets and junk food.  Or maybe you can dish out the cash to spend the day at one of those indoor "playspaces", because now even playtime is a commodity.  These kinds of consumer oriented activities will only leave your kids overstimulated, strung-out on sugar, and ultimately unfulfilled.  Shopping as recreation will only reinforce the association in the child's mind between happiness and commodities.  In the store, you are no longer a friend, you are a now person with seemingly infinite access to money but you always say "no".  This is not a good way to have quality time with your kids.  Actually there are a lot of free, non-consumerist things to do out of the house, all you need is a lot of imagination, an empty bank account and some bored children.

Your kids won't find any of these ideas exciting unless you yourself also find them exciting.  Your kids can have a good time because they are doing something fun with their dad.  The purpose is to have quality time with your kids, the activities you choose are only a backdrop to your interactions with the child.

Here's a list of activities that you can do for free on those long winter days.

• Go watch an old-timers hockey game at the local arena.  There's almost always a hockey game going on at the arena down the street, and the kids always love going to watch a game after playing outside at the park.  Sure, its not the NHL, but the kids still find it exciting.
• Go to the library, with a purpose.  For most kids, books are infinitely more boring than video games, TV and movies.  But, you can add some adventure to the visit by having a goal in mind before you go.  Create a sort of mystery that the kid can solve.  For example my 6 year old was convinced he saw a ghost in my apartment he called "the Figure".  I told him that the library has lots of books on different kinds of ghosts and we could solve the mystery if we could find the Figure in a book.  The rest of our day was spent flipping through ghost books trying to solve the mystery.  You will also come home with a lot of free books that will give you something to do when you get back to the house.
• Ride the bus.  Yes, when I lived in the city I would take the kids on  long bus trips with no particular destination.  It was warm, the kids loved the ride and there was no shortage of friendly strangers to talk to.
• Attend free community meals.  Many service clubs and churches have free meals you can attend and pay by donation.  I like the festive atmosphere and the spirit of sharing, and the kids never leave hungry.
• Go to Ontario Early Years.  Early Years is a free, publicly run drop-in space for young kids and parents.   There are group activities, reading time and a snack.  It is 100% free and for years this has been a staple in my arsenal of free activities for the kids.
• Call up someone to visit.  Don't be ashamed to invite yourself over to someone else's house (but call first, please!)   This one may seem obvious but I thought I'd mention it.
• Most communities have an activities and events calendar with all kinds of free, or near free, activities.

Most of these ideas are oriented to younger kids, but the basic strategy is to find public spaces and use your imagination to make the most of the activities.  Obviously the arrival of spring will offer many more possibilities for free fun.