Having fun for free - or just about free...

thriftwizard

Another one for adults/teens - run a clothes-swap bring & take. Doesn't need to involve anything expensive; we used to do them over a cuppa & a home-made bun. You just get all your local friends to bring along their outgrown/outdated/too big/too small clothes/shoes/bags, and preferably someone else new that they know, with their cast-offs too, & have a free-for-all swap, before taking anything left to a charity shop; once people get over their initial embarrassment you can have a lot of fun trying things on & putting unlikely things together. At worst you don't find anything you like or that fits, or even just made from good fabric, but you do get to see people & hopefully meet new friends; at best you can walk away with a whole new wardrobe for free! But everyone needs to understand that they may not find anything, and that some people may contribute a lot & others not a lot, but it doesn't matter - moves on stuff you no longer need, may do a friend or neighbour a good turn, and if not, a charity benefits!

[Deleted User]

How about a 'One Course Each' dinner crawl? If you have friends in the same situation as you it's fun to each make one course of a meal and start at one house, then on to the next for the main course, then on to the next for pud, next coffee and last bottle of wine and sweeties. It is good if you rotate the courses between each other helps to spread the cost and make it a competition to see who can provide the best for least outlay of cash. It's a challenge buit one we used to enjoy with our friends. Was lots of fun and very inventive!

BAGGY

For kids days out my 2 love feeding ducks and squirrels at the local park. A day at the beach (where there are NO attractions apart from a loo and a tea kiosk) is a real treat. Stay all day with sandwich lunch and have chips for tea or even fish if you find a shop that does sustainable fish (Broadstairs does F&C for £2.50). Go to a supermarket for icecream and give the extras to another family or pig out on 2 each.
Craft days - plaster of paris print taking from the garden, brass rubbing/leaves/bark etc, puppets from socks or wooden spoons with felt scraps, den building, painting the garage with water, pavement chalks on the patio, potato printing, tie dye, washing the car (water fight in other words), treasure hunt (hiding beads in 'their' bit of garden is fab as a digging exercise. I bought a jar of buttons and burried them. Hours of fun, filthy kids but that's what they want to do every time it's warm, tiddlering at the local stream providing it's safe re viles(sp?) disease and fishing lines.
These are all thing s that I amused my 4yr olds with during the summer hols when OH was rehearsing for the olympic opening. Spent little money during the day which allowed me to have take aways (not often, oh was fed )when we'd tired ourselves out having fun.(which was often)

Lilium

Make your own jigsaws...stick a picture to a piece of cardboard (could use old cereal box), cut it into shapes and get the kids trying to put it back together again.

Den building is a great indoor or outdoor activity...I spent a great deal of time as a child underneath my grandmas dining room table and a blanket!

Playing shops...save old food boxes and packets (or just use the full ones out of your kitchen cupboard) set up a shop on your coffee table. If you have no play money, make your own by cutting/colouring paper into notes and cutting circles out of a cereal box for coins.

Gruffalo hunting...if your little one loves the book, go for a walk in the woods trying to find a Gruffalo.

Making bird feeders...collect fir cones, tie some wire or string to them, mix fat/suet/bird seed together and press into the fir cones, hang them up in the garden.

Lexxi

What a great thread OP, it's brought back all sorts of fun things we used to do when we were young!
We had a tent outside our house and got to play out in it. My mum used to bring us cola floats (I think) they were coke with a scoop of ice cream on top, couldn't image even wanting one now but they were such a treat to sit in the tent and eat/drink! We also used to feed the ducks, walk through the park and bake. I love the idea of the gruffalo hunt, just need to find some children to borrow!

We also used to get some of the white tape, put it on your top or jeans and peel off to remove some of the sticky then put the tape onto white paper in a pattern or name and paint over it, when dry peel the tape off and you get a weird abstract kind of painting. A bit fiddly but fun, you can also use cheap sellotape

Sequeena

Any ideas for an almost 14 month old? We like our local park but the weather is too bad for it now we live on a mountain too so can't get to places very easily.

There was a playgroup not far from us but it's stopped

We often play at home with all his toys, bang pots and pans, have fun in the bath etc but I'm looking for something new really.

sm1971

Home made play dough (not free, but very cheap) For the very young, just mix flour and water till it's gloopy (technical term!) and enjoy - add wooden spoons, plastic cups etc.
Or try cornflour and water - mix it until it looks slightly runny, but still firm and you can let it run through your fingers until you clench them, and it'll go hard.

Take a paint colour chart strip (free) out for a walk and try to find one thing for each colour.

Free 30 day trial of LoveFilm (or similar) to cram in as much TV as you physically can! Don't forget to cancel before the 30 days are up though.

sm1971

For slightly older children, get them to help you sort out their toys; give any they've grown out of to friends, family or charity and they almost always rediscover favourites they'd forgotten about too.

sm1971

Can we have more ideas for grown ups now please - I can give ideas for children as I work with them, but I don't have any!
Oh, and some museums and art galleries run book clubs now too.

life_unexpected_2

For grown up, night classes some places still have them for cheap or free. Though friends and I have in the past organised skill swapping sessions were we have taught each other knitting, coking, cake decorating, DIY skills etc.
Volunteering, we have a local community cinema and for volunteering you a few hrs a week you can watch the new movies for free as well as being a good way of making new friends.
In fact this year OH and I got some friends together as DS was away with his Dad and DD as was out with friends and had a pot luck picnic at the beach were we played rounders, tennis and other ball games as well as having sandcastle building competitions, great fun. We have also done games night with jenga, tops trumps serving home made pizza and popcorn for snack. Yes there has been alcohol involved but normally on special offer and we have a BYO policy.:D