101 simple, cheap, & fun activities for kids

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I love simple and engaging activities for little ones that are not too difficult or too messy or too time consuming to set up.  I was thrilled to get my hands on a copy of 101 Kids Activities That Are The Bestest, Funnest Ever! by Holly Homer & Rachel Miller to review — it is very straightforward and fabulous and easy to read.  There are four sections, highlighting various children’s activities: Boredom Busters, Crafts, Games, and Simple Science.  Pictures are provided for almost every idea — this makes it easy to recreate the activities, or makes it fun for your child to choose a play time activity.

These activities don’t break the bank

The best thing, and first thing I noticed, about 101 Kids Activities was that Dave Ramsey, the financial freedom guru himself, gave his full endorsement of this wonderful book made for kids and their care givers.  You don’t have to spend (any!) money in order to do these activities.  Children don’t need to be entertained by over priced toys.  They want to be engaged, have fun, and spend time with their loved ones and parents.

Engaging your child with easy activities, experiments, and crafts

That is what this book is all about — engaging your children and showing them that you are actually pretty cool. I am especially thrilled that my son, in particular, has gravitated towards almost all the activities in this book.  He usually shies away from fancy crafts and elaborate set ups, but the great thing is that this book was written with boys in mind!  Holly has three boys, and Rachel has six kids, including three boys!  I know that when he is a bit older, he will enjoy this book even more!

You can make almost every boredom buster, craft, game, or science experiment in the 101 Kids Activities Book with items you already have in your home.  It is a well organized, simple, and beautiful book.  I have enjoyed thumbing through it from time to time, and my son exclaims, “I want to do that one!” for almost every activity, and especially game, in the book.  There are also older kid and younger kid modifications for each activity, to make things accessible for all ages, and to keep things interesting in case you end up doing the same idea more than once!

What we’ve tried – letting my son choose

I wanted to highlight just two activities that we’ve done here at our home to show you how simple, and yet how fun, these entertainment solutions are.  There are a lot of game ideas and boredom busters that my son loved.  And I literally had all of the supplies right at my fingertips already — we just need an extra push to make our play time a little more fun.  The first idea was a fun Funnel Golf Toss.  We set up numbers and funnels for a mini golf course experience.  My son liked reading the numbers and going through the mini “course”.  And my daughter liked throwing the balls at, or at least around, the funnels.  She played for longer than he did.  And we kept this out for when friends came over, which was a big hit too!  So easy, and yet, I’m a cool mom for setting this up!

These creations are cheap, simple, and fun

I feel nostalgic about memories from my own past while reading 101 Kids Activities — these ideas are some that I remember from my own childhood, but with a modern, aesthetically pleasing twist.  I also feel like the best mom ever because we are doing some really fun stuff.  Next, we created an Egg Carton Glider.  So simple, a recycled egg carton turned airplane.  I was surprised at how much my son loved this — these activities were written with boys in mind.  He played airplane, independently, for over an hour.

Seriously, this book is awesome

You can read details on how to make the egg carton plane at the Kids Activities Blog site!!  We also look forward to trying the Catapult Competition and the Tin Can Targets.

We have yet to delve into some of the Science Experiments, which I am the most excited about.  I think we’ll try the Naked Egg Experiment next.  I will definitely be using 101 Kids Activities for years to come, and as soon as my kids are old enough, I know they’ll take it out and begin creating the ideas on their own!

I was provided a copy of 101 Kids Activities that are the Bestest, Funnest Ever! by Holly Homer and Rachel Miller in exchange for an honest review. Read my full disclosure policy here.