Inexpensive Field Guides for Tots

When I took Emily to the book store the other night, we looked for some field guides to add to her backpack for nature hikes, but they were very expensive. I found a great way to make a more child-friendly version. It is simple and easy to make yourself. To make your own bird field […]

What color was your day?

Do you ever enjoy a “date night” with one of your kids? You know, for some quality one-on-one time away from the rest of the family? Last night it was Emily’s one-on-one time with me and I took her to the toy store, the candy store (I let her choose five pieces of candy), and […]

Free Printable Garden Journal Pages

We have been hard at work on our garden journal. I love working on this with Emily because it is very frugal, it helps connect us with nature, and it keeps her interest for long periods of time. We were successful at tricking the forsythia into blooming a bit early by bringing some branches indoors, […]

Needle Crafts with Kids

I know what you’re thinking — needle crafts and kids cannot possibly go together, but with a few adjustments even the little ones can take a turn at embroidery. Clara had a difficult time sleeping last night and was up several times with teething pain. This afternoon while she was napping I thought I would […]

Slacker Saturday — Star Garland

This intergalactic garland could not be any simpler, and the kids love making them to hang all around the house! This one is hanging up in our dining room now. To make your own star garland you will need string and star-shaped Post-It notes. That’s it! Simple, right? Lay out the string and invite your […]

Starting a Garden Journal

We have been noticing some signs of Spring around here, and I thought it would be fun to start keeping a garden journal with Emily. Our been sprouts are starting to turn green… This morning she planted some tomato seeds in an empty egg carton. Kids love to plant seeds, don’t they? We brought some forsythia branches […]

Emily Turns Five!

It happened right before my very eyes. She was four years old one minute… and then… POOF! Five years old the next! We went to a friend’s playgroup (Thanks for hosting us, Debbie!) and Emily played her little heart out. Mark came home from work early, and we spent the rest of the daylight hours […]

Simple Shamrock Card

Earlier today we made simple shamrock cards using a potato stamper, and a paper bag. Emily really enjoyed this past activity so much, that we decided to try a slightly different version with shamrocks instead! Cool, huh? Who knew you could have so much fun with potatoes and paper bags? To make your own shamrock […]

St. Patrick’s Day is almost here…

It is starting to look like St. Patrick’s Day at our household, thanks to this cute rainbow suncatcher Emily and I put together! To make your own, you will need tissue paper in rainbow colors, clear contact paper, a hole puncher, black construction paper, gold foil (we used candy wrappers) and some yarn. Lay a […]

New Series — Slacker Saturday!

Do you want to do crafts and activities with your children, but just do not have the time or energy to do so? Want to try an activity that is quick, easy, and budget-friendly? If so, Slacker Saturday is for you! I am starting a new series every Saturday here on Frugal Family Fun Blog […]

Fun with Chalk

There was nothing Emily wanted to do more today than to draw with sidewalk chalk in the driveway, but it was simply too cold this afternoon. However, she was almost just as happy drawing with chalk indoors. She practiced writing her name in very large letters and teeny tiny letters… We worked on an awesome […]

Sunflowers and Bean Sprouts

The emphasis on art projects has always been on the process in our household, but Emily was very proud of the outcome of this project and it has encouraged her to do more stamping projects similar to this one. To make your own sunflower stamping project you will need: a brown paper bag, some paint, […]

Pantry Art

Today we raided the pantry and bathroom closet for some art supplies for a Van Gogh-like beach project! If you have seen this post, you would understand why we have a huge supply of oatmeal and this was a great way to use up some of it. We also added some cotton balls, paper, paint, […]

March Comes In Like a Lion….

Emily spent some time this afternoon working on this drawing of a lion, which proved to be quite frugal since it only required paper and crayons. She was quite happy with the end result and proud that she had drawn it “all by herself”. Here is the secret to her success — a book called […]

Book Review — The Creative Family

If you read just one book this year, make it The Creative Family by Amanda Blake Soule. This one has been out for about a year, but I am just now discovering it because I live under a rock. I happened to notice many of you who follow Inner Child Fun also follow Amanda’s blog […]

Putting Recyclables to Good Use

As mentioned in an earlier post, we were recently featured on Newswatch 16 for a segment called “Power to Save” which is all about saving money, saving the environment, energy, resources, etc. I have posted about our Invention Kit before and mentioned it briefly during NBC’s 10 Show, but this segment goes into detail about […]

Frugal Fun with Stilts

I was trying to come up with ideas to reuse some empty baby formula canisters, and with the help of the power drill, Mark and I made these adorable stilts for Emily. These are great for practicing balance. The small canisters were the perfect size for her. Emily wobbled a bit the first couple of […]

Bird Feeders…. From Recyclables!

Yesterday, Newswatch 16 was here to film for a segment called “Power to Save”, which will air later this evening. While they were here, we made bird feeders from recyclables.  It occured to me that with the help of a simple power drill, you could turn just about any recyclable into a bird feeder. We […]