As a single parent there is a lot that needs to be done in a day. Depending on you, your situation, and your choices, you need to get up, get your morning routine done, whatever that may be, get your children up, and possibly get them ready for school or day care, get them to school or daycare, go to work whether it be at a company or your own business, clean the house, go to school, homeschool or help with homework, make tasty healthy meals for you and your children, get them to and from extra curricular activities, pay bills, shop, run errands, go to meetings, and so many more things I couldn’t possibly list them all, and you still need to spend time to spend with you kids. Spending time and doing things with your children helps assure them that you love them. A lot of times, when you’re a single parent, finances are tight, and you have to live frugally. Here are some fun, inexpensive ways to connect with your kids without spending a ton of money. Some of them are suggested more often, some are little known.
Movie night. Have a movie night once a week where you can settle down with the children and watch a movie together. Make a pizza, and have chocolate milk, or some other fun drinks with it. Pop some pop corn, grab a bag of Twizzlers and cuddle up for the movie. You could also try Sherry Holetzky’s ideas for Some Twists on Family Movie Night.
Play games. Children love games. My son would have me play games all day, from morning till night, if he had his choice. You don’t have to play for hours a day though. Pick a game and play a round or two, depending on the length of the game. If it’s a long game, set a time limit, then leave it till the next night and continue to play the game. You could also make up your own game.
Get moving. Exercise. My son loves to exercise, he thinks it’s one of the funnest things to do because he doesn’t see it as work. Go for a walk with your kids when you can and the weather permits it. Living in northern Minnesota, I know the weather doesn’t always permit it, but go when you can. Shake it up a little bit too. Don’t just walk, make a list of things to spot and see while you’re walking. A squirrel, a chipmunk, a plane, the big or little dipper, etc. When you can’t go for a walk, do some exercises in the house. Try to see who can do the most. Jonathan can usually beat me, but I can usually do more than I did last time. Go jump on a trampoline with your kids, go swimming in a lake or local pool with them, go PLAY at the park with them instead of just sitting and watching all the time. Find a hill and roll down it or go sledding with them.
Read. Get some books together and read to them. It is recommended that children read, or are read to for a minimum of 20 minutes a day. Make it fun. Take turns reading, or each of you read for different characters. Change your voice for different characters. Talk about what you’re reading while you are reading it. Let them ask questions and give them answers.
Go for a picnic…. anywhere. Have a picnic in your back yard, at the park, at the nature center, or in your bedroom. Pack a basket (or a box) of fun finger foods, grab a blanket, and have fun. If you are doing it inside, grab some stuffed animals to hide indiscreetly around the room so it looks like they are trying to hide and yet watch you have your picnic at the same time. If you are going out to have the picnic, grab a ball, a flying disc, etc. Doing it inside? Play hot potato.
Spend some time at the library. My son doesn’t want to leave when we are there. He loves books, and doesn’t want to leave them all there. Take some home to have some new books for reading time.
Connect with family. Write letters to family members who aren’t close by (especially elderly ones). This will keep you connected with family, give you quality time with the kids, and you may even learn something new from your children.
Volunteer. This can help in so many ways. First, you get to spend some time with the kids. You both get to feel good about helping people. It teaches so many lessons to the kids. You can volunteer anywhere. Salvation Army, your local food shelf, a retirement home, your local animal shelter, etc.
Start a new hobby. While you should each have your own hobbies, start a new one that you can do together. Scrapbooking, origami, jewelry making, etc. Find something you can do together that you can both enjoy.
Get everyone into the kitchen. Have your children help with regular meals. Even a 2 or 3 year old can help rip up lettuce for a salad. Make some cookies or a cake, they can do anything from pouring in the ingredients to reading the instructions off to you, and everything in between depending on their age, plus, you have a good treat to share when you’re done.
Put away a couple dollars a week to save for special outings. If you put away 5 dollars every 2 weeks, in one year you’ll have $120. You could buy a yearly pass to a zoo and a museum for that, or spend a night or two at a local hotel.