guides

75+ FREE or Almost FREE Activities to Keep the Kids Busy

Find your family fun!

By Macaroni KID Palo Alto-Redwood City-Woodside-Portola Valley October 13, 2021

Here's a list of over 75 activities that you can enjoy with your kids! Enjoy as many as you can. And be sure to "share" this with the Facebook link above and share with your local friends and family!

  1. Visit a new park
  2. Make your own ice cream
  3. Try a new recipe (use the search box on our site to find some of our faves!)
  4. Use sidewalk chalk to play games like hopscotch and tic-tac-toe
  5. Make your own sidewalk chalk paint
  6. Visit the library (check the calendar here for all the great things going on)
  7. Go on a scavenger hunt
  8. Visit a Farmers Market 
  9. Watch Krispy Kreme donuts being made
  10. Go Geocaching
  11. Have a family game night
  12. Let the kids take photos and turn them into a movie
  13. Build a fort
  14. Backward Day (dinner for breakfast and breakfast for dinner)
  15. Have a Silly String fight (outside!)
  16. Play Hide and Seek
  17. Make fruit smoothies 
  18. Play dress up
  19. Do a puzzle
  20. Make your own finger paint
  21. Plant a gutter garden
  22. Go for a bike ride
  23. Splash in a creek or stream
  24. Have a dance party
  25. Have a movie marathon
  26. Learn origami
  27. Make paper airplanes
  28. Tie-Dye T-shirts or shoes
  29. Make puppets
  30. Plant some flowers
  31. Have a tea party
  32. Create soap bubble art
  33. Make thumbprint art
  34. Make paper plate suncatchers
  35. Make s'mores
  36. Make a marble run
  37. Make macaroni art
  38. Make marbled paper
  39. Visit a pet store
  40. Make musical instruments out of items found around the house
  41. Have a lemonade stand
  42. Have a spa party
  43. Take the kids to eat for FREE
  44. Go bowling
  45. Read a new book
  46. Make some bookmarks
  47. Make a lemonade pie
  48. Have a water balloon fight
  49. Go to the beach
  50. Go camping (even if it's only in the backyard or living room)
  51. Make your own fruit pops
  52. Make your own slime or playdough
  53. Create your own ocean in a bottle
  54. Make something with duct tape
  55. Play a classic game, like jacks or marbles
  56. Make your own super bubbles
  57. Then make your own bubble wands
  58. Host a toy swap with friends
  59. Do an easy science experiment
  60. Assign your child a YES day, where they make the rules, pick the meals, etc.
  61. Make some egg carton turtles
  62. Make a family tree
  63. Have a sight word scavenger hunt
  64. Visit the fish tank section at Walmart 
  65. Plant a window garden
  66. Paint some rocks
  67. Host a book swap
  68. Paint with marbles
  69. Make a crazy caterpillar
  70. Grow your own crystal
  71. Decorate some shoes
  72. Take the kids and their report cards and enjoy some report card freebies
  73. Visit a pet store and meet some animals
  74. Explore some fun, new snack ideas
  75. Create a family fun jar

When visiting events and local businesses, be sure to tell them Macaroni KID sent you... and don't forget to tell all your friends!