Finding cheap indoor play activities can save you and your child’s sanity in the winter time. Indoor activities can be expensive. But there are ways to get out of the house in the winter time even when you are on a budget.
Staying home with the kids during the winter time can be very boring for everyone. Everybody needs to get out of the house once in a while. But this can be hard to do when it’s freezing outside.
Winter is not my favorite season. It’s cold, wet, and dark. It rains a lot here, in the Pacific Northwest. So getting outside during the winter can be challenging.
It makes entertaining a three-year-old a lot harder too. He needs room to run around and burn energy. But when it’s wet and cold outside burning that energy doesn’t always happen.
There are many indoor options to take him to so he can burn that energy. But the cost of admission doesn’t always fit into our budget.
But, I have found free or discounted ways to get my little guy out of the house and active.
5 Cheap Indoor Play Activities on a Budget
The Library
The library has story time once a week. The librairies in my area even break it up into age groups. So he gets to be around other kids his age. It’s free and a great way to get out of the house and get social interaction with other kids.
There are many libraries in my area and each of them has different story times during the week. So I’m able to take him to story time at different libraries a few times a week to get him out of the house more. The best part is I don’t have to spend any money.
Discount Days at museums
There are a
The problem though is the cost of admission is not cheap. Luckily these museums have discount days that make it affordable. Also, Groupon sometimes has special discounts for admissions or memberships.
If you bank at Bank of America you get free museum admission the first full weekend of the month. Over 200 museums take part in the program across the US. The discount is only good for the cardholders admission. But the adult admission is usually more than a child’s so you’re still saving money.
Indoor playgrounds
Check your area for indoor playgrounds. Indoor playgrounds may have jungle gyms, bounce houses, or ball pits. Kids can burn a lot of energy in these types of places.
Admission to an indoor playground can be expensive. But these places may have discount days or times. Indoor playgrounds are great to go to in the winter because they’re like parks but indoors.
You may want to check some of the local churches as well. A church in my neighborhood has an indoor playground with a jungle gym and mats to tumble on.
The Mall
Some malls have play areas where kids can run around and interact with other little ones and it’s free. The mall we go to has a carpeted area in the middle of the mall. There are structures for little ones to climb on and room for the kids to chase each other.
Community Centers
There are several community centers in my area that have indoor play time. There are toys and mats set out for little ones to play with and once a week there is a bounce house. The cost is only a dollar per visit. There are usually drop-in times a few days a week.
What cheap indoor play activities can you find?
Getting outdoors in the winter time may be challenging. But there are cheap indoor play activities to keep little ones busy. You don’t always need to pay expensive admissions or for memberships. Check your local area to see what discounts you can find.
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