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My Mountain Wild

a montana motherhood & lifestyle blog

April 26, 2018 / kiddos, Motherhood

Quality Time with your Children: Fun and Cheap Ideas

Guest post written by Diana Smith. 
Diana Smith is a full time mom of two beautiful girls interested in topics related to parenting and alternative medicine. In her free time she enjoys exercising and preparing healthy meals for her family.
G+ https://plus.google.com/u/0/116091795770131287107
Twitter https://twitter.com/DianaSmith82

Kids are truly the biggest gift you can ever get. However, every once in a while, we get preoccupied with work, money issues, household chores and a hundred other things and we forget to appreciate our kids. So, if you want to spend more quality time with your little ones, here are a few fun and cheap ideas you can include in your schedule.

quality time with your children
Have themed dinner nights

Family dinners are fun and precious on their own, but you can make them even more fun with different themes. Have an occasional taco night, pizza night, breakfast dinner, Chinese night or sweet dinner. These will make your kids even happier to sit and have dinner with their family. Don’t forget to have appropriate decoration (think Italian bistro tablecloths and wine glasses for blueberry juice) and make sure to involve your kids in food preparation. Stacking tortillas, mixing salsa and washing veggies and fruit are activities suitable for all ages.

Go on a picnic

Surprise your kids with an occasional picnic. Pick them up from school and take them straight to the park for a cute al fresco lunch. Fresh air and sun will make any meal taste better and you can let your kid tell you all about their day at school.

quality time with your children

Take part in video games

If you allow your kids to play video games, make sure to take a little interest in their virtual world. This is great because your kids will probably get to beat you very hard and realize you’re just only human and not perfect. Additionally, your weak skills will probably cause a roar of laughter and friendly teasing. And who knows, you might like it a lot!

Ditch the car

Next time you’re taking your kid somewhere near your home like a neighborhood park or friend’s home, try to ditch the car and have a relaxing walk. These short car rides will not save you a ton of time, but they will certainly take away precious minutes with your kids. Walking with your kids will help you slow down and spend some relaxing and honest time with them. You can talk about anything you want—people you pass, places you see, places you want to visit, friends you like…really anything and everything that crosses your mind. This is the perfect way to see the way your child thinks. You’ll probably get to know a bunch of new things about them, no matter how well you think you know them.

Break some sweat

Having family workout sessions is a great way to spend some quality time together. So, next time you decide to work out, make sure to involve your little ones. They can do all sorts of exercises and help you with timers and reps. You can also buy your kids some new kids’ swimwear and hit the pool to swim, dive, play ball or just splash around in the sun! You’re guaranteed to come home full of amazing memories and ready to hit the sack. There are also plenty of kid-friendly activities you can do right at home, such as playing tag, throwing frisbee or playing with your dog. All of these will keep you healthy and in shape and allow you to spend even more time with your little ones.

quality time with your children
Fix things together

Next time something breaks in the house, use it as an opportunity to show your kids how things work and how they can be fixed. Kids are very curious and they will love to help you with tools and manuals. Some easy things you can teach your kids are how to fix a leaky faucet, tighten loose screws, do light bike fixes, grease squeaky hinges or sew up ripped clothes and missing buttons.

Get them hooked on reading

Start a book with small chapters and read it every day. You can make reading times extra special by including hot cocoa, cookies and all your kids’ plushy toys! Before you know it, they will be begging you to do another chapter.

quality time with your children
These quality time ideas will help you create countless memories with your kids that will last a lifetime. Spending quality time with parents is the best gift you can give to your children—better than any material present.

Your attention and time may seem free, but to your children, they are priceless.

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Comments

  1. Rikki Ridgeway says

    April 28, 2018 at 6:28 pm

    I love all of these fabulous ideas, I already do some of them, but I can’t wait to implement the others listed here. Thank you for your suggestions.

    Reply
  2. Floby says

    April 28, 2018 at 7:45 pm

    We did the piknik and it is awesome. My daughter loved it!!! 💕

    Reply
    • Natalie Aubele says

      April 29, 2018 at 11:39 pm

      yay! Mine son loves picnics too!

      Reply
  3. Heather says

    April 30, 2018 at 5:42 am

    These are some great ideas! I love the point about reading books together. My 1.5 year old son comes up to me and says “Book!” while holding one of his books. It makes for some fun times together.

    Reply
    • Natalie Aubele says

      April 30, 2018 at 3:42 pm

      aw that is so sweet!!

      Reply
  4. Christina Clanton says

    February 7, 2019 at 10:15 am

    I am so grateful I found your post, you are inspiring me to expend quality time with my children. I am a corporate woman that why I am not able to expend time with my kids. You’ve really covered up almost all the possible ideas to make quality time with children. Actually, I got a lot of information from your blog which can help me to enjoy quality time with children. Thanks.

    Reply

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When the light hits this wall in the morning😍 I When the light hits this wall in the morning😍
I made this Valentines heart wreath the other day and though it didn't turn out how I envisioned it, it didn't cost anything for me to make it! I already had this Dollar Tree heart wreath form and lots of scrap fabric. I just tied pieces of fabric all around the heart frame until all the metal was covered. I also used some yarn, ribbon, and decorative trim to fill in the empty spaces when I ran out of fabric.
It went a bit more shabby chic/farmhouse than I intended because of the color palette, but I still love it❤
Homemade decorations are always my favorite anyways. 
Do you make your own decorations for the different holidays ? 
I have a few more simple DIYs planned for Valentines Day and can't wait to share them with you ! 
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A sprinkle of Spring and Valentines Day in my home A sprinkle of Spring and Valentines Day in my home this week. It may be winter outside, (and for another 2-3 months) but inside I am freshening up each room, trying to shop my home to switch out pieces, and dreaming of the day we can open the windows to get some fresh air in here. 
I have made yet another big pile of donations and I am just amazed that in the 2 years we have lived in this house, I have accumulated so much STUFF. I've been purging and organizing room by room on a zero $ budget. It's been tricky without the proper baskets and shelves to contain it all, but I'm getting there. Anyone else in the mood to purge and organize it all ? 
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"To appreciate the beauty of a snowflake it is nec "To appreciate the beauty of a snowflake it is necessary to stand out in the cold." 
- Aristotle 
I'll be here pretending to live in my snowglobe bubble if anyone needs me.
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#montanaliving
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MLK has hundreds of famous quotes, but here are my MLK has hundreds of famous quotes, but here are my favorites:

"We must live together as brothers or perish together as fools."

"If I cannot do great things, I can do small things in a great way."

"We may have all come on different ships, but we're in the same boat now."

"Occasionally in life there are those moments of unutterable fulfillment which cannot be completely explained by those symbols called words. Their meanings can only be articulated by the inaudible language of the heart."

-Martin Luther King Jr.

Teaching my son the importance of peace, friendship, love, equality and freedom of speech today. 🇺🇲
#mlkday2021
In a modern world where all of these things seem threatened, I sometimes feel a heavy burden of raising a son who may need to fight for these values and freedoms as he gets older.Our country seems to be falling apart and some days I am just too overwhelmed by it all. It has really hit me these past couple of months that I have a very important job as a homeschooling mother. Raising and teaching him to be Christ-like and to always show patience and kindness to others. How to sort through all the information and recognize fact from fiction. How to stand strong for what is right. And to not judge others. It can be difficult to spread love and light when there is so much darkness. But as a sweet 8 year old boy, he only sees light. Which makes the days beautiful and easier for me to see the good in every moment. 
His wanting to help those less fortunate shines this brilliant light from him that makes me so proud. I am often so wrapped up in my own life and problems that I don't think of the strangers struggling to put food in their children's bellies. Liam has often mentioned in prayer that he hopes everyone has eaten for the day. 
It makes me stop dead in my tracks and I am humbled by it. 
"My dream for the world is for everyone to be happy and to have a home. My dream for myself is to be rich so I can give food to homeless people" - Liam, age 8 
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It was a good day to be in the forest. The sun was It was a good day to be in the forest.
The sun was shining through the trees and the smell of pine and wet branches was therapeutic. I snowshoed and Liam sled down the hill over and over again. Now we're back inside with hot cocoa in our bellies and ready for a nap.
Hope you had a good weekend and were able to spend some time outside. 
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