Kids love to visit children's museums, but it's possible to do a lot of the same things at home, and do them cheaply. Here are six ways to have inexpensive fun, based on activities from children's museums.
1. Pretend Veterinary Clinic
Stuffed animals become the patients in a pretend veterinary clinic. Give the animals name tags and clipboards for recording their symptoms. The doctor will need a medical kit for administering treatment. Our children's museum has symptom checker flow charts that help the little vets diagnose and treat their patients' illnesses. That process would be a bit of trouble to duplicate at home, but could result in many hours of play and a lot of learning. Small vets will also enjoy looking at books about pet care, which can be picked up at yard sales and flea markets. Every doctor needs a shelf of medical books!
2. Invention Box
Our children's museum has an area for invention and creation that is furnished with items that would otherwise be thrown away, such as boxes, bottle caps and margarine tubs. The museum staff adds items such as googly eyes, feathers, ribbons, Popsicle sticks and pipecleaners. Kids create vehicles, monsters, headgear and other fanciful wonders. To duplicate this experience at home, collect odds and ends and store in an invention box. Add different types of glue and a plastic tablecloth to protect the assembly area, and let the inventing begin!
3. Dress-up
Dress-up is a component of many children's museum activities, and the face-painting station is a favorite spot as well. Duplicate dress-up activities cheaply at home by setting aside a box or tub for cast-off clothing. Don't forget accessories such as hats, scarves, neckties and costume jewelry. Check out a party store for face paint and inexpensive items like boas or capes. Once the kids are suitably decked out, have a fashion show, organize a parade, hold a dancing or singing contest or act out a scene from a movie or play.
4. Play Supermarket
The supermarket is an important place in the lives of kids. Maybe that's why they love to play supermarket. Children can be shoppers filling their baskets with plastic and cardboard food, or they can work as checkers and stockers. To duplicate this experience, buy inexpensive plastic food at a discount or dollar store and supplement with empty containers from the pantry. The children's museum has a fairly elaborate check-out system, but a simple play cash register will do for home. Go old school with play money, or rig up a pretend card swiper and use depleted gift cards for credit/debit cards.
5. Pretend Restaurants
Our children's museum features pretend restaurants as well as a real one or two. A pretend restaurant can be used to enhance a number of skills. Children can:
- Pick out a name for the restaurant.
- Design a logo.
- Choose the menu and set the prices.
- Pick tableware and table decorations.
Once the essentials are in place, the kids can play at being waitstaff, cooks or patrons. Your restaurant can serve pretend food, but if you are brave, real food is also a possibility.
6. Art Center
Most children's museums have some type of art center, and every home should have one, too. Choose a variety of media from watercolor to tempera to pastels, and add a colorful assortment of brushes. Save money by watching for sales. Stand-up easels are great fun, but a table top will do, or simply tack some butcher paper up on the wall. (Make it a double thickness so there's no bleed-through). Save junk mail, catalogs and magazines for making collages and other paper crafts. When the artwork is done, of course you'll need a way to display their masterpieces. Hang their pictures from a simple clothesline, or tape them in the windows--no worries about damaging walls.
Susan Adcox | about.com
