You would be surprised at how easily entertained children can be. Here is just one of the things we do at our house to spend quality time together. My daughter LOVES it, and it is absolutely FREE!

Start a craft box!

If you don't have a suitable box, and you know someone who sells Avon or works in an office, ask them to save you a box or two. Avon boxes have a snug fitting lid and are great for stacking, and most offices buy paper by the case and these boxes usually have the same type of lid.

Stock your box with these things (that you may have otherwise thrown away!):

• String, Yarn

• Broken hair bows

• Broken Costume Jewelry

• Old, colorful clothes

• Old Socks, mittens, gloves

• Used Bows and ribbons from gift packages

• Markers, crayons, pencils pens

• Packing peanuts

• Construction paper

• Old greeting cards

• Glue, tape, paste

• Scissors, hole punch (make sure to supervise)

When the kids get bored, take out the craft box and let their little imaginations go wild!

Here are just a few examples of things you can make when you take out your craft box:

Encourage your family to MAKE all of your greeting cards. I prefer a homemade card to a store bought card hands-down. Greeting cards are way too expensive. I boycotted them years ago.

The old becomes new... Take old store-bought greeting cards that you have received and recycle them! Just take a pair of scissors and cut out all or part of the front of the card. Now, cut out the saying on the inside (avoiding the old signature). Find a piece of construction or other heavy paper and glue the old card components to the "New" card. If you have any glitter glue ( or just glitter and glue) you can decorate further! Use your imagination!

Sock Puppets... take some of those old, colorful socks and turn them into hours of fun! Use some yarn for hair, old buttons or costume jewelry parts for eyes, and whatever else you and your children can conjure up! You can even make clothes for them!

Junk Town - Here's one I will credit to my daughter. It really amazes me to see how childrens' imaginations work. One day, my daughter was bored, so I took out the craft box. She took several pieces of "junk" such as wing nuts, washers, plastic outlet protectors, pieces of broken jewelry, etc. and started gluing them to a piece of paper. She was very methodical in the way she did this. Some of the items were completed by drawing around them. When she was finished, I asked her what it was. She said "it's Junk Town". She went on to explain what each item was. There was a trash can, a fire hydrant, her Daddy was even included in her work of art!

The point is, even if you don't have a lot of money, There are plenty of things you can do with with your family using things you probably already have around the house!