Free Creative Activities for Kids

Looking for ways to continue to allow you and your kids to participate in creative activities or events and on a budget? I learned of some great websites from USA Weekend that are fun, safe, and free. They allow kids to explore and get their creative juices flowing and you can do it with them.

Drawing and Design. www.shidonni.com
Shidonni lets kids draw animals online, give them names and design imaginary worlds.
- Ages 5-12

Devise Games. http://pbskids.org/designsquad/games/fidgit/index.html
What kid would not think its fun to create their own game! Here they can do that and they can challenge their friends to play. Fidget is a multiplayer game on PBS' Design Squad site.
- Ages 8-13

Craft Cartoons. http://www.makebeliefscomix.com
Creativity can really soar here. At Makebeliefscomix kids can write, read and tell stories by creating comic strips online, and then printing or emailing them to friends or relatives.
- For all ages.

Program a Video. http://scratch.mit.edu
Create movies, music, video games at Scratch, developed by MIT Media Lab members.
- Ages 8 and up.

Make Music. http://pbskids.org/arthur/games/crankitup
On Crank It Up, kids can compose and record rhythms using pots, pans, wooden spoons and even the computer keyboard to create a masterpiece.
- For all ages.

Gotta Love The Freebies!

I am sure no one reading this minds knowing about ways to not only save a few bucks but to get things for FREE! Yes, we all are in love with the freebies. Just admit it. After all, don't they say that some of the best things in life are free. Penny pinchers, you may want to brace yourselves.

• Free Video Games. For the kids or even for you. For fun for for learning. There out there. For fun times for the adult kids check out: Kongregate.com, OnlineFlashGames.org, Pogo.com (to name a few). For the kiddies check out: PBSkids.org, Discoverykids.com, NickJr.com, Scholastic.com/kids.

• Free Birthday Stuff. Lots of companies give you free stuff on your birthday. Join the birthday club at Toys R Us and your child (younger than 10) will get a free toy or gift card every year. For the adults, if you sign up at your favorite eatery you could eat for free on your birthday.

• Free Shipping. Many retailers offer free shipping for online shopping. Some include: Zappos.com (shoes), Bluenile.com (jewelry), Piperlime.com (shoes). Others offer shipping options where you can ship to a local store and still avoid personally paying shipping. Some include: Walmart.com, REI.com.

• Free Software. Don't forget about all the free software options online. For antivirus protection head to http://free.avg.com. For free basic photo editing, check out http://picasa.google.com, or for more advanced touch-ups, try Gimp.org. For finance go to Mint.com or Wesabe.com. For word processing and spreadsheets to to OpenOffice.org.

• Airline Freebies. What?! Airlines still have freebies? Yes! Southwest lets you check two bags for free. Most others charge. Jet Blue lets you check one bag for free, plus gives you access to free TV, satellite radio and all-you-can-eat snacks. Continental still serves free meals on several routes. And all kids under 2 years of age fly free on your lap on all airlines.

• Free Books, Movies, & Music. Yes, I've mentioned this before. Don't forget about your library. Its your golden key to lots of free books, CDs, and movies. And some offer free seminars and events.

• Kids Eat Free. Yep, free meals for kids at Denny's, Lone Star Steakhouse and Roadhouse Grill every Tuesday night with a paying adult. You can search for eateries in your area at KidsMealDeals.com.

• Free Digital Storage Space. Free online backup storage to protect your files or photos from computer crashes or natural disasters. Spideroak.com and Myotherdrive.com each give you 2 gigabytes of free and secure digital storage space. You can also use Photobucket.com and Flickr.com for your photos and videos. Or there are photo-print ordering sites where you can also store photos such as Snapfish.com and Shutterfly.com.

• Free Technology Recycling. Not only is this free but you can also get some cash here! BuyMyTronics.com, Gazelle.com, MyBoneyard.com and GreenPhone.com recycle and refurbish your old technology and send you a check in return! They take cameras, cell phones, MP3 players, game consoles and more. Check them out!

• Free Music. Dance to your hearts content at Pandora.com. Great way to discover new music. You will have to listen to some ads on occasion but they are short. At Pandora you will receive 40 hours of free listening per month. Another site to try is Slacker.com where there is no limit on your free listening!

• Free Directory Assistance. Save and dial 1-800-GOOG-411 next time you need directory assistance. Google's free phone service will connect you with the business you're looking for, and there are no ads to listen to. But, note they don't offer residential listings yet.

• Free e-Books and Sheet Music. When copyrights expire on books and music they become "public domain." So you can get free and legal copies. At Gutenberg.org you can download more than 30,000 e-books. At http://books.google.com you can search the text of seven million books (even those that are still under copyright)! And at Mutopiaproject.org, you can print sheet music by more than 250 composers.

Thanks to Kiplingers for some great ideas.