guides

75+ FREE or Almost FREE Activities to Keep the Kids Busy

Find your family fun!

By Macaroni KID Hayward-Castro Valley October 13, 2021

Here's a list of over 75 activities that you can enjoy with your kids! Enjoy as many as you can. And be sure to "share" this with the Facebook link above and share with your local friends and family!

  1. Visit a new park
  2. Make your own ice cream
  3. Try a new recipe (use the search box on our site to find some of our faves!)
  4. Use sidewalk chalk to play games like hopscotch and tic-tac-toe
  5. Make your own sidewalk chalk paint
  6. Visit the library (check the calendar here for all the great things going on)
  7. Go on a scavenger hunt
  8. Visit a Farmers Market - we have lots in the area!
  9. Go on a hike
  10. Watch Krispy Kreme donuts being made
  11. Go Geocaching
  12. Have a family game night
  13. Let the kids take photos and turn them into a movie
  14. Build a fort
  15. Backward Day (dinner for breakfast and breakfast for dinner)
  16. Have a Silly String fight (outside!)
  17. Play Hide and Seek
  18. Make fruit smoothies for you and the kids
  19. Play dress up
  20. Do a puzzle
  21. Make your own finger paint
  22. Plant a gutter garden
  23. Go for a bike ride
  24. Splash in a creek or stream
  25. Have a dance party
  26. Have a movie marathon
  27. Learn origami
  28. Make paper airplanes
  29. Tie-Dye T-shirts or shoes
  30. Make puppets
  31. Plant some flowers
  32. Have a tea party
  33. Create soap bubble art
  34. Make thumbprint art
  35. Make paper plate suncatchers
  36. Make s'mores
  37. Make a marble run
  38. Make macaroni art
  39. Make marbled paper
  40. Visit a pet store
  41. Make musical instruments out of items found around the house
  42. Have a lemonade stand
  43. Have a spa party
  44. Take the kids to eat for FREE
  45. Go bowling
  46. Read a new book
  47. Make some bookmarks
  48. Make a lemonade pie
  49. Have a water balloon fight
  50. Go to the beach
  51. Go camping (even if it's only in the backyard or living room)
  52. Make your own fruit pops
  53. Make your own slime or playdough
  54. Create your own ocean in a bottle
  55. Make something with duct tape
  56. Play a classic game, like jacks or marbles
  57. Make your own super bubbles
  58. Then make your own bubble wands
  59. Host a toy swap with friends
  60. Do an easy science experiment
  61. Assign your child a YES day, where they make the rules, pick the meals, etc.
  62. Make some egg carton turtles
  63. Make a family tree
  64. Have a sight word scavenger hunt
  65. Visit the fish tank section at Walmart 
  66. Plant a window garden
  67. Paint some rocks
  68. Host a book swap
  69. Paint with marbles
  70. Make a crazy caterpillar
  71. Grow your own crystal
  72. Decorate some shoes
  73. Take the kids and their report cards and enjoy some report card freebies
  74. Visit a pet store and meet some animals
  75. Explore some fun, new snack ideas
  76. Create a boredom busters jar

When visiting events and local businesses, be sure to tell them Macaroni KID sent you... and don't forget to tell all your friends!