Are your kids sitting at home, bored and ready to go do "something". As a mom you cringe at the thought of yet another costly activity for your little ones. Thankfully there are quite a few cheap things to do for the whole family.

Here are a few ideas:

Take a trip to the airport. You don’t actually have to go in the airport but you can park close by and watch the airplanes take off and land. Talk to your kids about where the airplanes may be going or how many people may be on board. Kids find airplanes fascinating. Bring a brown-bag lunch and turn your trip to the airport into a fun picnic as well. 

Visit the train station. Again, kids are fascinated by anything loud and with an engine. Help them spot the different trains and talk about where the passengers may be going. When you get back home, encourage your kids to play conductor and relive the experiences at the train station.

Go to the beach. You don’t have to save the beach for summer breaks only. Go anytime of the year and collect rocks or sea shells. Let your kids play and run on the sand. If you don't have an ocean close by, check out local lakes, rivers and even creeks.

Take them to yard sales. Make it an outing for the whole family. Tell each child they can choose a small toy or item. They can have fun chatting to different people, help you pay for things and even get some good exercise if you walk or take the bikes. Your kids may even get interested in putting up their own old toys for sale. Consider running a yard sale of your own and get the kids involved.

For the older kids, sometimes the best thing can be to let them chill out with a friend. Let them have over a friend for the day, or even for a sleepover. All they'll need are some snacks and a rented movie. As your children get older, you could try dusting off the hobbies you have hidden in the attic, such as the old hockey stick or the fishing equipment and let them follow in your footsteps.

With a little thought and imagination the possibilities for fun and frugal activities are endless. And don’t worry about not spending a lot of money, all that really matters is that you’re spending quality time with your kids.