Visiting local holiday festivals and light shows is always a fun time in the winter. Check your local news sites for a list of light shows near you, and bring your own hot chocolate for a low-budget treat. 

This pack of 5 wooden nutcrackers includes paint markers, and all three of my kiddos enjoyed painting their characters. Be sure to protect your table -- this is real paint!

Add a simple new game to your wall with this tic-tac-toe set. It's easy to assemble, and has strong magnets, but I had to use extra adhesive to keep the magnets stuck to the wall.

Carving pumpkins is a favorite fall tradition for our kids. Little ones will need some help, but older kids can do this from start to finish. Buy carving tools right after Halloween for discounts!

If you can't get your own, at least go visit a friend that has a pup. It's SO much fun. Our kids each have a unique relationship with our puppy, and he provides endless fun and love for us all.

A perfect craft for the holiday break, there are 24 wood circles and 14 high-quality markers in this kit. The older kids loved it, and created such pretty ornaments, the adults wanted to try it out, too.

Now that our kids are experts at Zoom calls, it's easy to get them into some classes they actually *want* to take. Play games, make art, build a robot -- all with an instructor to supervise & encourage along the way.

My kids love making videos of themselves, so we started posting them on our own YouTube channel. The kids gain on-camera skills,  and our long-distance family members get to peek into our day-to-day life. 

Our library recently opened up for drop off/pick ups and WOW! In addition to finally getting restocked on books for my kids to read, they ALSO included two craft kits per kid. Definitely worth checking out at your local library.

It's such a treat to get a real letter in the mail. Encourage your kids to write letters to family and friends, or check with your local nursing home for how to become a pen pal with one of their residents.

Beautifully packaged, these STEM crates got mixed reviews on month 1, but by month 3, we had the project selection ironed out and everyone now eagerly awaits the monthly delivery!

Feeding the ducks at the local lake or pond can be a really fun and inexpensive outing for the kids. Our trip was made even more fun by spotting geese families with their babies.

We are lucky to be practically surrounded by parks. It's fun to hunt for new ones, either on foot or with the car. Bring your football or soccer ball along for an impromptu game when you stumble upon a nice open field.

We've spent many days shooting hoops in the back yard with the kids. This one is a good grippy ball, plus it comes with its own little pump!

Kids love these sticky tape lights! You can easily affix a string of them around the edge of your doors and base boards to create a soft glow. The remote is small - keep it in a safe spot.

Make some adorable little snowmen with this kit. We used sculpting clay for the body and also bought a pack of tiny snowman scarves. This is a fun craft for all ages.

Kids scratch off the black coating from these 10x10 sheets to reveal neon colors underneath. Choose a design or make your own. Fun for all ages, but does produce a lot of black dust as you scratch!

I couldn't believe how excited my kids were to get a new yard decoration. Putting this together and plugging it in was a total thrill for them. Be warned, this snowman has a LOT of glitter!

Sleeping in a tent in the woods is the ultimate kid adventure. Borrow camp gear from your neighbors to keep the cost down, book in advance, and don't forget the s'mores!

Host an escape room party in your home! We added real locks for each level and a grand prize at the end. The kids LOVED it. Print the materials at your local print shop to save your ink, and allow at least an hour to prep.

Gather your family and enjoy a live virtual, interactive magic show with Justin Willman. All our family enjoyed this hour-long Zoom call. Tip: stay on for a bit after it ends, as there was a fun encore gift giveaway at ours!

These kits should be put together outdoors - they're messy -- but my kids had fun building and watering them. We could see sprouts growing within 24 hours, and they soon had little forests growing in all three jars!

I got the 20X set for the 6-year-old (and then the 100x set!); 100x set for the 8-year-old; 300x set for the 12-year-old. They all played with their sets for HOURS and haven't gotten through all of the projects yet. 

I hate Play-Doh and "thinking putty" but this modeling clay is way easier to clean up. Check out these amazing creations my oldest did! I also love that this set comes in a sturdy plastic storage container.

My kids spent hours building  with this Lego-compatible set. With more than 1,100 pieces, this set easily combines with our existing Legos and is a solid staple for any kids camp.

My 11-year-old loved it and made beautiful dragons, and the 8-year-old tried really hard, but ended up needing lots of tape for his. The 6-year-old was only interested in watching. 

Nerf gun battles are a blast for kids and adults. Check out game ideas on the web for age-appropriate activities. Buy extra darts, and set the cleanup expectation ahead of time.

Kids in my family have enjoyed this classic board game for two generations. Warning: game will cause aggravation (per the name), so stick with older kids for maximum fun!

Baseball and softball can be hard to do in a backyard since you don't want the ball flying into the neighbor's window. Get these plastic balls/bats instead and play the game with no worry.

Planning a road trip can get the whole family inspired to try new things. Pick a destination, take pillows and blankets for the drive, and let the kids buy some gas station snacks along the way.

Our hot chocolate bar was a big hit! Customize it with fun decorations and use toppings your family loves. For a group, we added sticky labels so you could write names on the cups.

Bring a skateboard instructor to your house/ driveway/ garage for a private lesson or for a special event. Patrick at Skatestart is AMAZING! The kids fell in love, had a blast and learned a ton about skateboarding.

Add fun to your at-home birthdays by 'pumping' up your decorations. This balloon kit was packed with cool tools and almost 200 balloons. I can't believe I waited this long to get an electric balloon pump!

Let your child decorate their room with holiday mini-lights or fairy lights. It's a fun project that all three of my kids enjoyed (be prepared for them to ask for more), and it also provides a useful night-light for their room.  

A guide uses visual story-telling via Google Meets to lead kids through a magical journey full of dragons and wizards. My child wanted computer visuals,  so he didn't love it, but the guide was AMAZING at leading the journey.

This adult coloring book has come in pretty handy a few times for all three kids. It takes a significant amount of time and concentration to finish one page, and there are 100 single-sided pages in this BIG book.

My kids loooooooved lighting sparklers for the Fourth of July. I'm sure they would do it every night if we offered. Our pack of 144 sparklers was about perfect for four kiddos to get plenty of play time.

Each pack contains two kites and these were GREAT! You only need a little wind to get these octopus kites up into the air. All three kids were begging to go fly kites again the next day.