Free and Easy Outings With Your Child

It’s easy to get into a rut where you sit around the house taking care of your baby or plunking him or her down in front of the TV.  Here are some tips to avoid cabin fever with your youngster without spending a dime. 

Take a walk

Right from the start, whether it’s in a stroller or a baby carrier, go for walks with your child.  It provides exercise and a wealth of things to talk about with your baby.  It’s amazing how receptive our kids are, even from infancy.  Babies are little sponges, but they just can’t tell you what they’re learning yet.  Talk to them about trees, clouds, car sounds, birds chirping, the wind on their skin, the warm sun, or just sing them a song while you walk.  All of this helps you connect with your little one. 

One of the first walks I remember with Lily was when we went to the Trader Joe’s by our house to get a pumpkin to carve for Halloween.  She was just over a month old, but we talked to her the whole way there (until she fell asleep).  We just described where we were going, talked about the weather, explained what we were going to do with the pumpkin when we got back home – anything that was relevant to what we were doing outside of the house.  This is important for kids and babies.  They hear your tone.  They hear what you like to talk about.  They simply like hearing your voice.  Going for walks can lead to a lot of stimulating conversations with your child, but you have to make it a regular thing from the beginning.  Don’t wait until they can walk to go for walks.    

Walk to a neighborhood park

Parks are great.  Sure, some are better than others, but city parks are a fantastic form of free entertainment for your child, and a great way to break up the day.  Use Google Maps to find parks near your home, and then go check them out for yourself.  My daughter is two, and she loves running around the playground trying to recruit other kids to play with her.  If the park has a duck pond, you can take some stale bread or crackers and feed the ducks.    For those of you with newborns, put the little one in a stroller and talk to her all the way to the park.  If you want an added workout, ditch the stroller and put the baby in the Baby Bjorn.  In addition to the cardio and the special time with your child, watching other kids play on the toys and interact with each other gives you a glimpse into your child’s future, so you have a good idea of what to expect when your baby grows up a bit.   

Visit the Fullerton Arboretum

If you live in Orange County, I recommend visiting the Fullerton Arboretum located on the north end of the Cal State Fullerton University campus.  The Arboretum suggests a donation, but they will not bar access if you don’t have cash on you.  If you can donate a few bucks, however, it is worth it.  There is a large pond with ducks and turtles for little ones to watch and ask about.  The scent of lavender and citrus blossoms waft through the air, and there are a few different gardens to explore.  There is a nice desert area, for example, where agave, cacti, and the lizards that love them can be enjoyed without the blistering heat of the actual desert.  There are also a woodlands garden which includes evergreens and trees you’d find in a rain forest.  This is just a sample, but there are a lot of different types of trees, plants, and flowers to learn and teach your youngster about.  If you don't live in Orange County, or don't want to drive to Fullerton, research arboretums in your area.  Not all of them are free, so check for fees if you are set on a money-free outing.      

Go to the mall

Going to the mall suggests spending money, but babies and toddlers really aren’t into spending.  So if you can control your own spending urges this is a free trip.  Like the library, you have a stabilized temperature, so this is a good trip to get out of the house no matter what cards the weather deals you.  Many malls have playgrounds for youngsters, and if not, an escalator can be an intriguing attraction to your little one.  Hopefully you don’t mind riding it up and down a few times.  Don’t worry, anyone who has had a kid will understand and empathize with your situation.  In addition to the playgrounds and escalators, just observing the different types of stores can be an adventure.  Different stores may have different smells and different music.  The key here is just exposing your child to new experiences.  They remember a lot more than you may think and they can hold on to those memories for a quite a while (some have said up to six months without any other reinforcement).  Something that happens at the mall may just be relatable to another experience later down the road.  Then the conversation becomes “Hey, those stairs are kinda like the escalator at the mall, but stairs don’t move, do they?”  Sounds obvious and simple, but that’s how smart kids are made.      

Go to a pet store

This, too, may imply money, but it doesn’t have to.  Kids love animals, and zoos cost money, so where is a kid going to see a lot of animals for free?  The pet store.  Comparing and contrasting is an important thought process, and the pet store is a wonderful place to practice this skill.  You have mammals, reptiles, fish, and birds to compare.  Different kinds of these animals to compare.  Different habitats.  Different types of food for each.  This place is a treasure trove of conversation pieces, and your child will definitely be engaged.  Personally, I don’t recommend buying from a pet store for reasons like puppy mills and poor treatment of some of these animals, but going to a pet store is a great way to get an idea for what kind of pet you’d like to get your child eventually (and I do recommend getting a pet at some point – they can be great playmates with your child at home).  If you're looking for a pet, go to Petfinder.com, or a similar site to shop for a pet and save an animal's life. 

Take a hike

This is probably not for those with newborns, but once your little one is about a year old, you can strap them into a Baby Bjorn or a hiking backpack with a child’s seat and go hiking.  It’s a great workout for you, and connects your child with nature.  At first, you may not go for very long hikes, but as your child becomes more mobile, the hikes can get longer. 

Look for nature centers in your area.  Our family likes the Oak Canyon Nature Center in Anaheim Hills.  On weekends, they place a box for a $2 donation, but there isn’t a ranger that will bar access or anything like that.  If you can support the nature center, do so, but if you don’t have any cash on you, don’t worry.  There are several trails there, and plant guides that can help you sound like an expert to your child as you point out plants like wild cucumber and sage.  If you happen to grow sage at home, you can connect this experience with something at home.  If you don’t have herbs at home, maybe this is a good time to start a small garden, again, to connect the experience of the hike with something at home. 

Go to the beach

The beach is a wonderful tactile and audio experience for your child, no matter how young.  Letting your baby’s feet and hands touch the sand and cool water can be an important experience your child will learn from.  The warm sun and cool sea breeze on her skin are also things your baby will love, and it’s another topic of conversation for you.  You can’t talk too much to your baby, so tell her what’s happening.  “Do you feel the wind on your skin?  Do you hear the seagulls?  They’re trying to get our food!”  The first time we took Lily, she was just three months old.  She loved the sound of the waves crashing on the shore and the gulls overhead.  This trip takes a little planning, and possibly another person to help, but it can be done on your own if you have a large cooler bag to bring with you and a Baby Bjorn to free up your hands.    

Visit a college campus

One of my favorite things to do with Lily lately has been to eat breakfast at the Filling Station Cafe, then go for a stroll around Chapman University.  Visiting a school campus of any kind is good for exposing children to learning, but often colleges have other amenities like fountains and large quad areas for kids to run around and explore.  Going inside some of the buildings can provide opportunities to talk about what goes on in the classrooms and the important people who have contributed to different fields of learning.  I recently took some pictures of Lily next to the busts of Abraham Lincoln and Albert Schweitzer.  That gave Lily the fun opportunity to sit up high on the dais of the statue, and gave me the chance to explain who these men were and why they are important. 

If you have a newborn, a college campus can still be a place for you to talk about new things with your little one.  If there are fountains, your baby will enjoy the calming sounds and you can talk about the water cycle or gravity or some other dad type thing to talk about.  If there are trees and grass (and there usually are) it can become a tactile experience for your child to touch the tree bark or have the grass tickle her little hands and feet.  These are just the types of things babies need to stimulate their minds.  Just make sure no grass or dirt ends up in any baby orifices, and clean the hands and face right afterwards. 

Check out your local library

Personally, I have always loved libraries.  They’re always set at a cool temperature, they’re quiet, and they have TONS of books!  Libraries are an easy way to get your little one and yourself out of the house, even on hot days when you don’t feel like going for a walk.  Most libraries have a section where you can let your youngster roam relatively freely and play with puzzles or interact with other kids.  If you have a newborn, hit the picture book section.  Books about animals or children are awesome.   I also recommend poems for children of all ages.  The rhythmic nature of poems is relaxing and great for nap time.  The patterns also make it easy for kids to remember the words.  Lily had just turned two years old when she could finish every one of the 16 lines of Jack Prelutsky’s “It’s Raining Pigs and Noodles”   Dr. Seuss and Shel Silverstein are also must haves.  Your local library is a great place to get fresh books for free, so don’t spend a ton of money building up a huge library for your child.  Kids enjoy new books.  After a few months, go back and get some of the books your youngster enjoyed from a previous visit.  It will be like a brand new experience because they’re so much smarter than before.   

These are just a few things I've done with my daughter.  Your geographic location or interests may not be amenable to some of these ideas, but most are easy trips that don't take a lot of time and effort.  Have fun exploring!