Entertain Your Kids Without Going Broke

How to survive the rising cost of living in Australia – and keep your kids happy 

Home is where the craft is

It’s time to get your craft on. Magazines, cardboard, notepads – we’ve all got paper lying around. Encourage your kids to create an artistic masterpiece like a collage, paper mache, painting or paper plane. Call on everyday household items like toilet rolls, buttons or egg cartons. Or, think outside the box and go rummaging outdoors for art supplies, like feathers, leaves or twigs. Need to stock up on paint, pom poms, or other crafty supplies? Kmart is your new best friend. 

Feeling hungry? Take the fun to the kitchen and let your kids help you craft some delicious meals. Think: pizza, rice wraps, cheesy quesadillas, or fried rice. The kids will get their hands dirty, learn some life skills, and love sinking their teeth into their designs too. 

Let’s get physical 

Exercise is a fun (and completely free) activity you and your kids can jump on together. If you don’t already have a family go-to, check out this great list of free online exercises for kids, including superhero-themed workouts, dance parties and yoga.

And if your kids aren’t all that keen on traditional exercise, there are plenty of other ways they can get the blood pumping. Encourage your kids to build a forte in the lounge room, put on a play, go on a treasure hunt, embark on a park adventure, or have a backyard playdate with their friends. 

Get up, get on out 

Keen to get out of the house? Keep the kids smiling with these cheap and free activities. Jump on board local happenings in your neighbourhood like parades, concerts, festivals or kids workshops. Eventbrite has a list of free kids activities in each major city. Keep an eye on your local city council (like City of Melbourne), library or shopping centre for affordable kids activities. You can also take to the socials, join a local parents group (like Melbourne Mums) and sign up to their events newsletter for inexpensive entertainment ideas. 

Another low-cost option – favoured, we’re told, by professional nannies – is to jump on a train and ride to the furthermost station and back. Kids love an adventure, and you can play Eye Spy while you’re at it. 

Or, if you do decide to cough up some dough on traditional kids meccas like the zoo, museums, or movie theatres, take advantage of seasonal membership deals and bring a packed lunch to save some cash and queuing in the kiosk lines. 

Say ‘no’ to new 

Kids outgrow their toys. We’ve all seen it – a firm favourite can become a dust magnet in no time. But rather than head straight to the toy store, you can refresh your kids' toy stash by borrowing or swapping their unloved bits and bobs for something different. 

Toy swapping is affordable, landfill friendly, and discourages clutter building up in your home – woohoo!

For a small annual fee, head to your local toy library to borrow toys and games. Or organise a meet-up with other families to swap unused books, clothes or toys. Better yet, sign up to Sassybae, our toy swapping app where you can ‘swipe’, ‘match’ and ‘swap’ kids toys and things, for free. Sassybae is a fun and convenient way to swap (or donate) toys, with people far and wide.

And once your kids have their hands on their new loot, try putting their toys on rotation. Packing some of your kids’ things away and swapping them periodically will give your kids more variety, so their toy stash will feel fresher for longer. 

So many things

So, parents, don’t let the rising cost of living get you down. Whether you’re staying on home ground, getting out and about, or embracing the great swap-off, it’s clear there’s plenty of ways to have fun on a budget and keep your little ones entertained – and be the sassiest parent in town. Yes. You. Can.

If toy swapping sparks your interest, sign up to our Sassybae mailing list. You’ll be the first to know when Sassybae is ready to launch in Australia 🚀.

What’s Sassybae, we hear you ask? We’re a toy-swapping app built by parents, for parents. Sassybae makes it easy and fun to swap your kids’ unused toys with other toys they’ll love.