Parents: Tips for giving kids a DIY after-school activity center at home

(ARA) - Many American families may still be tightening their belts, as the economy continues its slow climb out of recession. If your family has decided to save money by foregoing traditional after-school programs, you can bring the experience home.

Your DIY after-school activity center can combine classic activities and home-based fun to ensure kids stay busy and happy all year. Whether you're teaching them about the world by getting them involved in preparing a week's worth of international cuisine, or drawing them into your latest kids' playroom project, you'll save money by keeping them at home. Here are some tips and activity ideas:

Get organized

Imagine the level of organization and advanced planning required to run an operation that serves up safe, creative fun to hundreds of children each year. Now imagine how much easier your job as DIY program coordinator will be if you have a game plan of activities that are both fun and educational to carry your kids through the year.

Start by calculating exactly how many hours each day, and how many days each month, you need to fill. Older kids may benefit from a few hours of self-guided play each day, while younger children will need more of your help to keep their days full. Next, gather a list of all the activities you want to do this year, grab a calendar or day planner, and start planning when you will do each activity.

Pick your projects

Kids love after-school programs because they occupy youngsters nonstop with fun activities and the company of other children. Parents love that kids keep busy with activities that are both fun and educational. You can give kids the same experience by finding at-home projects that mix fun and education with practicality and usefulness.

One great way to keep kids active, teach them valuable skills and get something done around the house is to involve them in your list of DIY projects. Obvious chores, like mowing the lawn, likely won't make the kids' list of fun activities, but helping you make cupcakes might. Or, let them take an active role in redecorating their own rooms. Help them choose paint, bedding and accessories or to install an easy-to-hang wallpaper mural. You can find hundreds of kid-friendly wall murals, for less than $100 at DecorPlace.com. Decorating their own rooms will teach kids important home improvement and decorating skills - and could potentially keep them occupied for days.

Other life skill-building activities could include:

* Encourage kids to research new cuisines and their countries of origins, then plan and present a week of dinners, with each meal hailing from a different country. Kids will learn cooking skills, interesting information about other cultures, and the basics of grocery shopping on a budget.

* Take your child to the grocery store, or even better, the farmers market to teach them about healthy food items.

* Doing some volunteer work. Even the youngest tot can learn to help others. Whether it's just visiting a senior citizens' center and playing games with the seniors, or helping serve at a food kitchen, volunteer work teaches children the importance of - and the satisfaction provided by - helping others.

Sending kids to after-school programs might not be financially feasible for many families - at least for another year. But keeping them at home doesn't mean they - or you - have to give up the benefits of the experience. With a little creativity and plenty of planning, you can recreate the best benefits of those programs in your very own home.

Courtesy of ARAcontent