They are supposed to be visiting Dad. What ideas does he have? I had planned out my DD s dummer in March. That is what most Moms do. In any event, I would look to local Y camps, etc. Church. Neighbor's children.

He mentioned VBS (vacation bible school) at the church. I'm thinking at night time and on the weekends. I guess your right... I always like to have a plan or some suggetions for activities in my back pocket because them sitting around the house watching disney all day ....... i refuse to let that happen

At night and weekends they should be spending their time with dad. he should be thinking about activities. This is his visitiation, not yours.

As I assume you are in your husband's partner in marriage, and he may have to work while the children are visiting, I think it is commendable that you are looking into activities you can do with the children. My children range in age from 1 to 17 (bio and step-they are all my children), so it is sometimes difficult to plan activities they will all enjoy. I am blessed to live in Orlando, so there are tons of theme parks, but that can get expensive after a while. This summer, I had a cooking day with the kids (we baked cakes and brownies), we went to a local petting zoo one day and then came home and did more research on their favorite animals, we went to a local springs and went canoeing, went to a couple of water parks that let you bring in a cooler to save on food prices, went to the flea market and gave each child a set amount to spend on what they wanted (good lesson in budgeting and patience), went to the beach one day, I bought pots for each of my middle two to plant clippings of a larger plant I have and they painted the pots, we had a couple of lazy around the house movie watching days, went to my parent's pool several times, went to a movie matinee because they all wanted to see Ratouille, my DH set up a tent in our backyard one night and he and the middle two camped out and we made indoor smores (that was a mess, but fun), went bowling and roller skating (look around-most places have a family day when the rates are lower),etc. Also, look for magazines like Family Fun. They give lots of great ideas. My DH was able to arrange his schedule to be with us most of the time (he is self employed), but sometimes he had to work, and as I am usually the social planner of our family anyways, I planned most of the events. I totally understand wanting to keep busy, or if the children are anything like mine, your house would be a disaster area...lol. None of my kids (bio or step) are into being away from us, so we didn't do any day camps or anything, so can't be of more help there. My kids (again both bio and step) went to VBS at our church...it was at night..and my DH and I were in charge of recreation so we were there with them. Good Luck and Good for you for trying to plan a fun visit.

Hey Doubts07,

So to answer the question that you had... Obviously you're tyring to help out your DH, and make things nice for his children on their visit. A lot of fathers have trouble planning ahead....The first Summer my SS had come to live with us, I planned some daytrips while his father was working, since he was home with me all day. There are some great passes at our local library for the Zoo, Science Museum, and State parks with Hiking and swimming. If you're working during those hrs too, than a local Y like KKNY mentioned, or possibly the local Boys and Girls club have programs too. Some offer day trips to local attactions if you and/or DH can't take them yourselves.
Do you have anything like that in your area?

Thank You so much lafevem and jessegirl for your suggestions. He will not always be there so planning ahead is the best way for me to deal with things. You all are life savers!!!! Men have the tendency not to plan ahead and activities to keep them busy takes planning.

Jessiegirl: I forgot the library. Great Suggestion! Ours has a free story time once a week which would be great for little ones. Also, our movie theater (AMC) has Free Movie Wednesdays. They are in the morning and the movie is free. They are older movies, but still good for an outing and fun to see on the big screen.

First off I would get a rainy day kit.... coloring books crayons board games markers puzzle books etc. keep them in a tote only pull them on when its boring time when they are getting on your nerves or each others. and put it away when done.

Library is a great idea even for movies you can rent free movies make it a field trip even the 3 yr old can get a movie they like.

Look around for free newspapers they usually have "free events" listed in town.

Do you like to bake ... let the kids bake cookies all of them can mix and make lots of recipes kid friendly peanut butter cookies etc.

Have picnic lunches in the park ... do you live near a beach? free entertainment

We have a schedule for everything ... menus ... wednesdays is kids night in our house they get to pick the meals make desserts I take them shopping and get all the ingredients for what they want to make for dinner.

Lots of stuff you can do visit the dollar store grab a bunch of stuff ... jump ropes and hula hoops if you don't have them sand toys almost out of season ...

look online for coloring pages or hidden image pictures there are tons to print out ... all about me books (hope you have enough ink in your printer)

If you need more just let me know I could go on for days ;-)