Growing up, we weren’t rich, but we certainly were richer than a lot. I was just reflecting on how happy we were yet we didn’t have access to a quarter of the things that kids nowadays have.
It got me thinking about some of the ways to make your kids happy, without breaking the bank. In making this list of ways you can surprise your kids, I will include a few things that my mom used to do for us.
Of course, what you do will depend on the age of your kids. Hopefully you will find an idea or two that you can modify or adapt to suit your own needs.
Surprise your kids with a party just because
It doesn’t have to be a special event like a birthday. Use balloons, posters, cupcakes and other little items to set up and prepare for a party after school. When they ask about the reason, just say, “I feel so happy to be a part of this family, so I decided to throw a party!”
They will definitely be happy about that too, and word will soon spread to their friends.
Set up a room for a beauty treatment and offer free massages, facials, manicure and pedicure to surprise your child/children
You already have everything you need for this: towels, body lotions, cheap essential oils, nail clips etc.
Offer a choice of two services from the three or more you have to offer. Choosing would be difficult but they will definitely appreciate the gesture.
Even if things don’t go quite to plan, remember you are building memories that last a lifetime. And who knows, in your later years, you might just have the favour returned!
Change up your kid’s room as a special surprise
My mom was an expert at this! Not only would she give our rooms a good clean (and discover all the things we had hidden when she told us to go clean our rooms), but she would change around the furniture in our rooms as a surprise.
It almost felt like we had a new bedroom too! The curtains would be changed after the windows were cleaned and there would be a lovely note left on the bed or door about the cleaning fairy being there.
That was always a welcome surprise for us. In fact it is our best, free surprise and one that we now do for our own kids.
Surprise your child with a sleepover!
All you really need to do is to secretly plan this sleepover with the parents of your child’s best friend. The good thing is that you don’t have to plan it for during the school holidays either.
Can you imagine the surprise on your little one’s face when they see their best friend turn up for a sleepover? There will be lots of fun and giggles and happy memories being created.
Hopefully the child’s parents will return the favour and create their own surprise sleepover.
How about a restaurant set up as a kids surprise?
I must admit that this is something I would love to have experienced as a child.
All you really need to do is to have the ingredients ready for a quick dinner, offer the kids a menu to choose from and let them order their meal and wait on it just like in a normal restaurant.
Provide items to keep them busy like crayons and colouring books or slime.
Present the meal when it’s ready and use this also as a learning opportunity to be gracious diners etc.
I am sure we can come up with dozens of other ways to surprise our kids and help them to be grateful for what they have.
I also found this article with ideas for raising happy kids.
As we also foster kids, we are mindful of the fact that they might also be missing home and wondering what they are missing out on. If you continue to create these pleasant experiences, you are doing your part to create children who turn into adults with all the pleasant memories they grew up with.
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What would you add to my list of ideas to surprise your kids with? Over to you.
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