I do not feel terribly frugal at the moment as I had to catch up on some things we needed and it added up to alot! Socks and diapers can do that to you, though! <p> I have been working hard this past month making different activities for preschool work. It is a little more work, but the children really have alot of fun. <p> The one thing I did was a Preschool Activity Bag Exchange <p>This book <p>
is a little pricey to start out with, but once you have it you can make all sorts of easy, cheap, fun and learning activities for your preschoolers. <p> One thing if you want to save money on it, find out if you can form a group with the other moms you know that have preschoolers and go in on the book together. This can make it really cheap for you to have this valuable resource. It is wonderfully organized and well written! <p> Also, I am working on a file folder exchange. It is the same principle of exchange, but this is games in a file folder. There are all kinds of ideas online and printables you can use to make these. I am making one where you separate pictures of items into pockets with the first letter of that word on the pocket as well as a Match the Mittens one that teaches colors. <p> These sites are some great sites with ideas on them. <p> Crafty Chic
Learning site
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<p> If you do not feel like setting up your own swaps, this yahoo group does different swaps sometimes.<p> Activity Bag swap
<p>Then also our local store had a once yearly sale on all their used toys, games, puzzles etc. around Christmas time. They had many brand new things, games, shrink wrapped puzzles etc. which I was able to buy for a fraction of the cost they cost new for my preschool activity library! <p> Add to this coloring pages, reading books aloud and you do not need a expensive preschool/kindergarten curriculum! A little bit of work on your part and you are all set!