What are the best activities to do with a 9 year old that don't cost a lot of money?

You could let him help bake cookies, color and/or paint with him (if they still do that these days), put potting soil in egg cartons and plant seeds to put out later , color Easter eggs.

Fishing isn’t that expensive. You’re in Canada? Probably lots of lakes. You could fish from shore, or buy a canoe.

Watch cartoons, play your favourite music and dance together, go to the park…

Do you like Legos? You could build things with him.

Did you say you play football? Play football with him.

I sympathize with how easy this sounds to fix, but how hard it is to actually get something else going as a pattern. I’ve had to realize everything gets old after a while, and just try to keep it a little fresh. Mostly kids seem to be different in that they want to go 100% all into something for a short time and then move on. So I try to do that with them.

I’ve started just taking 2–3 boxes and saying we’re building a fort. They get to make whatever suggestions they want on how it should go and I try to make it happen with tape and a utility knife. Eventually I usually end up building something that will actually stand up, but incorporating their ideas, and they play with it until it’s destroyed.

Hopefully they learn something and we get to do something together that we both enjoy.

Your son is a little older, so maybe it’s something a little more complex for him, but something that you can make a little better each time. There are so many “how to build a” videos on YouTube it’s crazy, have him pick something out maybe?

My kids love “hiding” right now, so the fort works perfectly. At other times it’s been obstacle courses made out of things we already have (daughter was into American Ninja Warrior), or paper airplanes, or “catching water” when it rains from small containers into bigger ones.

Just something they don’t normally get to do.

Fort is a good idea from @funkdaddy, with blankets and big boxes or cardboard you can get from stores.

Also, how about a stop at a local book store. Do you have a Barnes and Noble in the area? Or a library?

I don’t know if this is true where you are, but our state museum is free. I used to often take my kids there. They have activities for kids and just walking around with them looking at huge dinosaur and whale skeletons and so on was fun. Museums tend to be much more interactive these days.

Check out your local state art gallery in the lead up to school holidays too. They often have free art classes for kids and other activities they can get involved in.

3D puzzles are fun, and come in different levels of difficulty. I got some online which seem to be balsa wood for two or three dollars each.
Maybe you could help him find a safe pen pal.
When my daughter was about that age I got a craft book at a thrift store. She would study it over for a few days, then we would discuss which crafts she would like to do, and what materials would be needed.

Do some experimenting. There are tons of cool science experiments that you can do with just a limited amount of time, money, and experience. If you ask another question about this you might get some good responses, but to start with there is this.

Also, it’s never to early to teach a kid to cook or build things. It’s never too late to read to them, either. Pick a fat book (Narnia?) and make it a ritual to do some reading with a cup of hot chocolate every day.

Lastly: Talk. Talk about your day. Talk about the world. Ask questions about his thoughts on the great questions of philosophy, science, sociology…kids that are asked for their opinion regularly learn to express their feelings and stand up for themselves. That’s very valuable.

Go to your local library too. They have events as well. And if not, make it a regular thing you do. Go and pick some books that you can sit down and read together (or on your own together). Learning to love books with you is an important part of encouraging him to read and to improving his literacy.

Can you make a kite together to go and fly in your local park?

What kids really want is time with their parents.

Thank you for all the thoughtful suggestions, I’m going to try a lot of these ideas.
I think these activities will be great to help me bond with my son and keep us close as he gets older.
I appreciate the help everyone.
If you think of anymore let me know, thanks. : )

Geocaching and Pokémon!

I live in Norway and my little man is now 13, but things we used to do when he was nine: Fill up fine wine glasses with water to different heights and play them. He loves these Hama bead things and has made really pretty Christmas and Easter decorations with them. We still love to do stuff with them. https://no.pinterest.com/explore/hama-beads-design
We did a lot of water colour painting, too. We watch science stuff on You Tube. And we have boxes and boxes of Lego. And then, there is the public library. When we lived in town, that place was quite easy to walk to and had loads of free activities for the kiddo.

What about Scouts? You can volunteer to help too so that you are both in it together. I do this with my girls and find it very enriching.

I vote for Geocaching. There are real boxes and containers hidden all over the world. I’m willing to bet you walk or drive by at least a dozen of them every day.
You find the box, sign the logbook inside, take a small prize, and trade an item. The whole adventure is free! There is no need to give out a credit card number or sign up for a premium account.
You can play with an old GPS or a smart phone that can display GPs coordinates.
If you are really lazy you can print out the map for each cache and that will get you very close without using any with using any equipment.

Start with caches that are rated Difficulty: 1(Easy); Terrain: 1 (Very easy, wheel chair accessible.)
Take a picture of him finding the cache and he will be hooked!

Side benefit for him: Without realizing it he will gain map reading skills and a better understanding of Latitude and Longitude and how we fit on this great planet. .

Side benefit for you: Many single people do it. And generally anyone doing it: is in reasonably good shape, likes the outdoors, is somewhat tech savvy, enjoys a bit of adventure (the higher difficulty and terrain caches can be quite challenging and require teams.), and has the ambition to do something other than sitting on the couch drinking and watching TV . Anyone can write “Likes walks in the park” on a dating profile, but geocachers actually mean it and do it!
And with an account you can snoop a little, read profiles, see if they like to travel, see how they write, look at the caches they attempt. Someone who goes after 5, 5 caches (the most difficult and most dangerous requiring special equipment SCUBA, rappelling gear, etc.) will likely not be the best match for a homebody person with a casual interest.
There are regular free events you can attend with, or without, your son where you will meet people in similar situations. (I’ve gone to several events and the M:F ratio is always very close to 1 with people of all ages.)

Look it up. Watch the 75 second video and make an account. Geocaching
You’ll be glad you did.

Side bet. I will bet there are at least 4 within a 3 km radius of your house! Once you sign up you ask for alit of the closest ones. You will be surprised.

Arrrgh- I must have timed out the edit window. Sorry for the typos.

@LuckyGuy I have to remember to geocache this summer. We can’t in the winter. The ground is frozen and usually covered by snow. There is one just off our pier in the fjord that I need to dive for!! I’ll take pictures.

@cazzie It is waiting for you and within walking distance!
Check out the other people who found it and see the other places they visit. There a couiple in town, too.

Consider working on a project together over many weeks, like building a robot, making a bridge, a small catapult, etc. You can learn/troubleshoot together, and at the end you’ll have something cool that you both can be proud of.

You guys did read op specified indoors, right?

Yes I did. But I’m still sticking with Geocaching. They can do it any day if dressed appropriately.

My daughter tried that for a while. Each one was old, and none of them still there. She was very disappointed.

Awww. That is too bad. Geocaching is very active in this area. There are many caches and events – probably because there’s lots of space.
And not much to do. ;-)

I just signed up for the Geocaching account. :) I have a 9 year old too, and I need to get her out.

WooHoo!!! You will love it! There are plenty in your area!