Brought the kids to Disney on Ice at the Point - £18 a ticket. "Some of that skating is amazing," I commented. "Of course. It's on ice," replied the three-year-old.

Apart from seeing what British pairs champions do when they retire from competition, it was pure brainwashing for the merchandise. Plenty of spinning lights, stuffed toys and plastic Simba-shaped cups filled with coloured crushed ice that the kids said looked like edible "brains". Nothing cost less than £6.

I've invested a fortune in Disney, starting with a baby gym bought a decade ago and proceeding through videos, toys and games - not to mention the inevitable trip to Disneyland which I cannot afford but must find a way to do sometime. I've never been there. My childhood was adequate. But never mind.

In the Feld Corporation's programme for the show, there was a photograph of a mom, dad and two kids smiling with delight as they watched the show. Making memories? Purchasing them, more like. It got me thinking about this mind-set we have about special family time being an expensive activity.

How about some free time that's "free"? Wacky ideas on the web always appeal to me. One I got was for family "theme dinners". So I tried it. I chose a Japanese theme. I put the kids in "kimonos" (bathrobes did fine), made stir-fried rice, added some Aya Sushi from Tesco, made green tea and then set the kids on cushions on the floor around the coffee table eating with chopsticks.

For atmosphere, I put on a video of the film Seven Samurai. Between the chopsticks and the subtitles the kids were entertained for hours.

And what will they remember more? Disney on Ice or the time their mother made them sit on the floor in their bathrobes, eat with chopsticks and recite Japanese dialogue?

Another night we played word games. "Mad Libs" are terrific: you take all the adjectives, nouns and verbs out of a story without telling the kids what the story is, then you ask the kids to replace the nouns, verbs and adjectives with silly words. Then you read the story back. Apart from being a grammar lesson, it's hilarious.

With summer coming, I'm looking for more ideas for cheap fun with the kids. If you've got any unusual ones, send them to kholmquist@irish-times.ie