When your kid next comes to you with the common complaint, “I’m bored,” give him something productive to do by presenting him with a free activity book. An array of activity books are available to parents that feature activities that not only fill up some time but also help your child build his critical thinking and problem-solving skills. These activity books are an ideal, and free, way to break your child away from the grasp of the television set or keep him satisfied while you drive around town, running errands.

Ask A Cop Activity and Coloring Book

Keep your children engaged and teach them about safety on the street at the same time with the Ask A Cop activity and coloring book. This free activity book, which may be downloaded from the Ask A Cop website, features an assortment of safety-related topics, ranging from 911 safety to abduction prevention techniques. Through the use of this free activity book, you can teach your kids ways to keep themselves safe without scaring or overwhelming them. This activity book makes a great companion to school lessons about safety and can give you the chance to reiterate these safety practices at home.

Kaboose Activity Books

The Kaboose website offers several activity books free to parents. Select from an assortment of activity book topics, including the seasons, dinosaurs or outer space, to select the activity book that will most appeal to your child. In each activity book, you will find a collection of coloring pages, along with simple puzzles, including mazes, word unscrambles and connect the dots. This activity book works perfectly as a last-minute rainy day activity or as a way to keep your child busy while he’s in the car.

Harcourt Activity Books

Educational publishing company Harcourt offers several free activity books for parents and teachers. These books, all which can be downloaded from the Harcourt website, are intended to pair with Harcourt publications, giving busy kids something to do with the knowledge they gained through reading. Each activity book includes an assortment of different kid-pleasing activities, including connect the dots, word finds and trivia quizzes. While these books are intended to pair with published texts, many could also stand alone, allowing you to use these activity books even if you have never read the paired texts with your children.