Free to Cheap Summer Activities

School is out and the kids are home.... now what? My kids have been out of school for about 2 weeks now and even though they have yet to drive me crazy I know that is coming. Don't get me wrong I love spending extra time with my kids but I know they are bored and want to go here and there just to fill their day with stuff. But the bank book doesn’t like all the added activities that seem to cost an arm in a leg during the summer. So I am coming up with some free to inexpensive activities we can do that the kids will like and fill our day/weeks with activities.  These are some things I am doing with my kids, so please forgive me if the program or activity isn’t available in your area. If you comment below with where you live I can see if I can find some fun stuff for you to do.

The older monkeys like to read so we go to the Library twice a week. I know it isn’t a big activity but it is fun to get out of the house, plus reading during the week gives the kids an escape from boredom. Our library offers a fun summer reading program, complete with prizes and awards. I remember as a kid our library did this and for so many pages you read you received a Pizza Hut coupon for a personal pan pizza. I know some libraries offer a ready night or story time, this may be a fun alternative if you have little ones who would sit still and enjoy story time.

Home Depot offers a free building workshop for kids (ages 5 to 12 years old). These workshops are held once a month, usually the 1^st Saturday of the month, but I suggest calling your local store to find out the details. This isn’t a summer only thing, so the kids get to enjoy these projects all year-round. I believe Lowe’s offers the same sort of kids building workshop, but maybe twice a month. Home Depot is closer to us though so we haven’t attended a Lowe’s workshop.

During the summer there are free movie nights at the local elementary school. They inflate a large screen and we just sit on a blanket and watch a movie, it is usually a new DVD release movie. You can bring your own picnic or buy concession stand food. Most of the time we bring out own food and buy the kids one fun snack from the concession stand. The money goes back to the school district and you get out of the house for an evening.

Just like the movie at the elementary school the local parks and recreations have free live concerts in the park during the summer.  Again you sit picnic style on the grass or bring your own chairs, bring your own food or buy from vendors. Sometimes the music isn’t great but getting out of the house and meeting your neighbors and letting the kids run around more than makes up for not so great music.

Some museums offer free admissions during the summer months, but you need to check with your individual museum. We are lucky enough to live close to Washington DC where most of the museums are free all year. Plus we can have lunch from a local street vendor for about $15 for the whole family. Another really cool resource for FREE admission to different museums is if you have a Bank of America account or credit card. They have a summer promotion that allows you access to many different museums. Visit http://museums.bankofamerica.com/ for more details. Check with your bank to see if they have a similar promotion.

Our local bowling alley does free bowling – two free games every day for the kids. The catch is you have to rent the shoes (not all places do this though, call to find out). You can go to www.kidsbowlfree.com or https://freebowling.amf.com/ to see what bowling alleys in your area participate.

Several movie theaters offer free movies or super cheap (like $1 to $2) movies during the summer. We go to the Regal Summer Movie Express and see previously released movies for $1. Yes, my kids have seen most of these movies before and we probably own one or two of them on DVD but getting out of the house and having fun is what we are after. We will have a late breakfast before we head to the theater and we will get one large popcorn and one large drink to share. I know it isn’t free, but it sure beats the normal $10 a movie ticket price. I know Regal is nationwide but check with your local movie theater to see if they are doing something like it. I know we have a small no name theater that is doing a program just like this and the tickets are free.

If previously released movies are not your thing check with your local bulk warehouse store (we use Costco) to see if they have movie tickets. I spend $17 on two Regal movie tickets that can be used at any time and normally with no added cost. The only time we have had to pay an extra $3 is if we wanted to see a movie in 3D and we rarely do that. It is nice having these tickets on hand because we don’t have to worry about trying to get to the theater for the matinée showing (less expensive tickets in general). If you wanted to buy a large bulk of these tickets to have on hand you can do that as well. Just go to the Regal website and buy tickets online. You have to buy a minimum of 50 tickets to get the $8.50 cost.

If you are military don’t forget to flash your military ID to get a discount if offered. Most restaurants, museums, theaters, aquariums and zoos offer discounts. My favorite military discount is offered by the Ripley’s museums.  They offer 75% off for military members – and when they have pretty inexpensive tickets to begin with it is nice. Last summer we went to the Ripley’s aquarium in Myrtle Beach, SC and got in for about $3 a person.  So do not be shy when you are out and about and ask about military discounts, you may be surprised to find your favorite place has been offering 10% (or more) off for ages.

Other activities are your local parks and check to see if you have a national park too. Rivers and lakes are super fun. If you happen to have a beach nearby take advantage of it. I could go on and on with free to cheap activities (and it looks like I have already). But it comes down to your local area. Do a simple Google search of “(your city) free summer activities” and see what pops up.