Summer vacation starts next week for my kiddos and all I keep saying to myself is “get ready, get ready, get ready!” I have three busy, active boys…two at school and one at home with me right. For the most part things are pretty quite around here and running errands is a breeze with just the one kid in tow. So needless to say things are about to change in a few days.
Now being a SAHM, couponer and thrifty/bargain shopper I’m ALWAYS on the hunt for fun, inexpensive/free activities. Y’all already know how quickly things can add up…kids are expensive! So for the past few months I’ve been compiling a list of things to help keep us all busy and allow us to make the most of their Summer. Here are few of the things I come up with so far for my Frugal Summer Fun list.
Local Library
Check your local library! A few years ago I rediscovered the value of my local library and I feel in love. They offer Summer Readings Programs for various ages, family movie nights, interactive classes for moms and kids, and crafts. And the best part…most of the events are FREE. And don’t forget to check out books for yourself and the kiddos.
Craft Workshops
Both The Home Depot and Lowe’s offer FREE crafting workshops for kiddos. The Home Depot’s offers a free movie/theme based workshop the first Saturday of each month. In addition to the workshop, The Home Depot host giveaways/contest and special presentations at select locations. Lowe’s offers a FREE Build and Grow Clinic every other Saturday of each month and the clinic last around an hour. For more details and registration info check out The Home Depot and Lowe’s Build and Grow.
Bowling
Your kids can bowl for free this summer! Several bowling allies participate in the Kids Bowl Free initiative, where kids can get two FREE games of bowling everyday all summer long. And Brunswick Zone is also offering “Kids Bowl Free” coupons when you join the Brunswick Bonus Zone and add you kids 12 & under to your profile. Check out Kids Bowl Free and Brunswick Zone to locate a bowling ally near you.
Summer Reading Programs
Tons of places reward kids for reading over the summer!
- Barnes & Noble Summer Reading – Kids read any 8 books and score a FREE book from the Barnes & Noble Reading journal list in store.
- Chuck E. Cheese – Kids can score 10 FREE tokens for reading everyday for two weeks. Just fill out the Reading Rewards Calendar and take it to a participating Chuck E. Cheese. And there are other rewards calendars there too!
- Sylvan Book Adventure – This is one of my favs! Kids ages K-8 grade, use the site to search for books, read them offline, use the site to take a quiz and earn points based on how much they remember. The points can then be redeemed for prizes.
Cheap Movies
We all know how expensive the movies can be…tickets are at least $7 or more for just the matinée plus popcorn. And “ain’s nobody got time for that!” in my Sweet Brown voice, lol. But what I love is that movie theaters offer cheap movie tickets during the summer. Even though the movies are old and my kids have probably already seen them, they still enjoy the whole idea of just being at the movies. The Georgia Theater Company Summer Movie Series will be offering $1 movies every Tuesday and Thursday at 10am. Plus you can score a kids sized popcorn and kids sized drink for $1.50 each. And for 9 weeks, Regal Cinemas offers kid friendly G and PG movies for just $1 every Tuesday and Wednesday at 10 am! To see locations and movie listings head over to Regal Summer Movie Express.
These are just a few of the fun things I have planned so far for the kiddos this summer. As you can see I’m trying to keep them busy. I also plan on putting together an educational binder, with age appropriate activities, for each of my sons to work on a few days out of each week…if you don’t use it you loose it. And I don’t want them to loose what they’ve learned in school this year plus it will help get them ready for next year too. I’ve already started my calendar and I’ll be setting up a daily schedule too. Like I mentioned I want to make the most of their summer vacation.
The Savvy Housewife 
I LOVE the public library for free events and activities. I’m going to look into the Lowe’s/Home Depot activities. My daughter loves to build things and she’s recently started talking about wanting to plant flowers so she’d probably love that. During the summer I normally try to take her outside to play at either a splash pad or our neighborhood pool. It’s free and if we get there early enough she get’s to play with the other toddlers before the teenagers take over.
Yes! I love the library too, who knew they offered so much! And you should definitely plant a little garden with your daughter…I think that would be tons of fun!
This is great! I’ve been looking for things to do this summer but it’s definitely hard on a budget! Thanks so much for the ideas!
partydimetime.com
Thanks so much! I hope the list helps you out this summer. I’m like you finding fun stuff to do on a budget can sometimes be a challenge but I want this summer to be fun & memorable for my kiddos!
I am doing the Home Depot and Lowe’s activities with my girls. And maybe Chuck-E-Cheese one day this summer. Who knows what else.
Cool beans! =)
Smitty’s has a free mommy and me movie every other week… We go and sit and eat lunch it very nice