Life is expensive. But there are ways to maze through the Dollar Signs and save money.
Summer sports, gymnastics, and more always ADD UP to a lot of dollar signs! And you can still have healthy, well-adjusted kids without all of the expensive extracurricular activities! Once in awhile, Chris and I will sign our boys up for an extracurricular program but it's a treat and not something we do every year or on routine.
Instead I wanted to share some FREE activities to do
on these carefree days of summer.
1) Regal Theaters offers free children's movies during their annual
film festival. We just did our first one last week and plan to do one or two more this summer. It was only the
SECOND time my boys have ever been to a movie theater because we aren't big movie people so they thought it was a
MAJOR TREAT! This would be an over $40 event if we went as a family and paid.
TOTAL COST: $0.002) Lowes (or Home Depot) offers
Kid's Workshops, a free, hands on workshop class on Saturday mornings. This is amazing! The kids get to practice their skills with a hammer and take home treasures that they built themselves! We go to Lowes.
They each have their own work apron, hammer, safety glasses, badge, and certificate of completion.
TOTAL COST: $0.003) Michael's craft store occasionally offers kid's classes to complete seasonal crafts and more!
TOTAL COST: $0.00
4) Restaurant Birthday Clubs offer free treats and meals to happy birthday kids. You usually have to sign up online. This isn't particularly a summer activity but it is FREE! Cold Stone gives a free LIKE IT cup on your birthday, and a variety of other restaurants give complimentary meals on birthdays when you sign up. Check your area and sign up! We've saved a handful of money over and over again with this one!
Sometimes restaurants offer fun promotions for free food too. Chik Fil A offers a free combo meal if you dress up as a cow every year. Our ticket came to $24.81 and we paid ZERO! I'm too shy to show my face but I will shamelessly do almost anything for free goodies.
TOTAL COST: $0.00 unless you're a sucker and order extra food {wink}
5) Barnes and Noble does a
story hour and craft a couple times a week. Sometimes surprise visitors show up
(like Clifford the Dog, etc!!) My kids have met a lot of characters from their favorite books at Barnes and Noble story hour. After the story, there is always a fun craft to work on. And to finish it off, they pass out coupons to buy a
mini cookie and your flavor of milk for $1.00.
Our boys especially love this treat because when we go out to eat
they're only ever allowed to order milk or water.
Sooo, to have milk full of flavored sugar is a treat!
TOTAL COST: $1.00 per child unless you decide to skip the snack
6) Library and Big Bookstores Summer Reading Programs are a big event at our house each summer! We have a
COLLECTION of FREE BOOKS from doing these summer reading programs over the years. We are a family of little readers.
I believe I literally have over 30 photos taken at different times
of walking up to my kids at the bookstore
and wanting to capture the moments shown below!
It makes my "Mama heart" smile
every time I walk up to find them
deeply into a book!
These shots are all the boys on different days...
You can see my personal reading list from last year
here and more info on the reading programs we've done
here. Basically, the kids get rewarded in the form of new books by consistently reading throughout the summer.
TOTAL COST: $0.007) Etc, Etc...Check your local museums for special celebrations and annual events when they waive fees.
We visit museums, ice skating rinks, exhibits, etc in our town only on free days. It only takes a handful of minutes to do some research and
it will always be worth it to keep your costs SKINNY! ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Here's a view of assorted photos
of our family enjoying
FUN TIMES with SKINNY COSTS!
They always love placing their order and handing their coupons to the cashier...
Kotah is working hard on his Barnes and Noble craft.
Titus is building a toy car garage at Lowe's Workshop.
I've made the mistake of helping before
and had my fingers smashed numerous times
from little boys with mini hammers.
Of course, walking trails, hiking, biking, swimming, and more is always an easy choice for free fun. Or a lazy day at home is a forever favorite for us!
I want an entire collection of FREE ideas,
so please share what I miss.
Much thanks. This post is linked to:
Motivate Me Mondays, Inspired By,
I'm Lovin It,
Strut Your Stuff Thursday,
Topsy Turvy Tuesdays,
Making the World Cuter,
Spotlight Yourself,
Get Your Craft On,
Toot Your Horn Tuesday,
Market Yourself Monday,
Works for Me Wednesday,
Show and Tell,
Show and Share Day,
Kotah doing little cannonballs
Her mocha chocolate homemade goodness...
These are CRAYONS for the treat bags!
