Summer Fun On a Budget

By

camo_angels

For adults...play in the sprinklers. It's not just for kids! Take advantage of the parks in your area, and note when their sprinkler systems come on (much cooler!) We work a lot in the yard or other outdoor projects (and help neighbors with theirs as well.) Indoors, we actually do a lot of reorganizing, and then have more sales. Alot of zoos and amusement parks have reduced rates during the week, and that is something to look at.

By

iwarburton

Local churches often run holiday clubs and the best ones will give the kids a good time without ramming religion down young throats. Best of luck.

Ian.

By

AnnieAcid

I'm not sure about other places, but where I live (Pennsylvania, USA), libraries and bookstores have free activities for children (i.e. summer reading clubs, book groups, and other activities). I have also found that most towns/cities have websites where you can search for things that are happening in the community, and there are a lot of free (or really cheap) events. Check the local parks also, because they usually have some free stuff to do (nature walks, etc).

I would suggest doing a search for your town's name in a search engine, and you'll probably come up with the website. They usually have "community calendars" of some sort. Also, your local paper should have recreational listings.

Some other ideas are:
- Check out local parks. Some of them have playgrounds, or you can just go for a walk and "discover" nature.
- For children, you can let them get wet with the hose in the backyard, or get a cheap sprinkler head and use that hooked to the hose.
- For children, again, cut out pictures from old magazines and let children arrange them in a collage on posterboard.
- Bake or cook. It passes lots of time.
- Volunteer. It can actually be quite fun sometimes.

I am not sure if volunteermatch.com also encompasses Canada, but you can do a search on google for more volunteering websites as well. They also have opportunities for children to volunteer.

I know there are more ideas in this head of mine, but I just can't think of them now! Good Luck =)
Jackie

By Cheryl from Missouri (Guest Post)

If you live near an airport, visit the airport (or park at a hotel near the airport) and watch the planes take off and land. Kids love stuff like that and best of all it's free!

By Shellee (Guest Post)

I check books out at my local library and read through complete mystery series (Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum series is a great place to start!).