The first week of summer vacation is here. The schedule and structure that school or home schooling provides is beginning to shift. Our kids now have a lot more free time. This provides an opportunity for more quality family time. Activities outside the home can become expensive quickly. We want to have fun as a family without emptying our wallet.
I’ve compiled a list of great family activities that co-inside with summer. These are all low cost ideas to provide the whole family with a fun outing together.
Summer Movie Programs
Many local theaters offer a summer movie program. Theaters will offer highly discounted prices on family friendly movie options during the summer. Most are less than $2.00 per person. Some theaters even offer discounted popcorn and drinks. Check out this post from The Balance for an extensive list of summer movie programs and pricing.
Our local Harkins Theater has the Harkins Summer Movie Fun program. You get 10 movies over 10 weeks for less than $1.00 per movie! My kids look forward to going to the movies once a week over the summer. And the air conditioning is also a plus 🙂 .
Bowling
Have you heard of Kids Bowl Free? I first heard about this program in the summer of 2016. Kids Bowl Free is a program that offers 2 free games of bowling everyday all summer long for registered kids. You just pay for the bowling shoe rental. They also offer a great discount with the Family Pass so parents can join in on the fun. The Family Pass starts at $29.95 and includes 4 adults to play 2 games all summer long. Check out Kids Bowl Free for the nearest participating bowling alley near you.
Water Play
Take the family for a dip at your local public pool. Many public pools will offer discounted family swim days and times. Also check your area for local splash pads. This is a great way to cool off for free with the family! Bring along your own snacks and water toys to make it a fun filled day out.
Library
Check out your local library for free activities. Our library provides a Summer Reading Program for kids and adults. You fill out a reading log at home and bring it in weekly in exchange for fun prizes. At the end of the summer each child receives a brand new book. Our library also offers free crafts, movies, Lego club and family story time. This is a fun way to keep the kids and yourself reading through the summer.
Free Entrance Days to National Parks
The next free entrance day is August 25th for National Park Service Birthday. There are more than 400 parks available to explore in the U.S.A. Check out the parks in your area and plan a family day trip to explore history and nature. For more fee-free days at National Parks click here.
What are some fun free or low cost activities you like to do with your family every summer?
Check out these similar posts for more summer fun:
Linking up with Simple Purposeful Livings Summer Bucket List Link Up
Love your list! Summer is such a fun time. Your patriotic crafts were fun to look at, as well. Enjoy the summer, with your sweet family, Amanda.
Thanks Erin. Summer is such a fun time to reconnect as a family. Hope you have a great summer as well!
I love the library! I just checked the hours for our closest branch and it is open to 6 or 7 two nights a week, so hopefully I can get the kids there one night after work. We have done the kids bowl free as well and they loved it!
Love to utilize the library for summer fun. Hope you can make it to your library and squeeze in a good read-aloud with your littles!
Love this list! I had no idea that some theater did that. I’ll have to check my local theater for sure. We love the movies. Thanks!
Movies are fun and when you can go to one for cheap then you don’t feel bad buying popcorn or candy 😉
Just in time for summer! Thank you for the tips!
You’re welcome Dana!
Such good ideas! I loved doing the summer reading program when I was little. I’ll have to check that out as well as your other suggestions!
With a special needs kiddo some of the stuff not really for us. Either way I need to step up my mom game
Hopefully one of the five ideas may work for your family. Maybe you can pick out some appropriate books from the library to read aloud at home to your kiddos. Reading a book is a great way to spend some quality family time.
The library is our favorite! Great ideas.
Thanks Lindsay! The library always has fun activities on top of providing great books for all ages 🙂