Hellobee

With two little kids, I am always on the lookout for cheap ways to entertain them over the summer. I am also always on a budget, so if I can find fun activities that are also affordable, I am in summer time heaven. I’ve put together a list of things to do in my area, but I am fairly confident that these are activities that are likely available just about anywhere.

County Fairs: I must preface this by saying that county fairs kind of freak me out with all the people and the noise and the carnival stuff, but the kids love it, so I have to get over that. My county fair has two of the five days free to kids under 12 from 12-5. This is awesome because once we are in, I only have to buy a few ride tickets and a snack or two and I am usually out of there in under $20. The highlights from the fair are the kiddie rides, the animals, the entertainment, and the displays. There are animal auctions that are fun to watch and a variety of awesome foods to try. I try to limit the kids to two rides and one game each. The max amount of time they can handle is just under two hours, so it is an easy afternoon outing and everyone is exhausted by the time we get home.

Splash pads: My little town has a great splash pad downtown on the river front. It is pretty large and it is free, so it becomes pretty busy during the day. I like to take the kids in the early evening (5:30 ish) when a lot of the crowd is gone but it is still warm out. It’s nice because I don’t have to worry about them in the same way as in a swimming pool and they can run around and get wet and have fun. The kids love it because it is water and cool and I love it because we get some exercise out of it.

Farmer’s Market: I love going to the farmer’s market in the summer. My town has two markets; one on Wednesday afternoons and one on Saturday mornings. There are a ton of vendors and the kids love going to go pick out fresh fruit and veggies. I love it because I can get a bunch of produce for really cheap. I also love that there are organic meat farmers, so I pick up a lot of beef, pork, and chicken there as well. For the kids there are face painting booths that are free, a bunch of musical acts performing, a bouncy house, and a ton of other random and fun activities. The Saturday market has a kids’ event each week which is free. These are sometimes a building class, or a coloring contest, or a cooking tutorial. It is super cool, and the kids love it.

Art Festivals: We are truly lucky at the amount of art festivals around my town. There are three craft festivals with locally made crafts, a music festival that kids can actually participate in, a kinetic sculpture festival, and a hot air balloon and art festival. All of these are great options for an easy and free outing. I especially love the hot air balloon festival. The best part about this one is that you can go out to the area the week before and see the practice rounds of the balloons. There is also a night glow, which is magical and so beautiful.

Sporting Events: We are lucky to have a university in our town, and a semi-pro baseball team. The university has free admission to a ton of different sporting events, and as a university employee, I get a discount on some of the events. The semi-pro baseball team has a number of family nights where admission is reduced or free, and some of those nights also includes a firework display at the end of the game. Both the university events and the semi-pro baseball games are sure to include a lot of family friendly elements to keep the kids engaged.

Train or Trolley rides: My town has a train station that goes to other close by towns and the fares are really affordable. We’ve taken the train a couple of times to a nearby town, had lunch, and then caught the train back. The total cost is under $50 for the entire family and we have a ton of fun. We also have a really cool historic trolley that does tours through the town on summer evenings. It is free and the tours include a historical building tour, a backyard chicken coop tour, garden tour, and a park to park tour. The kids love the trolley and it is an hour or so of fun that is totally free.

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There are tons of ways to entertain kids during the summer on a budget. Finding local resources that are family friendly takes a little bit of searching, but they can really help you combat the summer time boredom of kids.