How do you keep the kids occupied during the summer while still staying on budget? Stay away from the fancy camps and cheap indoor playgrounds and provide them with a summer that is rich in experience but inexpensive in price.
Feel free to build upon the following ideas or add your own in the comments.
1. Visit the library: go on a summer adventure through free science in the summer activities, free movies and of course, free books.
2. Explore your town: take advantage of the fun and cheap things to do in your own backyard. Is there a pond to fish in, a museum to visit, some woods to hike, etc?
3. Form your own camp: get together with friends and neighbors to form a neighborhood camp for all of the kids. One day the kids can swim in the pool, the next they can do some organized crafts.
4. Take advantage of free summer offering for kids, such as kids bowl free, free summer movies and more.
5. Challenge the kids to come up with a summer-long project that they can complete. Some ideas include a ship in a bottle, growing herbs, writing a book or building a tree house.
6. Enroll them in Vacation Bible School. These “camps” are usually free or very low cost to the community. Some churches also offer low cost or free sports camps.
7. Hold a contest to see who can create the “world’s biggest bubble.” Making your own bubble wand out of things found around the house is allowed.
8. Build fairy houses out of twigs, pebbles, bark and other found materials.
9. Tie-dye t-shirts or any old clothes that need a bit of pizzaz.
10. Put on a play or a variety show with all of the kids from the neighborhood. Drape a sheet over a clothesline for the curtain.