Summer Family Fun for Less
July 2, 2009
Utah Stories digs up 9 ideas for low-cost summer fun with the whole family!
by Rebecca Edwards
Last week we gave you 8 great, cheap date ideas. This week we're letting the whole family in on the fun. With kids out of school and the dog days of summer finally upon us, everyone can use some creative ways to beat the heat without breaking the bank. Pinching pennies can offer all of us a rare excuse to return to some our favorite childhood activities. Below are just a few ideas to get you--and your whole gang--moving in the right direction.
1. Go Retro: How about a hula hoop contest, jacks tournament, or friendly game of hopscotch on the front sidewalk? These classic activities are cheap, fun, and get your booty moving--besides, how often do the kids get to see mom hopping on one foot or moving those hips so well? You can even make your own hula hoops with the poly tubing often used for irrigation--for about $20 you can get a 100' coil of tubing that will make about 8 hoops.
2. Get a Drink: Help the kids set up a lemonade stand. They can learn the satisfaction of earning a few bucks and then they can use their hard-earned cash to take a swim in the neighborhood pool, hit a matinee, or patronize the local ice cream man.
3. Get Wet: Who can forget carefree days doing somersaults, cartwheels, and ballerina twirls under the front lawn sprinkler? You don't need a swimming pool when you have a hose and a sprinkler. Make the activity more exciting by playing this version of freeze tag: Have an older child or adult control the water pressure and the music as kids dance in the water to their favorite tunes; when the music stops the kids have to freeze; if they move before the music starts again, they're out--even if the water was spraying them in the face.
4. Get the Neighborhood Involved: Kick the Can and Sardines are both classic games that need a lot of people and a lot of space to produce maximum fun. Have the kids make up fliers or posters with finger-paints--naming the date, time, and gathering place--then send them out to friends and neighbors to round up the troops.
5. Go Al Fresco: Introduce the kids to classics like the fluffernutter (a peanut butter and marshmallow creme sandwich), kool-aid, and homemade oatmeal raisin cookies. Pack a retro-themed lunch in a basket, spread out a blanket, and enjoy the pleasures of dining al fresco. After your tummies are full, lay back and look for dragons, sheep, and castles in the clouds.
6. Get a Strike: Fat Cats is offering kids two free games every day this summer. Register your kids online and then hit the lanes every weekday from 9am-5pm. (Shoe rental not included.) Parents can join the fun by purchasing a Family Pass for $29.99.
7. Give Your Opinion: Turn your kids into movie critics. Cinemark movie theatres offers a Summer Movie Clubhouse where tickets to recent and classic family flicks are just $1 at the door. After your crew views the films, have a round table where each kid gives their review of the movie--saying one thing they liked the most and one thing they liked the least. You can video their reviews to watch later, or have them write them up and make their own movie magazine.
8. Get in the Swim: Instead of sitting on the sidelines reading a magazine, jump in the water and get some great exercise while bonding with your offspring. Challenge them to a race in the shallow end where you swim on your back the first length, swim underwater the second length, and then run to the finish line on the last length. Or choreograph a water ballet routine and practice until you are ready for the synchronized swimming event at the next summer Olympics. Most local pools offer monthly and/or family passes that provide unlimited access and discounts. Check out these links to find deals near you: http://www.onlineutah.com/swimming.shtml and http://www.recreation.slco.org/
9. Get a Little Bit of Everything: One of the coolest things I discovered is the Utah Kids Club. A membership fee of $27.00 for three months gives you insider info on free events around the state, as well as discounts on over 100 popular attractions, including Lagoon and Hogle Zoo.
Instead of sweating it out wondering how to entertain the family on a limited budget, let these ideas help you recapture the simple--and usually free--fun that lasted all summer long when you were a kid. Remember how you and your friends whiled away the days of summer, and give your kids a glimpse of how much fun they can have without a keyboard, game controller, or TV screen.
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Reader Comments
Kathie Bischke
Good ideas Rebecca! " Summer Family Fun For Less" has some great ideas.
V. Maritsas
Thanks Rebecca... great advice in the Summer Family Fun for Less article for a family on a budget!
Kellie May
We've done 2, 3, 4 and 8 so far this summer. I think we'll be trying 5 next. Kids really have fun whether it's low tech/cost or high. It's about the fun you have with them, and in the suggestions above, seeing their creativity and imagination at work too!
Jax Rodgers
Great information. Thanks for the wonderful ideas found in Summer Family Fun for Less.
Monica Bonner
Thanks for all these great ideas!! It is a struggle these days to budget multiple trips to Lagoon or other equally expensive outings. And they involve the entire family!
