Free & Cheap Things to Do This Summer

[CAFarmerGirl]

She's not interested in babysitting. I'm going to try and get her interested in some new hobbies. Sewing sounds good. Thanks!

My niece did a week long jet skiing summer day camp when she was 13. She also did a junior life guarding day camp. She was on the beach, but I know our park district offers the same class. The jet skiing camp was through our local university.

 

[mrsklamc]

She's not interested in babysitting. I'm going to try and get her interested in some new hobbies. Sewing sounds good. Thanks!

At youcanmakethis.com they have some patterns by the "Scientific Seamstress." (who happens to be a DISer.) I find them way easier to read than normal patterns.

 

[mrsbornkuntry]

Anybody have any good ideas for young teenagers for the summer. My DD just turned 13 and I'm trying to come up with some things for her for the summer. She'll have to be able to do a lot of them by herself though, because DH and I will be at work. It's a tough age, she's too old for a lot of the things mentioned here and too young to work. Any suggestions? Thanks!

My 15yo got some ideas for making jewelry from pinterest and has even started selling her creations on etsy. She uses wire to make necklaces and ear cuffs.

 

[mom2minniemouse]

Edit.

 

[katie111]

For something like $35-40, you can get an annual FAMILY pass to 250 museums nationwide via the American Museum of Science and Energy in Tennessee. www.amse.org. This pass, in your neck of Florida, would get you family admission to:

This looks great as I live in MA and go to a couple of these museums a lot. However, when I look at the science center website it states the following:

"Museums located within 90 miles of each other are excluded from the program unless that exclusion is lifted by mutual agreement. To receive Passport Program benefits at a participating museum, you must live more than 90 miles from the museum you wish to visit. Reciprocal admission is a benefit offered by your local museum and is intended for when you travel."

Are you saying that you've had no problem using it in your home state? Do they just look at the card & not check where you live when you go to the ticket counter? This would be a huge savings for us if it works.

 

[pigletto]

As for the teenagers.. it gets hard around that age. Dd would sit on the computer all day if I'd let her.. which I absolutely won't. So, she's in a knitting class, she's done camps, she reads like a fiend, has a sleepover with friends once or twice a week, goes swimming, goes to the movies, and babysits. This summer she actually has a job dog sitting for my sister. No easy task but she's been working with the trainer so she knows how to walk him and give his commands. He's a lovely dog, but a HUGE sheep dog so she needs to handle him properly or he'll walk all over her.

Another idea is that this could be a good time to work out projects that need doing for some spending money. I need my closets organized. Trust me, the first time I hear "I'm boooorrreeeeddd" we'll be negotiating a deal and she'll do some small projects that need doing. It's win/win.

 

[BBGirl]

I read this as 90 miles from the museum purchased at not where you live which makes buying from tn an even better idea. I think this is what it means and if so I will buying this year too.

This looks great as I live in MA and go to a couple of these museums a lot. However, when I look at the science center website it states the following:

"Museums located within 90 miles of each other are excluded from the program unless that exclusion is lifted by mutual agreement. To receive Passport Program benefits at a participating museum, you must live more than 90 miles from the museum you wish to visit. Reciprocal admission is a benefit offered by your local museum and is intended for when you travel."

Are you saying that you've had no problem using it in your home state? Do they just look at the card & not check where you live when you go to the ticket counter? This would be a huge savings for us if it works.

 

[mom2minniemouse]

Deleted due to reading the new "fine print." I apologize for any misinformation.

 

[katie111]

Awesome! Thanks for your reply. I am definitely going to get this as we go to the Boston Children's Museum & Science Museum a lot during the summer and this will help a lot with the cost.

 

[clori]

I recommend calling the Boston Children's Museum to double check on recipricality since they check ID. I talked to someone there a few years ago and was told even with an out of state reciprical museum membership over 90miles away they would look at the address on my id and not accept it since I live near Boston. I've never tried it - we get the library pass or go Fridays at 5 when we go to the Children's Museum. I do have a Museum of Science membership which we have used in places like the Children's Museum in Dover, NH, See Museum in Manchester NH, Roger Williams Zoo in RI no problem at all even when they look at ID.

For MA check out the highlandstreet Free Friday locations - http://highlandstreet.org/special-programs/free-fun-fridays.html

 

[Deffenm]

Here are somethings my kids will be doing.

Library/Barnes and Noble reading program
Local Parks have nature programs that they will do that are free
Zoo & Science museum: We have memberships
football camp and conditioning for oldest DS
Volunteer to work at the library to help out with reading program and free events for younger kids
Michaels has craft events near us and they will do a free activity
Visit local farms and do u-pick fruit (strawberries, blueberris, raspberris) plus we have a cherry tree in our yard and they help me pick and pit the fruit.

Of course my kids can play outside for hours. We bought a small pool just to cool off in and it has become a frog pond. They keep finding frogs and using their water guns for logs and letting the frogs swim in the pool.

We also go on-line and view the visitor guide for our state to see what festivals or events are happening in our area. They also always have coupons as well that we use.

 

[kimmyann]

When school is out one thing I plan to do with my DD (9) is have a new country week. She will pick a country or continent & we will find out some facts on it & research some foods. On Friday we will go buy our ingredients & make dinner based on regional favorites.(allrecipes has an international section) She has already chosen to do Africa her first week, so we can even go to the zoo (we have a membership) & concentrate on the African section this time.

Other than that...

Beach (it's free, except for the $1-2 to park) hopefully once a week.
Zoo (we have a membership)
We also have passes to the theme park & waterpark nearby, so we will utilize that a lot. Membership & passes really can save a bunch of money, especially in the summer.

 

[My5Mouseketeers]

Museums located within 90 miles of each other are excluded from the program unless that exclusion is lifted by mutual agreement. To receive Passport Program benefits at a participating museum, you must live more than 90 miles from the museum you wish to visit. Reciprocal admission is a benefit offered by your local museum and is intended for when you travel."

Are you saying that you've had no problem using it in your home state? Do they just look at the card & not check where you live when you go to the ticket counter? This would be a huge savings for us if it works.


Oh, it DOES absolutely work, but I don't want you to think that this something that I'm doing that is wrong or deceitful. The AMSE is a legitimate museum that participates in this particular reciprocal pass program. It is NOT required that you live in Tennessee in order to be an annual passholder to the AMSE. (I can't say for certain if absolutely none of the museums in the program have this requirement, but AMSE definitely does not.) With that said, as a legitimate AMSE annual passholder, you are allowed to in good faith use it to get free admission to any of the museums listed at the link I posted previously of the participating museums. The only checking of IDs at the gate are usually to match the name on the annual pass to the name on the ID to ensure that you don't have people "sharing" their family passes wrongly with other friends. As for Massachusetts specifically, they have honored it at the Quadrangle twice, the Children's Museum once, and the Ecotarium probably 7 or 8 times with absolutely no problems.

The "90 miles of each other" means that you can't use your pass to get free admission to another museum that is within 90 miles of your HOME museum. In other words, if I were to get a Boston Museum of Science membership, I would not be able to use it at the Boston Children's Museum. Since the AMSE is in Tennessee, it is definitely NOT within 90 miles of anywhere in Massachusetts obviously. IF the Tennessee museum is your HOME museum, you could go to any of the museums listed in Massachusetts (and just about everywhere else in the US that honors the reciprocal program) just as long as you are not 90 miles or less away from AMSE in Tennessee.

We are members of Liberty Science Center (LSC) in NJ. They have stressed to us that the reciprocating museums must be 90 miles away from the museum AND at least 90 miles from our home.

So it may work at some museums, but they don't have to let you in. We could not use our Membership at Franklin Institute (less than 90 miles from our house) or NY Hall of Science (less than 90 miles from LSC).

 

[mom2minniemouse]

We are members of Liberty Science Center (LSC) in NJ. They have stressed to us that the reciprocating museums must be 90 miles away from the museum AND at least 90 miles from our home.

So it may work at some museums, but they don't have to let you in. We could not use our Membership at Franklin Institute (less than 90 miles from our house) or NY Hall of Science (less than 90 miles from LSC).

Okay, I was curious as I haven't read the "fine print" in a few years. Apparently there IS a clause somewhere now where the reciprocating museum must not be within a 90-mile RADIUS of the person's home. However, the enforcement of such rule doesn't need to be that common, even though it seemingly happened to some folks here. We've only gone to the Boston ones once apiece, and that was a few years ago, but we did show our IDs at the museum and there didn't seem to be a problem with them accepting them. Ecotarium barely looks at the passes at the gate, and the Quadrangle people never asked us for an ID although we have gone there twice. I am just flabbergasted that this is now a rule and the museums haven't mentioned it to us although we have used our passes numerous times, KWIM? (Obviously, if presented with this stipulation, we would have gotten the appropriate passes the next go-round, KWIM?) When we first got the passes, I looked pretty thoroughly and did not see anything like that stipulation. I apologize if I gave anyone misinformation.