Moms Club Advice

[disneylovinfamily]

Hi---I need some advice. I was just elected as the activities coordinator of my local MOMS Club chapter and need ideas. Of course we have moms that open thier homes up for pool days and story times and such and we have park days but I am looking for advice on where to find information on free/cheap things to do to include in our monthly calender. Any good websites or suggestions. Or if you are in the York, PA area any places that come to mind. I am so excited about this but I really want to have lots of good activities for all the kids.

 

[tjmw2727]

We had an informal mom's club and we always looked for things in the local "metro kids" type magazines. They had a calendar listing the storytimes at barnes & noble and other such fun stuff. Most was free and some was for just a nominal fee. If you are interested in doing an occasional early evening out we often met at a restaurant on kids dine free night. Often the restaurant had face paiting and or baloon animals on that night as well. Our kids were in the 4-5 age range and it was a fun mom & me night out.

Look in your area for shows and performances put on by local theater groups - some are a small fee others are free. Our public library always had kids craft activities - if your group isn't huge you should be able to participate. Home depot has a kids do it workshop where you can make great things, bird house, tool box etc. Its usually a certain sat or sun of the month - ie here its the first sunday of every month. We put things like this in the newsletter as just "drop in" type stuff and often when we went there were a few "friends" as well.

We also used the birthday party ads to get ideas for our own get togethers or the occasional splurge. Sometimes the visiting zoo would give our group enough of a discount that each family only had to pay a small amount for a great visit. Depending on the size of your group, if you all pitch in a moon bouncer for the day isn't that outrageous.

Wow - thanks for the trip down memory lane my dd's are 10 and 12 now but we had some great times. I know there are more ideas so when I remember them I will post - good luck and have fun.

TJ

 

[Jenn]

Several movie theaters offer free summer movies - in this area a small, local theater plus the bigger Regal and AMC all do it. Some are Tuesdays and Thursdays, some Tuesday and Wednesdays at 10:00am. All FREE!!!!! And, all G rated kids movies. Go to your movie theater's website and you can get the dates and list of movies. They aren't brand new movies (more like a year or two old). Some examples are Garfield, Charlotte's Web, Ice Age, Open Season, Over the Hedge, etc.

 

[oldbay]

The York area has lots of free factory tours: martins chips, herrs, utzs, & wolfgang's chocolates. The kids got to see how things are made and they give out free samples at the end. We still have the one hairnet and my ds plays baker. Also, tours of a local post office, fire station, or police station(McGruff the crime dog visited our meeting once) are lots of fun. If you carpool, going into Baltimore to the zoo, port discovery, or the science center would not be too far as well. Have fun!

 

[disneylovinfamily]

I want to thank everybody for the ideas. I love the factory tour idea! Anybody else have suggestions?

 

[princesskimberella]

HI, I am just stepping down from being the current pres and taking on activities coordinator. I am not sure if you city is listed with them but I love gocitykids.com it has been a big help. We also do alot of park days, some in morning some in the afternoon, also check out your local nature center. We do group lunches too at McD's or our local family resturant.

 

[GraysMom]

One of our members hosts a craft day once a month at her house. She finds a simple craft for the kids to do, and it usually costs less than a dollar per child. We also do "Stroller Mommies" where we meet with the kids in strollers so the moms can get some exercise and still talk, without chasing the kids around. Now that it's nice out, we do SM at different parks with paved trails, but during the winter or really hot summer days, we meet at one of the local malls to walk. We also just started a walking club for anyone who wants to walk with us around different parks/trails to try and get into shape/be healthy. Sometimes we schedule a pool day at the local community pool, which has slides and things for the kids. We do bike/trike park days where the kids can ride around. We also do Moms Night Out once a month, for the moms only, to enjoy some quiet time with a hot meal . Like others have mentioned, libraries and book stores often have free activities as well. Oh, and keep a look out for plays/shows geared towards younger kids. We have recently had Sesame St Live and (upcoming) Winnie-the-Pooh performances at local colleges/theaters. You can often get a group rate price if enough people know ahead of time.

 

[GraysMom]

I almost forgot, you could visit the trains in Strasburg (and ride them, depending on what special events they have going on). Their will also be a couple of special weekends this summer/fall when Thomas the Tank Engine will be there for the kids to ride. Here' the site with more info:

 

[disneylovinfamily]

Thanks for the great advice. Gocitykids doesn't have my city yet but what a great site. i am definatly going to do Mom's night out once a month. Ours right now has not had much interest but they don't really do anything great in my opinion. i was thinking bowling or maybe find a tapas resturaunt.

 

[MommaSnowwhite]

We had a McDeonalds tour - they did tours for the kids to show them how they make the food - the kids loved it. There was an age limit but they did tow tour times so the ones with kids that were too little swaped kids with each other to take the tour with their older children.

 

[HelenePA]

www.laketobias.com its probably a few hours away from you but its an amazing place!!!

 

[GraysMom]

We also have done tours of the local Petco stores where they explain about the different animals, etc.

 

[MamaOfTwoPrincesses]

We toured the local grocery store. The kids loved it! We also did something at Papa Gino's, and the kids got to make their own pizzas. See if your library offers free or discounted passes to area attractions - you can post that info in your newsletter. Check out the local Parents' Paper as well. Here is a national list http://parenthood.com/localpub.html?identifier=list

 

[kldmom2000]

Our MOMS club arranges some field trips to the library, fire station, police station, supermarket, etc. (all free)....

We also get group rates at the local children's museum, zoos, indoor playparks, etc...

There are weekly meets at the beach (30 min. away) in the summer, at the playground, zoos, etc...

During the summer there is a big MOMS club "family" bbq at one person's home-a potluck type meal.

We do holiday parties (Christmas/Hannukah, Valentine's Day, and egg hung in the spring, Halloween party, etc.) at the church hall we use for our monthly meetings.

Have fun!! Hope you get some great ideas to use!

 

[mom2luncate]

I love that we have a Moms Club thread going! We have a very active group and most of our activities include: story time at Barnes & Noble, zoo visits, supermarket tours, firehouse tours, meetings at several local parks, roller skating, sledding, beach trips, trips to childrens' museums, apple picking, strawberry picking, trips to the pumpkin patch, all-ages craft playgroups, all-ages breakfast playgroups, craft playgroups around a specific holiday (ie. making valentine cards), visiting a local nursing home (great for the kids and residents), and HOOTS (husbands out of town supper) one time a week. Our activities coordinator receives the local paper and does a lot of research online. Our members are always on the look out for fun things to do and will post ideas if they come across anything fun and new. Best of luck to you and your chapter!

 

[bkreitzel]

hi! i did the activities for our MOMS Club last year and we had so much fun! You can find all sorts of things ... we took tons of tours ... the fire dept., a dentist, dept of public works, med. flight at the hospital, the humane society, locke and dams, candy shops, even culvers restaurants will do tours...i set up "private" story times w/ local library branches during the day doing one a month. we go to lunch or bfast once a month, have moms nite out once a month, have "coffee clutch" and meet at a coffee shop once a month...last friday our local starbucks did a MOMS club story time and set up a huge table for the moms and an area next to us for the kids and then desinated an employee to read stories to them and serve them milk and cookies!! ..we have done stroller fit exercise...pool tours, trolley rides...call local kids businesses and set up demos for your group ... we have done gymnastics classes, kindermusik, intro to dance all KINDS of things for FREE.. They love to do this b/c it exposes us to what they have to offer and might bring them additional business...we go to the childrens museum ...park days...we have playgroups set up...we contacted MICHAELS and now do craft day there once a month where an employee sets up a craft and we rsvp to come in at 10am on that day and pay $2-4 to make a project..we love that b/c there is no mess for US to clean up. we meet w/ the therapy dogs, go to the vet, go to the petting zoo, pony rides, ice cream shoppe, semi-trailer tour, airport tour ...hmmm this is off the top of my head but you get the gist ... have fun and GET CREATIVE. dont be afraid to call a business and ask, the worse they can say is no!!

 

[PaulaSue]

Hello! I'm in York too.

Which chapter are you in charge of? I used to belong when it first started and was only one (of that name) group in York, before I had my 3rd. Then I dropped out with too much to do, LOL. I actually talked to Nicole about rejoining last year but with PS playdates I never got around to it.

I know Moms from the Central area and my cousin is still in even though her DS is in K now.

Many have already offered many things we used to do with the MOMs club and the other club I had belonged too. Try Central Penn Parent (local kids magazine) for ideas too.

 

[cheyennemama]

Grocery store and Petco tours are quite fun.

 

[dmhoob]

Hey Cheyenne!
I saw your post and had to say "hi"! I always get a kick out of recognizing someone here in cyberspace!
Hope all is well!
Dawn (W. Spfld MOMS Club)

 

[disneylovinfamily]

Hello! I'm in York too.

Which chapter are you in charge of? I used to belong when it first started and was only one (of that name) group in York, before I had my 3rd. Then I dropped out with too much to do, LOL. I actually talked to Nicole about rejoining last year but with PS playdates I never got around to it.

I know Moms from the Central area and my cousin is still in even though her DS is in K now.

Many have already offered many things we used to do with the MOMs club and the other club I had belonged too. Try Central Penn Parent (local kids magazine) for ideas too.

We are in the Eastern district. The president last year was Jen and this year is going to be Jean. I am a fairly new member (about 4 months now) but am very excited!