This Kids Play Savings Page contains a growing number of money saving ideas for cutting costs when you recreate with kids! Tips such as story time at the library, mom’s club memberships, sandbox/park toys, & summer activities!
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Kids Play Savings with Story Time
We love to take advantage of story time at the library, bookstores, and even some children’s stores. They’re always free and they do a wonderful job with the kids. Chick-fil-a has a story and craft time that includes a free kids meal with adult food purchase. Another place for less expensive but still great quality classes is a local community center. Ours has everything from ABC’s to tumbling to a mommy-and-me science club. Erin McGever – Phoenix, AZ
Family Swim Nights at the Local School
Contact your public schools to see if there are any family night/open swim nights at the school indoor pool. These nights are often sponsored by the local YMCA, and the cost is usually $1-2 for residents. We go with our toddler for $4 and have a nice family activity. This is a great change-of-pace in the wintertime! Ann Thomas – Bridgeville, PA
Mom’s Club Membership Makes Kids Play Affordable
One of the best deals I’ve found is membership in my local mothers’ club. Dues are $30 per year. For this fee a world of opportunities are available for me and my family: Monthly meetings with informative speakers; inexpensive group outings, free babysitting through the club’s babysitting co-op, membership in a movie-moms group – we get reduced price tickets and go together- opportunities for community service and leadership. Last summer we took advantage of a two-night campout at a regional park with 15 other families from the club. We paid 15 dollars per family which included two meals, arts and crafts and other activities. Through the mothers’ club, I joined a playgroup when my oldest son was 7 months old. Some of my closest friends are the moms in this playgroup – we’ve watched each other’s kids for six years! This club is priceless! Jennifer G. – Pleasanton, CA
Kids Play Savings with the Recycle Bin
I dip into my recycle bin for “park toys” for my kids. Clean butter containers, laundry detergent measuring cups, and any other plastic containers make the best sand toys and scoopers! They are free, come in a variety of great shapes and sizes, and I don’t care if we lose them or share them with all of the other kids at the park! Once they are broken or unsafe, I throw them back into the recycle bin for collection by the city. Erin McGever – Phoenix, AZ
Kids Play Savings During the Summer
We had a movie night once a week during the Summer. To help the kids not get bored in the summer we planned a weekly movie day with friends and picked a movie we could all enjoy from the library, and had popcorn and other munchies. This was something they looked forward to each week. But, as the ages of our kids got older we had trouble finding a movie to make everyone happy so we changed it to a swim date at the community pool or at a relative’s house. Doreen H. – Phoenix, AZ
Free Family Events Are All Around Us
In my area, we have an events page on our city website. There are a lot of free activities, including concerts, outdoor movies, family friendly block parties, etc. Recently, we took the entire family to the grand opening of a new tourist museum, and though we didn’t have the extra cash to purchase tickets to enter the museum, we caught the free outdoor concert and the fireworks exhibit. Checking for free events in your area is a great idea for summer.
We also have horse stables near the house that will reward good grades with a free ride every grading period for all school-aged children in the district. Checking around for places like this, would not only save money and be fun for the kiddos but would also help promote good grades in school! Marsha G. – Canton, OH
You will also love our page called 21 Inexpensive Recreation Ideas.
You might also enjoy checking out our blog roll which has several category pages of movies.
And one more thing, you will love checking out all our book categories as well. There are several for kids that are awesome!
