Things to do with the kids this summer on a budget

The kids are out of school and if you are like me, you are looking for fun things to do that won’t cost you ton. Every year I browse the paper, internet and flyers sent home from school to find some of the best and cheapest things to do. Here are some of the activities I’ve done with my two girls, ages 12 and 13, over the years and a few new ones I’ve found.

My kids love going to the movies, but they can be so expensive. During the summer you can go to the movies for $1. This is part of the Regal Theatres Summer Movie Express. It runs for 9 weeks starting June 5^th in our area.  The movies are Tuesday and Wednesday mornings. A portion of the proceeds goes to the Will Rogers Institute. Go to their website at www.regmovies.com and look up promotions. The movie theatres locally are Park Place Stadium 16 and Regal Largo Mall 8. The movies are G or PG and start at 10 a.m. Some of the movies include: Despicable Me, How to Train Your Dragon2, The Lego Movie, the Peanuts Movie, The Secret Life of Pets, The Minions and more.

For older kids and adults Clearwater Beach offers free movies on Friday and Saturday nights at Sunset at Pier 60. You can see movies like Lion King, Black Panther, Apollo, Moana, Jaws, A Wrinkle in Time and more. Go to the their website to find the listings at www.sunsetsatpier60.com.

If older kids want to see the latest releases head to Studio Movie Grill in Seminole all movies all day are $5 on Tuesdays.

My girls love to bowl. Kids can go bowling for free all summer long. It is part of the Kids Bowl Free program. Bowling alleys all around the United States participate. Locally kids can go in Largo to Liberty Lanes, in St. Petersburg to Ten Pin Lanes or Sunrise Lanes, in Dunedin to Dunedin Lanes and in Clearwater to Maple LanesCountryside, in Seminole to Seminole Lanes and in Port Richey to Lane-Glo Lanes North. Kids get to bowl 2 games free a day. You must register at www.kidsbowlfree.com. Remember to bring bowling shoes or you can rent them.

We are so fortunate to have baseball all around us. Not only do we have the TampaBay Rays, but we also have 4 minor-league baseball teams in the area. If your kids like baseball, the minor league team tickets very affordable. The Clearwater Threshers have dollar Tuesdays, where the tickets and food sell for $1. We went recently, and it was a blast. The Tampa Bay Tarpons formerly the Tampa Bay Yankees have a great kids club where you pay $20 and get a bunch of fun items including a hat and all Sunday games are free with a food voucher for hotdog, soda and chips. The Dunedin Blue Jays and the Lakeland Flying Tigers also have kid’s clubs and great promotions on ticket deals and food. Go to the team’s web sites for more information.

One place my two girls love going to is the beach and it’s free. Did you know that on Friday nights there’s a place on North Redington Beach that offers hula dance lessons to kids and adults? It is at Mango’s Restaurant and Tiki Bar which is located right behind DoubleTree Beach Resort. You can listen to tropical music on the beach and right before sunset on Friday nights the Sunset Island Dancers come out and put on a wonderful hula show. The kids have a lot of fun!!

If your children like to read and like baseball, they can read their way around the bases with the Reading with the Rays program. Just for reading a certain number of hours during the summer, they can get a free ticket to a Ray’s game. You can find out more at your local library.

Kids can also earn a free book at Barnes and Noble with the Barnes and Noble Summer reading program. It is for kids grades first through sixth. If your child reads 8 of their own books and journals the books, they can get a free book at the store. You can find out more at www.barnesandnoble.com.

If your children like to build things or make crafts, take them to Home Depot this summer. They offer a free workshop for kids the first Saturday of the month from 9 am to noon.  On Saturday, July 7 they will host a workshop on building a fishing game. Recommended ages are 5-12. The crafts the children make are incredible. The kids get to keep their craft and receive a free certificate of achievement, a workshop apron and commemorative pin. This may be something a grandparent wants to do with their grandchild. I know my kids love it!

The Glazer Museum in Tampa offers free museum admission on the first Tuesday of the month to everyone from 12-7 p.m. You can find out more here. 

The summer is a great time to explore where you live. There are so many fun things to do right in your own backyard. You just have to know where to look and make the most of it!  Hopefully this gives you a few ideas of things to do with your kids and you won’t have to spend too much money.

When kids say there's nothing to do...check out these ideas!

It seems like this summer is going by so quickly. My kids have less than four weeks left of their summer vacation before they go back to school. There's still plenty of time to have fun while doing it on a budget.

Here are a few ideas of fun activities to do when your kids say there's nothing to do.

Something new this summer my kids can't do enough of is gymnastics. They don't take classes, but they still like bouncing on a trampoline and flipping around. We found  several local gyms offering open gym for kids.  Open gym is where kids get to use the equipment and work on their skills without a teacher. One place my girls love to go to is Gold Medal Gymnastics in Pinellas Park. They offer open gym on Saturdays and Sundays from 1:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. for only $5 a child. You can find out more on their website at www.goldmedalgym.net.

If your kids like to bowl, you can register them for two free games of bowling a day all summer long. This is part of the Kids Bowl Free Program. Bowling centers around the country participate in this.   We have several local bowling alleys participating including: Locally Liberty Lanes, Ten Pin Lanes, Countryside Lanes, Dunedin Lanes, Seminole Lanes and Sunrise Lanes participate.  You register online and print out tickets each week. I have registered my girls the past several years for this and they love it. The only thing you have to pay for are the bowling shoes, but if you have them than it is totally free. The website to register is www.kidsbowlfree.com.

There's also a program for kids 12 years and younger to skate for free at local roller skating rinks. You can sign up at www.kidsskatefree.com. You can bring your own skates or rent skates for a nominal fee. Astro Skate in Pinellas Park offers free skating on Fridays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and on Sundays from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. Each rink has their own hours for free skating.

I know my kids love going to the movies especially the theatres with the recliner seats. They are pretty awesome! Cobb Theatres offer movies for free on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday at 10 a.m. Local movie theatres like Cobb Tyrone Luxury 10 and Countryside 12 in Clearwater are participating this summer.  Regal Theatres offers movies for kids for $1. The movies are G and PG rated and are offered on Tuesday and Wednesday mornings at 10am. Park Place Stadium 16 in Pinellas Park is one of the local theatres participating this year. There are some really good movies this summer. To find out the movie dates and times go to the movie theatres website.

Maybe watching a movie outdoors is more your style. Every Friday and Saturday nights Pier 60 in Clearwater offers fun family movies for free all year long. The movies begin at dusk. For a list of the movies go to www.sunsetsatpier60.com and click on Sunset Cinema.

Your kids can also go to a Tampa Bay Rays game for free over the summer if they read. The Rays Sponsor a reading program called Reading with the Rays.You need to go to your local library to get a score card to write down all the books your child reads during the summer. If they complete 24 hours of reading, they can get a free ticket to a Rays game. Both of my girls enjoy reading and love going to the Rays games, so this is extra incentive to read over the summer.  The Rays also have $2 kidsTuesdays for all their home games. Kids 14 and under are only $2 with a full-price adult ticket.

Minor league baseball teams also offer great discounts. Most of the of the teams have fireworks after the game. We are so fortunate to have the Clearwater Threshers, the Dunedin Blue Jays and the Tampa Yankees all playing in the Bay area. Check out their websites for ticket promotions. Tuesdays is dollar day at Clearwater Threshers. You can purchase a ticket for $1 and most food is also $1.

Make sure you and your kids visit Largo Central Park when they have their train rides. It's something for the whole family. The first full weekend of every month, the Largo Central Railroad offers rides on their miniature train to the public from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday at Largo Central Park.  Admission is free, but donations are welcomed. For more information visit their website at www.lcrailroad.com.

If you want to beat the heat check out the Kiwanis Sprayground in Dunedin at 1937 Ed Eckert Drive. It's an interactive water park open seven days a week from 9 a.m. to sunset. It's free and kids love playing and spraying each other with water. Dell Homes Park in St. Petersburg at 2741 22nd St. S. also has a Splash Pad Water Playground open from 9 a.m. to sunset daily.

Of course there's always aquariums and theme parks to go to that aren't too far away including: Clearwater Marine Aquarium, Florida Aquarium, Busch Gardens and Lowry Park Zoo to name a few.  We also have fantastic museums including: Morean Art Center, SalvadorDali Museum, Great Explorations Children's Museum, Glazer Children's Museum and more. Some of the attractions have deals on certain days like the GlazerChildren's Museum where kids get in free between 12 p.m. and 7 p.m. on the first Tuesday of the month.

There are so many great ways to spend your summer having fun with your kids without leaving your wallet empty. Hopefully some of these ideas will help you keep your kids entertained during the rest of the summer before heading back to school.

Family fun at minor league baseball games

Looking for something to do with the family that is fun and won't cost you a lot of
money? Recently my family went to a Clearwater Threshers Baseball game on Friday
night and paid $32 for tickets which included four fantastic field box ticket, four shirts,
four sodas, four bags of chips and four hot dogs. There was also a post-game country
concert included the night we went. You really can't beat that for a night out.

This deal is every Friday night home game during the season. It's called the Tampa Bay
Times Family Pack. You do need a coupon and can find it in the Tampa Bay Times
Newspaper.

We went with a group of 18 people and had a great time cheering on the Threshers team.
The Threshers are the minor league team for the Philadelphia Phillies. We are so fortunate to have not only the Clearwater Threshers, but several minor league teams right
here in the Bay area including: the Dunedin Blue Jays and the Tampa Yankees. We've
been to each team it's stadium and have a blast.

What my kids love with the minor league teams is being able to get autographs from the players after the game! They also like the contests during the innings throughout the
game. There are races on the field, shirts thrown into the stands and lots of other crowd
interaction.

Minor league teams are great because the teams do all sorts of promotions throughout the
week to get you to their games and the tickets are very reasonable. Most ticket prices around $8 for adults and $6 for kids and seniors. A lot of the minor league teams even have a day when kids get in free to the game and some have fireworks after the game. The Threshers have fireworks every Saturday night home game.

Check online to see what kind of promotions each team is running. If your kids are on
little league teams and you want them to have the opportunity to take the field with the
pros, call the team. It's a great experience and one your kids will remember. My girls
have done this the past two years with their teams and it is a great memory.

What's nice is there are a lot of games and the games will run all summer long. Most
teams play until first week of September. No matter what age your kids are, it's a great
time for the whole family!