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.

Summer fun that won’t break the bank

As we get ready for the summer, I love to find fun stuff to do with the kids that’s inexpensive and sometimes even educational.  
My kids love to go to the movies and during the summer kid’s movies are $1 at the Regal movie theatres and the Regal Summer Express. The movies are for nine weeks on Tuesdays and Wednesdays at 10 a.m. starting June 11^th. Some of the movies include Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked, Rio, Parental Guidance and Happy Feet Too. The movies are both G and PG.

This summer bowling is free for kids. It’s part of the Kids Bowl Free Program. You register your kids online at and each week you will receive tickets for your kids to bowl 2 free games a day of bowling. If you don’t have bowling shoes you will need to pay to rent the shoes. Otherwise it is free. You can’t beat that. We have done that the past few years and my girls have become quite the bowlers. Bowling Alleys across the United States participate. In Pinellas County the lanes you can bowl for free are:
Twedt's Bowling Center in Largo 727-581-4102 and Ten Pin Lanes in St. Pete 727-381-1010. Don’t forget to register. You must have your ticket.

We also enjoy going to the library. The library is free to go to and I found since I started taking my kids at a young age, they really enjoy looking at books and going to the library. During the summer most libraries offer special events during the week for the kids. In the Seminole Library it’s called Wonderful Wednesdays. On Wednesday they have special guests who come to the library and do shows for the kids.

When you are at the library pick up the Readingwith the Rays game card. If you child reads 24 hours this summer they can get a free regular season home game ticket. My girls have done this the past two years and we have a blast at the games.

The Barnes and Noble bookstore also encourages reading. They have a summer reading program that your child can get a free book by reading any eight books during the summer and recording them in a reading journal. This program goes until September 3^rd.

 We live in Florida so the beach is a perfect place to relax and take the kids for a swim. We forget sometimes how nice the beach is and how beautiful it is.

Something else we have a lot of in Pinellas County are parks. Some have playgrounds and some have trails. My favorite for taking my kids on the bike trail is Lake Seminole Park located at 10015 Park Boulevard in Seminole. The park is 250 acres and is designated as a wildlife habitat and sanctuary. The park’s trail is 2 miles. It winds through the flatwoods. We’ve been out there and have seen eagles and tortoises.

Another great place is the Boca Ciega Millenium Park at 12410 74^th Avenue N. in Seminole. This park has a 35-foot observation town that looks over Boca Ciega Bay. To get to the tower you walk on a beautiful boardwalk. The surroundings with the nature is so peaceful and relaxing.  And if you or your kids enjoy taking wildlife photos this is a picture perfect place to take them. The park also has a covered playground to provide shade, which is nice when it is so hot outside.

Did you know there are water parks around Pinellas and they are free. In Dunedin you can find a beautiful park called the Kiwanis Sprayground.

 

It is located at 1937 Ed Eckert Drive, Dunedin. This is an interactive 3,000 square foot water playground open daily from 9 a.m. to sunset. There is also free sprayground at Dell Holmes Park in St. Petersburg at 2741 22^nd Street South.

 

If you want to spend a few dollars you can enjoy the aquatic centers at some of the city recreation facilities. Largo’s Highland Family Aquatic Center just went under major renovations and will have a re-grand opening on June 8^th. This facility has waterslides and much more.

I have to add fishing to the list of things to do with your kids. My girls just started fishing this past year with my husband and love it. You can find quite a few places to go fishing all over Pinellas County, but have you taken your kids to the longest fishing pier in the world? That’s right the south Skyway State Fishing Pier is the longest.  The price to fish for kids is $2. Kids 5 and under are free. You do have to pay $4 per vehicle and adults are $4. It is a lot of fun and when kids catch fish there’s just something magical about it.

I know the summer can be long at times especially if you have kids that are on the go and most of us do. Here’s a least a few ideas that you can use that are enjoyable and affordable.

 

Things to do this summer that won't cost you too much $

What’s on your list of things to do this summer with the kids? I know a lot of kids go to camps during the summer, but what about the days the kids aren’t at camp?

I found some fun things for you to do with your kids that are either free or priced pretty reasonable.

If your kids like to bowl, you can register them for two free games of bowling a day. Yes, a day. This is part of the Kids Bowl Free Program. Bowling centers around the country participate in this.   Locally Dunedin Lanes, Twedt’s Bowling Center, Liberty Lanes and Ten Pin Lanes participate.  You register online and print out tickets each week. I have registered my girls the past two 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 Kids Bowl Free.

How about taking the little ones to the movies? We love to go during the summer and watch the movies on the big screen. Regal Cinema’s Largo Mall 8 and Park Place Stadium 16 offer movies for kids during the summer for $1. You can’t beat the price. There are some really good movies this summer. Dolphin Tale, Kung Fu Panda 2, Chimpanzee, Rango, Arthur Christmas and Smurfs to name a few. The movies are G and PG rated and are offered on Tuesday and Wednesday mornings at 10am starting June 12^th. To find out the movie dates and times at the theatre nearest you log
                                                      onto Regal Movies.

If you have teenage children, make sure you register them for the two free months of a gym membership at LifeStyle Family Fitness. Teens ages 12-17 can workout for free this summer starting now to August 15. I have friends that had their kids do this last year and they had a blast! You can register at Lifestyle Family Fitness.

Your kids can also go to a Tampa Bay Rays game for free over the summer if you have them read. The Rays Sponsor a reading program called Reading with the Rays. It starts on June 10^th. 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.

If your kids like the water, the beach is a great place to take them. We are so fortunate that we live so close to the beautiful water. Take advantage of the beach over the summer. Check out your city’s recreation department too this summer. Most of the cities in Pinellas have aquatic centers with water parks and pools. The price to go for a few hours is usually a few dollars per child. 

I love having my kids out of school during the summer, but I have to find activities to keep them busy or they get bored. I hope some of these ideas help you this summer.