Living Large on a Limited Budget
The Barnes & Noble Summer Reading Club is back! Kids in grades 1-6 can earn a FREE book from Barnes & Noble by reading 8 books over the summer . They will need to fill out a Summer Reading Journal and bring the journal to a B&N location between May 19 and September 7, 2015 to choose a free book.
You can also download a FREE Activity and Teaching Summer Reading kit full of helpful tips and printables.
Microsoft retail stores are holding FREE YouthSpark Summer Camps for kids ages 8-13 throughout this summer. The camps are 2 hours a day, Monday-Thursday, and offer training in Game Coding, Game Designing, Movie Making or Photo Taking.
Space is limited so be sure to head on over here and sign your kids up now. Simply select the category you’d like your child to attend and then find your state and local store to select the week and time you would like to sign up for.
Please note that a parent is required to stay with their child during Camp.
Thanks, Hip 2 Save!
Looking for more FREE stuff to do this summer with your kids? Check out my Frugal Fun Guide!
Over the past few years, I’ve shared a bit about the Summer Fun Planner I use with my kids each year. Each year I try to improve on it just a bit and make it work even better for us.
You could say that my roots as a teacher definitely come out each summer – but I try to make this system one that is helpful and flexible. As much as I like a system, I actually prefer life to be more laid back than structured – especially at summer time!
So here is how we accomplish that in my house:
First, I printed out this free printable Summer Fun Planner. If you’d like one, it’s my gift to you for becoming an email subscriber. Head over here to do so.
Second, I pulled out our binders from last summer. Included in the binder:
-About 10 plastic sleeves
-Three dividers
-A pencil case with a variety of crayons, pencils, etc.
Note: I found all of these items at the Dollar Store last year. No need to spend a fortune!
This is how I labeled the different sections:
This is where we keep our Summer Fun To Do list. Using my list of free summer activities for kids and our own ideas, I sat down the other day with my two oldest boys and we each made a bucket list of activities that we’d like to enjoy together over the summer. Then each morning, we each take a turn choosing one activity from our list that we’d like to make happen that day.
(In full disclosure, Mommy may have added “Clean the van” and “Organize something” to the top of her list. At this point, my boys haven’t figured out that this is considered work. Let’s keep that our little secret, mmkay?)
We also worked on adding events to the Summer Fun Planner Calendar so we can keep track of upcoming events we’d like to take advantage of – like $1 Movies at Regal!
This is where we track the numerous Reading Rewards programs that are available. Every program has different requirements, so there is a Reading Rewards checklist that comes along with my Summer Fun Planner to help track it all.
I had fun finding a variety of printables via Pinterest to tuck into this section. This is a great tool for road trips as well as the perfect offering when you hear those three dreaded words: “Mom, I’m boooored.”
I plan to add more to this section throughout the summer, but here are a few printables I added to ours:
Random Acts of Kindness Summer List
And that’s it! Nothing fancy, but it offers a sense of routine that is sometimes missing when the kids are out of school.
If you’d like to see more, I shared about our system last year on Philadelphia’s 6abc station. Frankly, my boys stole the show!
I’m SO excited to finally launch this year’s Project Summer: Frugal Fun Guide 2014. It’s BIGGER and BETTER than ever and full of FREE things to do with your kids this summer.
Plus I’ve created another FREE printable Summer Planner for you to organize it all.
Head over here to check it out and start planning your summer fun!
Looking for FREE things to do with your kids this summer? Here are 10 activities that you may not know about – from bowling to skating to museums, camps and more! Find out what is available in your area and add it to your summer FUN calendar!
And don’t forget about your local library!
Don’t miss my HUGE list of FREE activities for kids this summer.
Looking for FREE activities for kids this summer? How about taking advantage of a FREE or cheap Kids Craft Class near you? Many stores have great craft projects for kids all summer long. I’ve gathered a list of the best free classes and workshops for children I’ve found at stores nationwide. I’ll be sure to update it as I find more!
Free Kids Craft Classes:
If you have LEGO lovers at home, I also recommend checking out Pley.com, which offers LEGO sets that you can rent. Talk about a great boredom buster! (Click here to read my friend Heidi’s review of the site.)
Don’t miss my HUGE list of FREE activities for kids this summer and get a FREE printable summer planner:
Did you know that many theater chains offer FREE or cheap Summer Movies for Kids? If you’d like to know what theaters offer free and cheap family-friendly summer movies, I’ve gathered a long list of them for you!
Be sure to bookmark or pin this page as a reference. I will update it as I find more!
Stay tuned for more to come!
Don’t miss my HUGE list of FREE activities for kids this summer and get a FREE printable summer planner:
One of our favorite summer activities is taking advantage of FREE reading rewards programs for kids. It’s such a great way to encourage our kids to keep on reading and have FUN while doing it. (I have to admit, I wish there were some great reading rewards programs for Moms. I’d be all over that!)
I’ve compiled a list of 10 of the best summer reading programs that offer rewards such as a free books, gift cards and more!
Note: Be sure to pin this page or bookmark it so you can come back to it later!
Know of another fun rewards program for reading? Leave a comment!
Don’t miss my HUGE list of FREE activities for kids this summer and a FREE printable summer planner:
