Free Stuff for Kids Archives - Cha-Ching on a Shoestring™

It’s BACK! Project Summer: Frugal Fun Guide 2015 – HUGE List of Free and Cheap Stuff to Do with Kids this Summer

June 2nd, 2015 By Kaley
This post may contain affiliate links, which means I will make a small commission if you click and make a purchase.

Huge List of Free Stuff to Do with your Kids this Summer!

It’s one of my favorite projects each year – coming up with a list of free and fun activities to enjoy with your kids this summer. So I’m super excited to announce that my Project Summer: Frugal Fun Guide for 2015 is ready for you!

It’s full of FREE and cheap things to do with your kids this summer – from free movies to craft workshops to reading rewards programs and more. Plus you can download your own FREE printable Summer Planner for you to organize it all.

Click here to check it out – and happy planning!

FREE or Cheap Summer Movies for Kids 2015

May 20th, 2015 By Kaley
This post may contain affiliate links, which means I will make a small commission if you click and make a purchase.

Free Summer Movies for Kids!

Where to Watch FREE Summer Movies for Kids 2015

Looking for theaters that offer FREE or cheap Summer Movies for Kids and families? You’ve come to the right place! I’ve gathered a long list of theaters that offer free and cheap family-friendly summer movies.

Be sure to bookmark or pin this page as a reference. I will update it as I find more!

Regal Summer Movie Express: Beginning in June, select Regal Theaters will be offering $1.00 family-friendly movies on Tuesdays and Wednesdays beginning at 10 am. Click here to find a participating theater near you.

Bookworm Wednesdays: Kids can get free admission to a select children’s film every Wednesday from July 8 – July 29 when they present a book report at a participating Showcase Cinemas, Multiplex Cinemas or Cinema de Lux box office. Click here to find participating theaters. Click here to download the book report.

Cinemark Summer Movie Clubhouse: Participating Cinemark theaters are offering $1 family-friendly movies on select weekday mornings throughout the summer. You can opt to purchase an advance pass for all ten movies for just $5 making them only $0.50 each! Find a list of participating locations, dates and times here.

Mall of America Free Kids Movies: The Mall of America theater offers FREE family movies every Saturday at 10am and Toddler movies on Tuesdays at 11:30 am. Seating is on a first come, first serve basis. Families also have the opportunity to take advantage of a FREE sensory friendly film in an adjacent Theater on Saturdays at 10 am.

cobb theatre free movie

Cobb Theatres are offering FREE Family Movies on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday in June and July. Choose between two movies playing each day. Doors open at 9:30am and movies begin at 10 am. Click here and visit your local Cobb theatre to find the schedule.

Megaplex Theaters Kids Summer Movies: Watch 10 Weeks of movies for only $10. You can buy a $10 pass online or individual movie tickets may be available at the Box Office or Guest Service Desk at participating Megaplex locations for $1.50 each. Check the Participating Theaters near you to find the complete list of movies that will be showing and times.

Bow Tie Cinemas FREE Kids Summer Film Series: Get FREE admission to family-friendly movies on Tuesday and Wednesdays at 10 am. Seating starts at 9 am. The website has not been updated with information about 2015 showings, so check back for details.

Buy One Get One Free Fandango Tickets

Fandango: Buy One Get One FREE tickets for Visa Signature Card holders on Fridays from April 24 – August 21, 2015.

Local Theaters: You also may want to contact your local theater to find out if they are offering any special admission events.

Know any theaters to add to this list?

Want to learn my trick for going to the movies for FREE? Click below to find out how!

Don’t miss my HUGE list of FREE activities for kids this summer.

Best FREE Reading Rewards Programs for Kids 2015

May 14th, 2015 By Kaley
This post may contain affiliate links, which means I will make a small commission if you click and make a purchase.

Free Summer Reading Rewards Programs for Kids

Best FREE Summer Reading Rewards Programs for Kids

We LOVE free reading rewards programs for kids in our family. It’s such a great way to encourage our kids to keep on reading over the summer 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!)

Here’s a roundup of 10 of the best summer reading programs that offer rewards such as a free books, gift cards and more. Let me know if you find any others.

Note: Be sure to pin this page or bookmark it so you can come back to it later!

Reading Rewards Programs:

Barnes & Noble Summer Reading Club: Kids in grades 1-6 can receive 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.

Half Price Books Feed Your Brain Program: Children 14 and under can earn a Back-to-School Bucks to use at Half Price Books when they read (or are read to) for 15 minutes a day in June and July. Check back here for more details.

TD Bank Summer Reading Program: Kids in Kindergarten through 5th grade can get $10 added to their new or existing TD Bank Young Savers Account when they read 10 books this summer and turn in their reading log at their local TD Bank. Offer valid June 1, 2015 through August 31, 2015. Reading logs can also be picked up at your local TD Bank.

Pottery Barn Kids Story Time: Pottery Barn Kids holds story time every Tuesday from 11:00-11:30. (Check your local store to confirm the time and date). After attending 5 times, your child will receive a free gift.

Sylvan Book Adventure: Kids in grades K-8 can search for books, read them offline, come back to quiz on what they’ve read, and earn prizes for their reading success.

Junie B. Kids’ Reading Club: Enroll your child in the Junie B. Kids’ Reading Club. You can also print a free activity brochure and membership reading log.

Education.com and PBS Kids Summer Reading Challenge: Education.com and PBS have teamed up to supply you with a 10 week reading camp pack. They offer a great selection of printables and activity ideas for each theme. You can also find craft ideas, games, writing helps and more. While there are no rewards being offered, this still looks like a ton of fun!

Chuck E. Cheese: Chuck E. Cheese offers a Reading Rewards calendar for kids. Kids who read every day for two weeks will earn 10 FREE tokens the next time they are at Chuck E. Cheese.

Pizza Hut Book It! Program: Get free reading adventure packs to download, read and do activities, recipes for children that tie back to certain books and more. At this point, the summer information has not been updated, but check back soon!

H-E-Buddy: (Open to TX residents only) Earn FREE prizes for reading 10 books over the summer and mailing in your form. At this point, the 2015 summer form has not been updated, but check back soon!

Your local library: Be sure to find out if your local library is offering any reading rewards programs throughout the summer. We love taking advantage of the rewards program and free events at our library all summer long!

Don’t miss my HUGE list of FREE activities for kids this summer.

Know of another fun rewards program for reading? Leave a comment!

A Peek into Our Summer Fun Planner

June 19th, 2014 By Kaley
This post may contain affiliate links, which means I will make a small commission if you click and make a purchase.

Free printable Summer Fun Planner

How to Make a Summer Planner

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:

Summer Fun Planner

1. Summer Fun:

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!

2. Reading Rewards:

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.

3. Boredom Busters:

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:

Robot Drawing Prompts

Road Trip Drawing Prompts

Star Wars Coloring Pages

Printable Travel Games

Printable Summer Letters

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!

10 FREE Summer Activities for Kids (You May Not Know About)

June 4th, 2014 By Kaley
This post may contain affiliate links, which means I will make a small commission if you click and make a purchase.

Free Stuff for Kids to Do this Summer

FREE Summer Activities for Kids

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!

Kids Bowl Free Program: Kids can bowl free this summer by participating in the “Kids Bowl Free” program. Children can bowl two free games per day by signing up and receiving coupons weekly via email. Go here to find a participating location near you.

Summer Games Bowling AMF: Bowl 3 games every day at AMF Parkway Lanes, all season long, for one low price. Pays for itself in two visits. Shoes included! Register yourself and your children here beginning May 21.

Kids Skate Free Program: Select Skating centers are offering 2 FREE Roller Skating Passes per week all summer long! See participating locations here.

Target Arts + Culture: Target sponsors free or reduced-price admission to arts and cultural events in participating cities nationwide. Find out if there is anything going on in your area.

Apple Summer Camps:Kids ages 8 to 12 can expand their digital creativity through hands-on projects with experts at Apple. Campers choose one of four tracks, then spend 90 minutes a day for three days at a local Apple Store immersed in the subject of their choice. Click here for further details.

BoA Free Museums: If you have a Bank of America or Merrill Lynch active Credit or Debit card, you can get one free admission to over 150 participating museums, science centers, botanical gardens and more the first full weekend of every month just by presenting your card and photo ID.

Blue Star Museums: If you are a military family, check out Blue Star Museums where more than 2,000 museums are offering free entrance to active duty military personnel and their families through Labor Day.

Local Carousels: I happen to be from the Carousel Capital of the world, so I had to add this to the list. This extensive Database of Operating Carousels may help you find a few to visit this summer. Check your local websites to find out if there is a cost involved with riding carousels near you.

And don’t forget about your local library!

Your local library: Be sure to check in with your local library to find out if they are offering free children’s activities throughout the summer. Our library offers reading rewards programs, free activities, movies on the lawn and more and is one of our favorite places to be over the summer!

Don’t miss my HUGE list of FREE activities for kids this summer.

FREE Craft Classes for Kids this Summer

May 21st, 2014 By Kaley
This post may contain affiliate links, which means I will make a small commission if you click and make a purchase.

FREE Craft Classes 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:

Home Depot Free Kid’s Workshops: Workshops are designed for children ages 5-12 and are offered on the first Saturday of the month between 9 a.m. and noon at all Home Depot stores. All kids get to keep their craft and receive a FREE Kids Workshop Apron, commemorative pin and certificate of achievement. Click here to register.

Michaels Kids’ Craft Workshops: Kids ages 3 and up can participate in craft classes this summer. The cost is around $2 per class. Click here to see schedules by store.

Lakeshore Learning Center Classes for Kids: Kids ages 3 and up can stop by every Saturday between 11 am and 3 pm for their FREE Crafts for Kids event – no reservations necessary. Click here for the upcoming schedule.

Your local library: Be sure to check out the schedule of events at your local library this summer. We love our library’s free classes, reading rewards program and more each summer!

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:

Barnes & Noble Summer Reading Program – Earn a FREE Book

April 10th, 2014 By Kaley
This post may contain affiliate links, which means I will make a small commission if you click and make a purchase.

Barnes-&-Noble-Summer-Reading-Program

Barnes & Noble Summer Reading Program for Kids 2014

The Barnes & Noble Summer Reading Club is back! Kids in grades 1-6 can receive 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 20th and September 2, 2014 to choose a free book.

You can also download a FREE Activity and Teaching Summer Reading kit full of helpful tips and printables.