Summer is upon us, and as a family of 4 building a new house, budget-friendly summer activities are a MUST. I am a mom of two energetic boys, who genuinely thrive off of routines and predictability. I am so blessed to get a few weeks of summer off to spend with my little guys, but I also know that living each day without plans and structure will leave us all literally crying on the floor by noon. I started to write down some “bucket list” items that would be budget friendly while we plan to save some money this summer–I mean, while a week-long trip to a beach sounds glorious, it just isn’t in the cards for us this summer. I wanted to share some of the activities I have listed for our family to experience this summer.
While my boys love to know what to expect the following day as we lay them down at night, I knew I needed to have a (somewhat) predictable weekly routine for us to go by and this is where I landed…
- Zoo Day-FREE if you’ve previously purchased a year membership. Using our year membership to the Indianapolis Zoo one day a week made our list and is such a great deal!
- Children’s Museum Day-FREE if you’ve previously purchased a year membership. Again, yearly memberships will be taken advantage of fully this summer as we are on a tight budget, plus there’s now the Paw Patrol and Hot Wheels exhibits which are very popular in our household as well as the outdoor sports experience!
- Pool Day-FREE if you’ve purchased a season pass and/or punch card. Whether it is at a friend’s pool or your nearest public pool, there’s no better way to spend a hot summer day! Our local pool, Freedom Springs, offers season memberships as well as punch cards that are priced great! We will be purchasing one of these and utilizing it often to get some water fun this summer!
- Local Library Day-FREE! Here in Greenwood, we are blessed with an amazing and newly renovated public library. Also, they have great reading programs for kids over the summer. I have registered both boys for a program that fits their interest and age group! Along with great spaces for imaginative play and reading, they also offer toddler-grade school classes for kids. I plan to take my boys to experience these classes once a week and make that day our library day! *It’s also a bonus that the library is right next to a park!*
- A Few Miscellaneous Activities to fill up our days/Nights:
- Local splash pad-FREE!
- Water day at home-FREE! Bring out the water tables, squirt guns, slip ‘n slide, and blow up pool!
- Traveling to new parks–FREE! I’m excited to explore some of the unique parks surrounding the Indianapolis area!
- Live Music-FREE! Our Greenwood Amphitheater offers free concerts every Saturday evening during the summer, and our family has grown to love them! Nothing better than chillin’ in a lawn chair with kids running around while you sip on some “beverages” and listen to great music!
- Vocational Bible School-FREE! I already have my oldest scheduled to attend two this summer!
So here we have it…a little plan that I *hope* will leave my kids excited, exploring, making memories, and feeling utterly exhausted–I mean, that’s how I feel accomplished at the end of the day–AMIRIGHT?
How do you plan to spend your summer days with your kids? Leave some ideas for readers in the comments below!
Keep Calm and Summer On!
