Summer’s coming: 7 ideas for free family fun
Before we know it, school will be out for summer and we’ll be searching for ways to keep the kids entertained. Here is a list of some free family fun, courtesy of Bette Holtzman, vice president of consumer and family advocacy at The Goldberger Company. I will rate each idea based on ease and likelihood to work.
1) Take a trip to the Farmers’ Market. Farmers’ markets are family-oriented places that offer great stimulation for children. Kids can experience various colors, shapes, sounds and smells. Kids can touch and taste. And there are usually plenty of freebies, which means mom and dad don’t always have to buy. Frequent visits allow a family to develop relationships with local farmers and vendors in their community. To find a local farmers’ market near you, visit: www.localharvest.org/farmersmarkets. *****5 stars!
2) Do a Little Gardening. This is an inexpensive way to teach your kids about nature. Buy a packet of seeds from a local hardware store or gather some leftover seeds from the fruits and vegetables you bring home from the market. Kids can plant flowers, fruits or vegetables in your backyard garden, a flower pot, or a window box, and watch them grow. ****4 stars
3) Visit the schoolyard or playground. Head to an elementary school playground outside of school hours or any local park or playground. When your kids have tired of the swings and jungle gym, go for a walk or take a bike ride. **** 4 stars
4) Go on a picnic. Pack up some peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and juice boxes and spread out a blanket at a nearby park. Meet up with other moms and dads and their kids. Feed the birds or ducks day-old bread. ***3 stars
5) Make your own bubbles. Whether you’re at home in the backyard or at the park, blowing bubbles is always a fun activity for kids. Take the fun one step further and make your own bubbles. All you need is a shallow pan, a little dish soap, water and glycerin (available at your local pharmacy). A house fly swatter doubles as a wand for lots of teeny bubbles. Check out some great bubble recipes and tips at http://www.bubbleblowers.com ***3 stars
6) Hold a neighborhood bicycle parade. Round up the children on your street and hold a bicycle and tricycle parade through the neighborhood. Use newspaper comic strips as handlebar streamers. Attach playing cards to the part of the bike that holds the wheels in place, and when the wheels turn, the spokes will make all sorts of noise. *****5 stars
7) Have a garage sale. Get rid of stuff in the house that you no longer want or need. Parents are always looking for gently used children’s things. Let your school age kids manage their own lemonade stand. Or, if you’re in the market, take your kids to a neighborhood garage sale. Let your kids pick out a “new” toy. Garage sales are also great places to find gently used books for all ages to read. Check your local community newspaper for garage sale listings. **2 stars
Aisha covered education and breaking news for nearly ten years before joining the Lifestyle staff where she writes a "Dirty Laundry" parenting column. She is the home and family editor and wastes too much time on Facebook and political blogs. 
Not the brightest idea to be walking barefoot in a park area. Ever heard of drug users and NEEDLES? Swing set areas are the last place in the world I would not wear shoes.
Where exactly do you see “walking barefoot in a park area”, Greg?
These are good ideas, although I would double check local ordinances about feeding ducks/geese. I know St. Ann prohibits feeding them, it’s not healthy for them (especially the geese) and creates quite a “mess”.
Another good/free idea is to go to the firehouse. The firefighters in my city (Edwardsville, Il) were very accomodating with a tour of the firehouse, fire engines and even let the kids try on their helmets and jackets. You may want to call before you go to make sure it is a good time for a tour.
Greg- deal with your paranoia/playground issues with a trained professional, not a message board.
I highly reccomend doing ANYTHING in forest park especially art hill- fly a kite, use sidewalk chalk- make a mural or good ol’ hopskotch, lay a blanket out and watch the clouds!
…And much to our needle-happy friends’ shagrin, shoes are not needed for any of the above.
I’d advise against feeding geese - at least Canadian geese. They are very territorial and mean.
I like the Farmer’s Market idea. My daughter LOVES Soulard because she can pick out her own fruit, smell the flowers, get a treat to eat, and look at the pets.
I like #7–put the kids too work!
There are tons of other free things, like the zoo, museums, etc. Especially once it gets very hot, you are going to want to be indoors.
I agree with the the folks who frowned upon feeding ducks and geese. I know many parks prohibit this (for previously stated reasons and it keeps the waterfowl from being self-supportive).
However, a “feeding the animals” thing is a great idea. Suson Park used to let you feed the animals, but it didn’t appear that they still do that the last time I was there about 2-3 years ago. Are there any other “farms” that allow this activity?
If all else fails, “feed the fish”. Worms that is, fishing is a relatively cheap activity.