Comments on: Halfway through Summer: Ask the Audience

By: Dave Langston

Dave Langston — Tue, 08 Mar 2011 10:25:52 +0000

I agree with CJ McD .. Geocaching is a great family outing. Most cellphones have geocaching apps, so you wont have to dump a bunch of money into a GPS unit. The kids will love it.

By: Tara

Tara — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 05:24:43 +0000

In the summer in Dayton, my grandmother had 2 sawhorses set up with a piece of luan on top of them and we played outside using that table as our art table (paper and crayons in buckets to be shared). Once, we got a refrigerator box to make into a space ship and I think that kept us occupied for a week. The real point here: we were not allowed inside except to go to the bathroom and for lunch. Every once in a while we would get a drink or a jello pudding pop delivered from Granny.

I didn’t realize the genius of this until I was MUCH older. We wore ourselves out, stayed out of my grandmother’s hair during Days of Our Lives, and have great memories of those summers. A total win-win.

By: Stephanie Schultz

Stephanie Schultz — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 02:09:11 +0000

The City Gallery at Waterfront Park, a picnic in the park, and wading in the fountains. That is what we did today–All free.

By: Judith

Judith — Sat, 25 Jul 2009 00:46:19 +0000

Library. Crafts using recyled trash (paper towel centers; paper mache from newspaper; etc). We LOVED melt-a-beads.
Making cupcakes and then making icing and decorating them.
Making butter to put on saltines by shaking heavy cream in an empty mayo jar (and shaking, and shaking, till it solidifies.) FUN! Taking pictures of flowers (digital camera is a real boon for this) then printing some copies and making frames from scraps to give away.
SO MANY MEMORIES >>>>>>>>>>

By: Becca of the Diaper Cakes

Becca of the Diaper Cakes — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 16:51:32 +0000

When we went camping….the last thing I packed up was the BUCKET ‘O FUN. I took a bucket we had under the kitchen sink and then threw in a bunch of items that would fit very quickly. We wound up with crayons, copy paper, an old coloring book, scissors, scotch tape, glue sticks and pipe cleaners. All of these items could easily have been purchased for less than $5.00 at the Dollar Store or Whamalart (especially during their big NAFTA back to school sale).

Bucket ‘O Fun proved to be invaluable. Our 4 year old loved sitting at the OTHER picnic table and drawing her landscapes (she does a great tree) while we prepared meals and when there was extra time to be wasted. The 3 year old liked to take the bucket and just put cool nature things in it like sticks, pine needles, pine cones, rocks, leaves, etc. I imagine at home she would do the same thing.

Bucket ‘O Fun…..it’s fun, it’s a bucket.

By: twadlund

twadlund — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 07:04:42 +0000

First off, those are great suggestions that you posted. We are always looking for cheap fun stuff to do in the summer. In our town, we like to take the kids to the zoo. Its under 5$ and fun for me too!

By: CJ McD

CJ McD — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 23:57:15 +0000

Swimming at the public pool (pack a picnic lunch). Stay the day.

Biking on easy trails. (pack a lunch…)

A day at the beach (pack a lunch…) Seeing a trend here….

Letter Boxing (like geocaching…)

By: JaxCC

JaxCC — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 21:57:53 +0000

One of my favorite activities as a kid that I haven’t seen mentioned here was catching fireflies. If we had hot dogs (with chili and coleslaw) for dinner on the same night we got to catch fireflies, that was the best night ever.

By: Tina

Tina — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 17:32:07 +0000

We signed up for http://www.KidsBowlFree.com and paid a bit to add hubby and I. So we can bowl for the price of shoes (about $2 each). (And if your kids are small like my 3 year old, they just bowl in socks!) Like others we do nature walks at parks (bonus if there is a creek we can get to and play in, that keeps my boy occupied for a long time), parks and invite friends over for playdates with popsciles and playing in the sprinklers/slip ‘n slide. Right now my kids are young enough things like going to the libarary and playing their computer games are still exciting or going to McDs and getting an ice cream cone/playing in the play area are great treats, I’m very thankful for that!

By: Elizabeth Anne

Elizabeth Anne — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 15:59:10 +0000

In my hometown (Madison, WI) you can sign up for a mailing list for the two local theaters. Both are all over the midwest: Kerasotes and Marcus. Two days a week, they have a list of movies you can see for 5 dollars. This week includes Up, so they’re not just the lousy movies – just the ones that are no longer big draws.