Free Family Activities for Summer & Beyond

This post may contain affiliate links, which means we may receive a small commission when you make a purchase at NO additional cost to you. Thank you for supporting our site in this way!

One of the most popular questions I get asked, especially in the summer, is about free family activities. Once school is out, there may be a bunch of kids activities out there, but it’s hard to find quality family activities that are also affordable.

You may have heard me mention some of these free family activities when I co-hosted the “Family Friendly Morning Show” recently, so I wanted to compile as many as I could for you here! I’ll keep adding to the list as I learn of more.

Free Family Activities

• Family Zones at festivals/concerts/runs
  -Even if you aren’t interested in attending the paid event, most events offer free family zones on the day leading up to it with bouncy houses, face-painting, vendors, etc
• Visit your local library
  -Choose your library first for free movies rentals, video games, CD’s and even MP3 downloads (Just make sure you return the audio/video materials on time because they carry heftier late fines than books)
• Free Museum Weekends
  -The first weekend of every month, over 100 cultural institutions across the country offer free admission to Bank of America customers
• Lowes Build and Grow Free Kids Workshops
  -Every other week from 10-11am kids can build something for free at the Lowes Build and Grow workshops.
• Home Depot Free Kids Workshops
  -First Saturday of every month from 9a-Noon kids can build a project, plus get a free apron, pin and certificate at Home Depot.
• Apple Camp
  -Your budding film-makers between the ages of 8-12 can spend 3 days at your local Apple store learning how to make movies. They also get a free t-shirt, ear buds and their finished product on a cool bracelet drive
• Free Movies
  Check out several sites for free movie tickets
  -GoFoBo.com to sign up for advance screenings
  -Fandago.com/freemovietickets
  -Regal is not offering free movies, but they do have $1 kids summer movies. Check out the schedule at the Regal Summer Movie Express
• American Girl
  -American Girl stores across the country are offering free craft events, scavenger hunts and more all through the summer. Check out the American Girl special events page for more details.
• Michaels
  -Michaels offers both their Kids Club (crafts cost $2) as well as free family crafts throughout the summer
• LEGO Store
  -Every LEGO store offer a free monthly mini model build.
• Create a Scavenger Hunt
  -Whether in your own home, around town, or at a summer vacation destination, kids LOVE scavenger hunts! Consider making it a photo scavenger hunt and creating a summer memory book out of it.

Bass Pro Shop Family Camp: June 8 – July 14