Thursday, June 6, 2013

Fun Things to Do with Little or No Money with the Family

When you have three children that are each 4 years apart sometimes it is difficult to find things to do that will entertain all of them at their respective ages and attention levels.  Sure, there are many things to do if you want to pay enormous admission prices for a family of 5, but when you want to find fun things to do but not break the bank, it is best to start thinking outside the box.

The first thing I would recommend for all ages is strawberry picking.  We went just this past week and literally had the time of our lives.  There are two weeks left approximately of the good part of the season so if you want to do this, you need to get it together quickly.  We went to Cooper Creek Farms in Gallatin.  Family owned, on their property, the owners were beyond nice.  It was an educational experience for the children and we all thoroughly enjoyed picking the berries.  They have a picnic table there so pack a lunch and have a picnic and eat your fresh strawberries while you are there.  Cost is $2 per pound and I assure you that their berries are better than any you buy in the store.  So for the low cost of $6(we picked three pounds), we made memories and all ages loved the experience.  Here is the link to the place we went to.
http://gallatinstrawberries.com/Home_Page.html


If you sign up online, you can go and bowl two games EVERY DAY for FREE.  This is at Holder Family Fun Center.  They send you your week's worth of tickets every Sunday for the upcoming week.  Print them out and you get to bowl free every day.  Can't beat that with a stick.  If you don't live in Hendersonville, this is a nationwide program so go find your participating center from this link as well.  Here is the link to get signed up to bowl for free.
http://www.kidsbowlfree.com/

Take a day and take the kids to Chuck E. Cheese's with their report cards and to Krispy Kreme.  Chuck E. Cheese's gives free tokens for good grades.  The thing I love about this is they don't give free stuff just for A's.  They give free tokens for passing grades.  So if you are like me and have children who are not straight A students then they get praise and adoration from Chuck E. and all ages have games they can play there.  I get a seat and let my kids go have fun.  Sometimes I order a pizza and sometimes I don't.  The tokens are free.  Then when they finish their play time there, take them across the street to Krispy Kreme Donuts and get a free donut for EVERY good grade they have.  We usually get out of Krispy Kreme with over a dozen donuts with three kids :)  When you pull to the drive thru just tell them you have report cards for donuts.  They will handle you from there :)

The Discovery Center in Murfreesboro is a MUST GO for all ages.  Yes, quite a few of the activities inside the building are for children 12 and younger, there is something for everyone and the part that we all loved the best was the outdoors part.  They have an entire outside part that had a creek that comes from fresh spring water so that the water is clear as a bell.  Take your shoes off and wade in the creek.  We saw a live beaver building a dam not 6 feet from us.  The beaver acted like he was not bothered by us whatsoever.  We saw salamanders and caught them then put them back where we found them.  There was creek mud that my children loved sinking their toes into.  There are animals outside and a long trail to walk on almost like a free zoo.  Inside is also fun for all ages including a long super slide.  Here is a link to the Discovery Center.  It takes an hour to get there but it is worth the drive.  Admission is $6 or if you go on Tuesday it is $2!
http://explorethedc.org/

The Gallatin Public Pool is another place that I take my kids several times during the summer.  They have a water slide there that is the old kind like what we all used to slide on when we were kids.  A lot of kids have not seen one like this one before and it proves to be more fun that all ages can stand on a hot day.  Sometimes I think we overdo stuff so much that something that is just simple fun is more fun that a day at Nashville Shores.  Now the slide they have here is small, but OH so fun.  All three of my children love to go to this pool.


Municipal Park Outdoor Pool 2013
The Outdoor Pool will open May 25th.
The pool hours are 10:00 am -- 5:00 pm daily.  Outdoor Pool Phone # is 230-0726.
Cost is $5.00 per person.
Pool may close due to inclement weather.
The Outdoor Pool can be rented. 
Rental is $300.
Rental time is from 6:00 - 10:00 pm. Pool rental time is strictly enforced.
       **NO GLASS OR ALCOHOL**
                 **GRILLS ARE ALLOWED**
If interested, call the Civic Center at 451-5911 for more information.
Here is the link to the Gallatin Municipal Pool:

Another fun thing to do that is free is to take your children to tour Purity Dairies.  You get free ice cream at the end of the tour.  Educational and free.  Here is the link to that.


Also fun for all ages is a tour of Nissan's assembly line of car building.  It is simply fascinating and the tour is on a golf cart type thing.  This one is by appointment only, and again, totally FREE!

One thing that you may think is not for older kids is the sprinklers in Metro Downtown.  Not the sprinklers at the Bicentennial Mall, they are more for younger children.  And by the way, the Bicentennial Mall is also a great free educational place to take your children and don't forget to walk up the steps to the Capital building and roll all the way down the hill with your children.  I assure you it will not be a day they will forget.  Now back to the Metro Sprinklers.  Take a lunch and get a spot and it will be a whole days worth of fun for all ages even teenagers.  Their sprinklers are bigger and more powerful so the big kids think they are pretty awesome.  The Metro Sprinklers are located at Cumberland Park.  Here is the link to it.



Rolling down Capital Hill


I will have another post of fun things to do for little or no money very soon.  Get out and make memories with your children this summer!  Thank you so much for reading my blog.  Subscribe at the right so you will receive email updates when I have a new post! Have a fabulous day!!

Jennifer


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