Break Summer Boredom Without Breaking the Bank

School is out for the summer and your kids are bored on the second day of summer vacation. You can't afford to spend money to entertain them every day so how can you have fun and not break your bank account? If you make a few small investments at the beginning of summer you can have a summer filled with fun for free for the rest of the summer.

Beat Summer Boredom: Museum Membership

Many museums participate in a national group of museums. You can buy a membership at one museum and get free or greatly reduced to hundreds of other museums. Shop around for these memberships because we were able to go to a smaller museum and save almost $20 by purchasing the membership there. One year memberships for a family usually start at $50 but will get your family in for a year and when winter hits you will have an inside activity for your family as well.

We go to the smaller museum closer to our home about once a week and then we plan a bigger one day road trip to larger museums through the year. We pack food to take with us and just have the price of gas. Our local museum also has special events throughout the year and members get in free or at a reduced price. This helps offset boredom of going to the same place all the time.

Beat Summer Boredom: Water park Membership

If you live by a water park or amusement park it might be worth it to get the season pass. It will be a bigger investment upfront, but should provide entertainment for the whole summer and sometimes into fall if they do fall activities.

Beat Summer Boredom: Backyard Beach

My younger two are small so I don't like taking them to a public pool. We spend a little more than we normally would on a nicer, bigger pool for our backyard. There's no planning on going to the pool or gas to get there. Just put on your bathing suits and head outside to the privacy of your own backyard.

Beat Summer Boredom: Library

Your local library will most likely have a packed summer of programs for school aged children. Ours requires preregistration but all programs are free. These can expose your kids to new ideas they may not have thought of trying before.

Visit your local library once a week. It's a free, fun way to beat summer boredom for older and younger kids. If your kids don't like to read, encourage them to pick anything they want. They don't have to just read books like they would in school. Let them read fun books or even comics. As long as they are reading you have won the first battle.

Beat Summer Boredom: Nature Walks

One of our favorite free summer activities is visiting the walking paths at our local park system. We just pay gas to get there and we all get some fresh air and exercise. With no electronics it makes for a great way to bond with your family. Younger kids might enjoy having a special pack with binoculars, first aid kit, bug spray, and a disposable camera.

Having a fun summer doesn't have to be expensive. With small investments at the beginning of the season we can save a lot of money and have a fun filled summer with little additional cost. You can even sneak in some learning time at the library, museum, and even on a nature walk.