Cheap Summer Fun to Help You Survive the Economic Downturn

Kids don't need expensive summer vacations away from home. They just want to have fun, and lots of it.

Cheap summer fun can be found as close as your own backyard, and an unlimited supply of it is available within walking distance of your home. Try these activities on for size.

1. Pack a light lunch for yourself and each kid, don your walking shoes, and head down the road. Have a pre-prepared list of things to look for along the way. Check them off as you find them and promise a reward if the group finds every item on the list.

Include things like an old tire, a butterfly, a purple flower, a maple tree, a fir cone, an empty tin can, a black rock, a green house, a brown car, a Volkswagen Bug, a bird sitting in a tree, a dog, a cat, a man and woman walking together, a person riding a bike, etc.

Stop along the way and enjoy your lunch before heading back home for their reward (if the list is complete) which can be a can of cold soda, a cookie, or a Popsicle. If they are enjoying the outing, ask if they want you to add some more items to the list while they are having lunch.

2. Purchase a book of tickets for the local swimming pool. Tickets sold in books are usually cheaper. Then, let the kids enjoy an inexpensive hour or two in the pool while you watch them from a lounge chair at the side. You can bring along a camera to get some really nice pictures to help them remember a fun afternoon.

3. Choose one week during the summer and dub it "Getting to Know Our Town Week." Each day, visit a different attraction in your town. Maybe you have a local industry that offers free tours on certain days of the week. Is there a museum, a theme park, a zoo, a pet store, a miniature golf course, a fish hatchery, a history interpretation center? Any of these would be interesting and fun to visit, not costly (with the exception of a theme park), and educational. Finishing off the day with a milkshake on the way home would be "icing on the cake."

4. Enlist a few neighbors to join in a once-a-week potluck dinner. You could set up picnic tables to hold the food and let everyone help themselves buffet-style. After the meal, have the dads organize some contests and games for the kids. Some relays, Red Rover Red Rover, dodge ball, or even a softball game would all go over well. If there are some older people, include some board games so they won't feel left out. Have a different team in charge of clean-up each week so no one gets stuck doing all the work and never having any fun.

5. Start a club. Depending on the age of neighborhood kids, there are all kinds of clubs you can start. You may want to start more than one, and find so much interest in them that the members will want to continue even after school starts again. A chess club, a model airplane club, a sewing club, a drama club, a singing club, a band, a cooking club. Ask the kids what interests them and use that information to decide what clubs would work best in your neighborhood.

The five suggestions above should give you enough ideas to last the summer, or at least some starting points for ideas of your own. Don't worry about not being able to take a vacation away from home this year. Most kids hate traveling in a cramped car with screaming brothers and sisters, infrequent food and restroom stops, and no room for stretching their legs anyway. Do them a favor and have a fun vacation at home this summer.