Summer Savings

Every year I look forward to summer with a combination of dread and excitement. The season is by far my favorite (when it is not 100 degrees in the shade). However, the thought of keeping two bored kids amused is daunting. My husband thinks I’m crazy to put so much effort into it, but every year, come the dog days of August, he’s glad that I did.

  I’m a huge fan of the Union County playground program. For the first time, they are charging $10 to register but it is an incredible bargain just the same. I also signed my older daughter up for tennis camp through the Cranford Recreation and Parks Department. She gets three hours of tennis a day for almost 6 weeks for $90. I thought there was a typo at first, but that is really the price.

  I’m also need lots of field trips, for my sanity as well as the kids. Every year we hit the Dorbrook Sprayground in Colts Neck, a free water-based playground good for kids 8 and under. We’re also fans of Van Saun Park in Paramus, which has a small, inexpensive zoo, carousel, pony rides, train rides, picnic tables and playground. Again, if your kids are over 10, this might feel too young for them.

For rainy days, I like bowling, which can get pretty expensive. However, if you register at www.kidsbowlfree.com, your kids can each bowl two free games a day at select bowling centers (Linden Lanes is the closest to Cranford). They send you coupons every week. You still have to pay for shoe rental and any adults playing but it does cut down on the cost significantly. Another favorite is the movies, though that gets expensive. Westfield Rialto has a kid’s series of movies that run before noon on Saturday and Sunday. Tickets are only $3.50 but the movie selection gears pretty young (Thomas the Tank Engine, My Little Pony).

Tired of cooking? A short jaunt on Route 1 South  to Edison will get you to a new Sonic Drive-in, which is my new favorite fast food. You can eat out on picnic tables or have roller-skating servers bring food to your car. It’s pretty fun.

I’ve signed up for all of the discount sites as well, including Groupon, LivingSocial, and BuyWithMe and have been stockpiling activities. So far I have a bunch of cheap movie tickets, as well a passes to the Liberty Science Center and bowling for 4 with $10 of snacks for $25.

Don’t want to spend a dime? TheHappyHousewife.com has a free download set of 85 activity cards for bored kids. (http://thehappyhousewife.com/homeschool/mom-im-bored-activity-cards). They range from “write a letter,” to “soap carving” to “dance party” to “take photos of animals.” She suggests cutting them out and putting them a jar. That way your kids can pick one when they can’t seem to amuse themselves. 

And last, but certainly not least, is the Cranford Library’s Children’s Reading program. You gotta love anything that gives kids weekly prizes for reading. This year they also have one for adults!