Summer Activities on a Budget

Here's a great list of places to look for summer activities for families on a budget.  Feel free to add your own suggestions.

Read!  Most families are well aware of the summer reading programs at their local library, since they've been popular for generations.  But check whether you have both a county and city library system.  Each might have a different summer reading programs.  In addition, different branches might have different activities on different days of the week.

Make it a point to visit a National Park this summer.  While many are free year-round, this summer, the 147 parks that do charge are offering three fee-free weekends: June 20-21, July 18-19, and August 15-16.  You can read more about it here.

Try a walking tour.  Whether your city has a conservancy or you look in the AAA book, most medium to large cities have walking tours.  Some have specific themes or eras they focus on.  Podcasts can be available for download, or print maps at home.  You can also Google your city name and "walking tour" and see what comes up.

Local museums often have a free day each month, often on a Tuesday or a Wednesday.  Check the museum's website for more information.

Take an Ivy League course for free.  Many top Ivies offer courses to anyone, however without class credit.  Whether it's MIT's OpenCourseWare, or Harvard, Stanford, and Princeton and many other listed here, you or your teen can take a class for personal interest or to get a jump on future coursework.

I'll keep thinking of other ideas, but definitely, feel free to add some of your own suggestions.  It's going to be a long summer!