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Guest blogger Charity Kinneer, a high school reading and literature teacher for the Cherokee County School District, recommends these fun and inexpensive educational activities to try out during summer break.

With school districts slashing budgets the last few years many of our children haven’t had the opportunity to experience the multiple field trips that previous non-limited students enjoyed. The summer is the perfect opportunity to make sure that your child gets to take complete advantage of every fun filled yet educational outing around.

For the next two months I plan on posting a new summer filled blog for you to enjoy bi-weekly. I thought what better way to begin then by posting some inexpensive ideas for your educational summer fun?

Summer Movies for $1!!

Okay, so maybe this first one isn’t quite so educational but it does fit the fun and inexpensive criteria. During the summer several movie theaters around the Atlanta area offer summer movie programs. These movies are kid-friendly and are also priced cheaply. For $1 you can watch two movies on Tuesday and Thursday at participating theaters. You can also purchase kid-sized popcorn and drinks for $1.50 each! Take a look at this listing of movies and the theaters where they are playing.

Kids Bowl Free

Come to think of it, this one isn’t really educational either unless you incorporate some math into the equation…get it??? Equation??? At AMF, kids 15 and under can bowl for free all summer. Register and you get a weekly voucher for two free games per child per day through September 3. Free bowling is available until 8 p.m., seven days a week. AMF summer is May 14 – Sept. 3, 2012.

You can purchase passes for yourself and several adults for 24.95-29.95 depending on the bowling program.

Visit a Park

This one really IS educational and you’ll get in your summer workout! Georgia has over 60 state parks and historic sites. Along with having activities especially geared towards meeting the requirements of the state education standards, the national parks also offer a program called Junior Rangers. Some parks offer day camps during the summer and almost all of them offer Junior Ranger activities in which students can work to meet the requirements on their own or with the help of a parent or other adult. Each of the parks also offer a plethora of educational resources and most have guides that are more than happy to show you around.

Take a look at the Georgia State Parks site.

Camp Out

This one goes along with the last posting. There are many places to camp around Georgia and specifically the Atlanta area. Tripleblaze.com ranks the top 100 places to camp in Georgia. You can also view the best campgrounds by city if so desired. If you are new to camping and are a little afraid of the critters that come out at night (I am!), it may be a good idea to first camp out in your own backyard!

This summer one of the first things on my summer to do list is to allow my boys to set up a tent on our back deck. It’s high off the ground so they can pretend they are in a treehouse and I can open my dining room windows to spy on them.

( Come back throughout the summer for a future blog dedicated to five educational things to do while camping.)


Visit a Museum

There are SOOOO many kid friendly museums in Georgia and guess what?!? Each of them are also very educational! Some of my favorites are: The Fernbank Museum, Imagine It! and the Tellus Science Museum. Each of these museums has programs specifically geared towards children. They also offer educational materials that you can use to have intelligent discussions with your children!