Works for Me Wednesday: Free Kid's Programs

For the last year and a half, K- and I have attended the Lowe's Build and Grow Building Clinics. We have made tons of projects and enjoyed them all. I plug Lowe's today for giving such a neat opportunity to kids. We have built numerous cars, games, holiday items, bird feeders-- all kinds of cool stuff. It's great to be able to go in with K- and build something together that we can actually use. And! They get an apron to put a project patch on for each project that they complete. (Home Depot has a similar program.) Here's K-'s apron:
This week's project-- A Tabletop Basketball Game.

Even before the economy tanked, we took advantage of free programs offered for kids. K- started in her first library program at 12 months. We've done a ton of park sponsored programs, as well. Our local park district has their annual Fall Family gathering, which is a big party for the community with hayrides, music, movies, food and hands-on exhibits-- all of which are free. Among other things, my husband's park district offers Pioneers Park and an annual Fishing Derby for kids. Pioneers Park is a great learning experience with free and minimal cost items available for sale. The Fishing Derby, which Hubs is in charge of, is a great way to encourage children to get out and spend time together with a big person catching fish and getting prizes. While we haven't been to the Kinderealm park program since the fall (the visitor center is temporarily closed and it has moved to a different park, we don't do Little Gym anymore and aren't around the corner and we had major crappy weather for a while.), we intend to go back soon. We've even gone to parties at Toys R Us (Geoffrey's birthday is in September and they do a Trick or Treat at Halloween.) They were celebrating Barbie's 50th birthday this past weekend where K- got a fun crown to make and decorate, as well as a coloring page. We may also do a few Vacation Bible Schools this summer. We have one, so she'll be attending there. K- loves being with kids, she's a churched kid so she knows the VBS ropes and will probably love doing a few differently themed programs than just ours.

So, that's what works for us. How about you?