Free or Cheap Summer Activities for Kids

Houston Arboretum has nice trails through the woods and a tiny educational center. Because it is all wooded it stays a bit cooler. There's a sculpture garden across from the Museum of Fine Arts- also the MFA has a sheet that you can get for kids-it has pictures from their permanent exhibits and the kids are supposed to go through the museum finding those pictures. MFAH is free on Thursdays (and always 68 degrees!) The Contemporary Arts Museum is also free and sometimes has some very weird/odd/interesting exhibits. I used to take my kids when they were smaller (4 thru 10) and now my 17 year old and his friends go to the museums on their own all the time.
The Water Wall at the Galleria is cool and supposedly you can go up to the top of Williams Tower (altho I have never done it...)
Here's a link- and just because these are museums- you might be surprised what your kids find interesting.
http://www.free-attractions.com/houston.htm
Also- in Lake Jackson which is just about 45 minutes from downtown Houston there is Sea Center Texas which is a tiny aquarium and also fish hatchery. Pack a picnic and keep on going to Quintana Beach - a tiny island with a very nice, clean, calm beach.
http://www.brazoria-county.com/parks/Quintana/index.asp
And depending on your kids ages- maybe it would be worth it to spring for a Children's Museum family pass for the year. One summer I did that with another family and every Thursday we would pack lunches and go to the museum- eat lunch outside, let the kids play in the water feature there, maybe play in an exhibit and then come home to Sugar Land on the contra flow lane. Through out the years with my kids I have had a lot of museum memberships- whichever museum we belonged to was the one we spent lots of time at that summer.
And - if you just need to get them out of the house and away from the TV- Chik Fil A can have healthy food and always has a nice play area. We used to spend one day a week eating lunch out and playing the afternoon away. Now that they are older I use the beach like that- pack them up and say "call a friend, you've been on the computer too much, we're headed to the beach". Surfside/Quintana is an hour from Sugar Land and a cheap easy way to spend the day.
Good luck....I'll be checking back on this to see what other people suggest. I need ideas for my teenager with no job that has a girlfriend- places he can take her where I'm not paying for them to hang out...lol.

Go to Discovery Green park, it is really nice and my kids love the water fountains

There are some wonderful free water parks- Hermann Park has a Japanese garden, playgrounds and spray park. All free. There are other spray parks around town, such as Southdown Park on 288, just south of the beltway in Pearland. There's a very nice spray park, playground, shaded sitting areas, and dog park! All free! I heard the Houston area pools are free or super cheap and often they have water slides and the such.

S.

When my kids were younger, they enjoyed picnics, whether indoor with microwave S'mores or at a park and feeding the ducks (I don't think you can do that anymore). On rainy days we would have a clown day-simple costumes, silly hair and face paint, acting silly, trying magic tricks.
Once we gathered neighborhood kids in our garage where they made musical instruments from recycle materials and then had a parade on our street, complete with animals in wagons!
Favorite places to go: San Jacinto monument and Battleship, the boat tour on the Houston Ship Channel, free nights at various museums, a place (I can't remember the name) which provided the paints, apron, and plaster object of your choice for the kids to paint- all the mess stays there! Another thing that our kids enjoyed was to ride a Metro bus into downtown and walk through the underground tunnels, eating lunch at one of the underground restaurants.
I recently read in a magazine a new-to-me idea: have the kids gather old kids meals toys, recycle creations, etc., and place these items on an old sheet in the backyard. then hand the kids spray paint and let the go.

Hello everyone,

On behalf of our girl scout Service Unit, I am forwarding the flyer for the Teddy Bear Picnic. If you have any questions, please contact SUM Maggie Bailey ____@____.com or Event Coordinator C. White ###-###-#### ____@____.com Scout Sign up
Day in the Park
Bring:
your favorite teddybear or
special friend
HIGHLIGHTS
• Light refreshments
• Crafts
• Songs
• Games
• Earn your first patch,
just for signing up!!!!!!!
Location: (“We Are Taking It Inside”)
Stimley Library, 7007 West Fugua, Missouri City, TX 77489 ###-###-####
Contact person: Please RSVP — C. White ###-###-#### or ____@____.com
Time: 10:30 am to 11:30 am
All girls and adults interested in girl scouting for 2009/2010 season
are invited!!
Teddy
Bear
Picnic
Date: Saturday, 07/25/2009

The Houston Aquarium is a great place to go. There are some amusements right outside of the Aquarium, a hot dog stand and a fountain the kids can play in. If you go after 6 it's cheap too, I think it was $5 per person for unlimited rides and admission to the aquarium.

Even if you go before 6, you don't have to go on everything. I do recommend the train ride, we thought that was lots of fun!