Summer Bucket List for NE Columbia :: 30+ Free & Affordable Activities

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Summer Bucket List for NE Columbia - 30+ Free & Affordable Activities | Columbia SC Moms Blog

So summer has begun, and with all of the camps and VBS weeks coming up, I feel like it will be gone before I know it. But there will be a lot of unscheduled days, too, and I want to use them well without breaking the bank and without spending hours in the car. There are a LOT of wonderful things to do right here in Columbia, and even right here where I live in NE Columbia. Here is my real-life bucket list for NE Columbia Summer 2018.

FREE (or just the cost of materials)

  • Sleep in (Do it!)
  • Attend our church Vacation Bible School
  • Sign the kids up for Vacation Bible School at a church I don’t attend (so I am not working it!)
  • Decorate the patio or driveway with sidewalk chalk
  • Have a water gun fight in the backyard
  • Have a water balloon fight
  • Backyard pool (we have a little plastic one)
  • Run through sprinklers in the backyard
  • Make a slip-n-slide with a plastic tarp in the back yard
  • Attend an event at the library
  • Go to the children’s section of the Sandhills library just for fun and let them play with magnets or enjoy a story time
  • Take the kids bowling with the Kids Bowl Free program (pay for shoe rental)
  • Go to Congaree National Park
  • Go to the Carolina Children’s Garden on Clemson Road
  • Go to our neighborhood pool and playground
  • Go to Doko Meadows and look for turtles in the lake
  • Go play at North Springs Park
  • Camp out in the backyard
  • Make smores over our charcoal grill
  • Family movie nights
  • Go to a yard sale
  • Go to a farmer’s market
  • Attend a patriotic concert
  • Go on a bike ride
  • Make Jell-O
  • Make juice popsicles and teach them how to suck out the juice and leave behind the ice (who else did that as a kid?)
  • Eat watermelon on the back patio
  • Go on an evening walk in the neighborhood

VERY INEXPENSIVE!

  • Dollar movies at Sandhills Regal Cinema
  • Half-price milkshakes after 8 p.m. at Sonic
  • Sesquicentennial State Park – $5 adults; $3.25 SC seniors (age 65 & older); $3 children ages 6-15; ages 5 and under, free – hiking, playground, boating (rentals for $5 to $10 an hour), splash pad
  • Get a new craft kit for the kids from Hobby Lobby or Michaels (use one of those 40% off full price coupons)
  • Get a new craft kit for ME!

REALLY NOT THAT EXPENSIVE

  • Palmetto Falls Water Park – $12/person civilian, $7/person DoD ID holder; children two and under are free
  • Kids Club at Spring Valley Baptist Church ($10 per child grades 1-5, Tuesdays from 10-3; you send a lunch with them)
  • Sign the kids up for one half-day week-long camp through the Jeep Rogers YMCA
  • Go to Waterfall Junction at the zoo before our membership ends (if you don’t have a membership, zoo tickets for adults are $15.95 and children ages 2-12 are $13.50; military is $14.95) 
  • Go to Classical Conversations Parent Practicum (free three-day homeschool parent training in the classical approach, $42/child for Camp/childcare)

What would you add to this list??

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Kristi Bothur
Kristi is a pastor’s wife, mother, writer, and former public school teacher for English for Speakers of Other Languages. She grew up all over the United States as an Air Force brat, but moved to Columbia in the 1990s to attend Columbia International University, and has called the Midlands “home” ever since. Her days are kept full with the antics and activities of her children - homeschooling, church activities, American Heritage Girls, and Trail Life - as well as writing and leading her Columbia-based pregnancy loss ministry, Naomi’s Circle. Kristi is a contributing editor for “Rainbows and Redemption: Encouragement for the Journey of Pregnancy After Loss” (www.rainbowsandredemption.weebly.com) and a co-author of “Sunshine After the Storm: A Survival Guide for the Grieving Mother“ (sunshineafterstorm.us). She shares her thoughts about faith, family, and femininity on her blog, This Side of Heaven (www.thissideofheavenblog.com).

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