Free Museum Admission Sept 24

Smithsonian magazine is promoting a free museum day (in the spirit of Smithsonian museums that are always free) with participating museums across the country. Go here and request tickets to one near you! For those of you in Pittsburgh the list includes the Carnegie Museums of Art and Science :)

Make a message board at Home Depot

Home Depot has another Free kids workshop coming up this weekend -Sept 3rd. from 9am-12pm

This one is to make an ESPN themed locker message board - pictured above. I imagine you could use more places than a locker if your kids don't have one.

These events are designed for children ages 5-12 (though my home depot at least isn't too particular about that, my 4 year old has participated with no problem). Your child gets a home depot apron to keep and a pin for each workshop they complete. More details here.

Mothers day crafts

**I added one more**

There are a few events this weekend (all Saturday) where your child(ren) can make a Mother's day craft/gift for free.

The first is at Lowes this Saturday at 10am where your child can make a heart vase at their build-n-grow clinic. Go here to register. (Side note, recommend ages for these clinics is usually 1st to 5th grade, though that is just recommended...)

The second is at Jo-Ann (all Jo-Ann stores) also this Saturday May 7th from 11am to 1 pm where your child can make a card and envelope using Martha Stewart papercrafting supplies and paint a colorful garden stake.

The third is at home depot where from 9am to noon your child (recommended age is 5 to 12) can make a tulip planter. Home depot has these kids workshops on the first saturday of every month. Looks like they've got a Father's day gift going for the June one...

Also a reminder that National public gardens day is this friday May 6th (free Phipps).

The Scoop for 31¢

Wednesday, April 27th

5pm to 10pm

 Head on over to Baskin Robbins for an ice cream cone for just 31¢! 

What a deal!

Not AS good as the free cone at Ben & Jerry's last week, but comm'on, 31¢ is cheap!

National Public Gardens Day

May 6th is National Public Gardens Day. As part of the celebration Better homes and garden is offering free admission (for 2) to many local public gardens (including Phipps!) on that day. There is a little work involved... you have to go here and print out a coupon :) (For those of you not in Pittsburgh you can see the full list of participating gardens through either of the links in this post). I've got my coupon ready!

Free Ice Cream

Tuesday, April 12th (that's tomorrow folks) is 

FREE Ice Cream Cone Day!!!

That's right. So head on over to your closest Ben & Jerry's for your free cone. 

Who doesn't love free ice cream?

Especially when it give you a chance to try there fun flavors. 

For more info click HERE.

To find a scoop shop near you click HERE.

There's one on Forbes in Squirrel Hill... wanna go together?

Reminder: National Parks Week

Remember THIS post about National Parks Week.

Well it starts this Saturday, April 16th and goes through Sunday April 24th.

Go on, you know you want to go out and become one with nature.

Get your ying-yang on.

National Library Week

Next Week (April 10th thru the 17th)

Is National Library Week. 

The Pittsburgh Public Libraries they are celebrating by offering a chance to win a free

NOOKcolor.

How cool is that?!!

Entering is simple, you just print out an activity sheet and do various things to earn entries, 

things you may already be doing. 

Such as, checking out a book, downloading an audio book, attending a library event, 

paying your late fees{eek}, visiting their blogs, "liking" them on Facebook. 

Easy, easy! Maybe you'll be the lucky winner!

Click HERE for more details or HERE to check out the activity sheet.

Check your local library to see what they are doing to Celebrate 

and get out and have some fun!

Kids Eat Free: IHOP

I don't know why I keep stumbling across all of these free food opportunities.

But hey, who doesn't love a good deal to feed the family?

So, if you don't feel like cooking in April, head on over to IHOP for dinner.

National Parks Week

April 16th - 24th, 2011

is National Parks week. 

Usually there is a small (or kind of a lot in a student's budget) fee for park entrance. 

But, lucky for us, during National Parks week its Free!

Check out a list of participating parks is HERE.

What a better way to welcome back spring than to tour one of our 

beautiful National Parks. 

For more details and a list of featured events click HERE. 

This includes our Allegheny Portage Railroad National Park. 

Ooo, sounds exciting.

Up for a drive? Lets go check it out.

Also, the National Junior Ranger day is Saturday, April 23rd. 

So check out a {free} park then and let your kiddo earn their very own 

Junior Ranger badge. 

Lets get out and enjoy nature!

Library

I love love LOVE the library! It's like the best free (or nearly so) thing ever. I love that I can get a near constant supply of different books for my kids to read (not to mention the movies and other stuff) without having to spend a fortune or even a penny (except for those late fees). I love that the same applies to books on cd for my hubby to listen to and hard copy books for me to read. Plus we can rent most of the new and old movies we want (even if we have to wait a little while sometimes... we don't usually get to watching them too quickly anyway) and keep them for a week or 3. I also love preschool story time - we've been going for a couple years now - book-reading, a craft and getting out of the house (especially in dreary winter months) is fantastic!
On top of all this, I love the annual book sale that the CC Mellor library has. It's coming up this weekend. Click on the link for more details. How can I pass up 5 children's books for $2? We've got a couple of my kids favorite books past years, I'm hoping to add another couple this weekend :)

Dr. Seuss storytime

Target is hosting a storytime this coming saturday (Feb 26th) from 9am to 11am. Its advertised as having giveaways, coupons, and Dr. Seuss stories read. I've seen these types of events at Target before, but never actually been to one - has anyone else? You can see all the details here.