Here are a few fun and frugal family entertainment options we had taken advantage of here at Michigan in the last 3 years:
- Dollar Movie at Briarwood mall, Also check out what Quality 16 has to offer – last summer there were free children movie shows on weekends (this summer I believe they cost 1$)
- Downtown Ann Arbor festivals – this year we went to an Auto-show. Also, Ann Arbor summer festival, including free outdoor movies and shows as well as live music. We try to seek local towns’ summer festivals – two years ago we enjoyed Plymouth’s festival. In the winter in Plymouth one can find ice sculpturing. Another event we went to last summer was the Flying Balloons Festival at Howell.
- Metro Parks or State Parks with annual pass. A big bonus is the free access to 4th of July fireworks activities. Two weeks ago we enjoyed colonial day at Kensington Park which included a battle reenactment. When we lived in Colorado we had a nice state park close by we usually hiked at. There are tons of possible activities in our parks, including a beach, fishing spots, picnic spots, soccer fields, baseball fields, Frisbee golf (I hate those guys), playgrounds and petting farms. In the farm you can go on Hay Rides and pick pumpkins, you can view how the animals are handled and sheared as well.
- Ghost & Goodies at Crossroads Village Michigan. We went two years ago and it was fun - fun - fun.
- Free Museum tickets at local libraries. Check out detroitadventurepass.org. We used the pass to go to Cranbrook institute of Science at Broomfield Hills.
- Don’t miss out on Bronner’s Christmas wonderland at Frankenmuth, Mich. it’s just a fun store to visit even if that’s not your holiday. The stroll through Frankenmuth’s streets for some German atmosphere.
- Visit the Holocaust Museum at Farmington Hills, it’s not fun – it is free – regardless, it’s an important place to bring your kids to, at least once.
- Visit Lansing with a State’s capitol building free tour and a small Science Museum at Michigan State University.
- Drive through Downtown Detroit on a nice sunny summer day. Detroit is not my favorite place to visit any time of the year, but I do like scouting for impressive architecture – and taking a drive around the GM building is a nice pass time- especially if you have anything else to do around before heading back home.
- Free canoes and kayaks on Gallup Park Huron river day. Once a year, great experience with music and entertainment, must come early to find a parking spot.
I’m sure there’s a lot more, and clicking on the links in this post will direct you to more activities, however these are cheap activities we actually experienced and enjoyed (as a family).
Cheers!
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