Your Local Parks and Rec Guide

We regularly register Ms Sarah for some activities through this program of the parks and recreation department in our town. Every season they send out a publication packed with tons of recreational programs for all ages. From youth craft classes to adult fitness to their ever popular swim lessons! There really is something for everyone. They even list the FREE things that will happen like concerts in the park or Fire Station open houses.

How does this save money?
It lets you test drive activities at a HUGE savings before you choose to invest in real ones. Example: Ballet. They have a ballet class that runs for a few weeks and is a LOT less expensive than a year at a local dance studio. You can let your kiddo try it out and, if after a few weeks, they don't like it - you haven't got a year long contract that is hundreds of dollars staring you in the face. Sarah LOVED dance last year and is at a real studio now. (Grammie is paying for it!)

We picked eight things over the three months of summer and ended up getting five of them. We are test drove Karate for $28 and it included a free T-shirt. She LOVED Karate but there is NO WAY we were going to shell out $140 a month (plus equipment) for her to attend the normal classes.

Perusing the fall guide, I see a few possibilities: Karate again for $28, there is a fairy fun class where they make fairy houses, etc that should be cute. Ice Skating lessons at the park across the street from us, A Turkey Time class for November and a Littlest Reindeer class for the holiday...everything is $10 or less!

This should nicely round our fall/winter when we add the fact that she is now in school 5 days a week, trips to the library, Park Crawl, the Holiday pageant at church and a few last minute garage sales.

If you want a few fun things to try, but it isn't in your budget, do what we did - tell family members that you would rather have the gift of activity for your child's birthday/the holidays. One set of grandparents was paying for Sarah's swimming lessons, one for the ballet, one for the tumbling. This helps prevent a chubby little girl, me tripping on a billion toys with small parts, a little person learning to be a part of a team and the concept of taking turns all while following directions. What a win-win situation!

Until next time - check out what your local community is offering. That $10 Tango lesson could make for a fun date night!