free or almost activities for 8 year olds in Chapel Hill this summer

[Jefflaw]

Carolina Parent magazine is a good resource and has lists of lots of activities for kids along with prices.
Also they usually have free or really cheap movies for kids at some theaters. I know we went last year.

- Jeff

[PDXmom]

Originally Posted by panchodog

No kudzu, I've got a 9 yr old and a 6 yr old. I'm not a huge fan of summer camps anyway! We've done a few, but it's fun to just have lazy unstructured days—go to the pool, make homemade ice cream, do science experiments with household substances (ever heard of "elephant toothpaste"?), play outside, stargaze at Jordan Lake, make your own bubble solution and bubble wands, go to the Saxapahaw Farmer's Mkt (a free music festival every Saturday with great kids activities), go swimming in the Eno, play with friends. We have a great time and don't do much camp at all.

That's what we do too. Also the library always has great books on science experiments and craft activities (our favorite are the ones that use recycled materials).

Ask their school teachers for summer enrichment materials. Their teachers probably know ALL the best websites for free stuff.

There are free music events in Durham, near the American Tobacco Campus ... the Indy usually lists those. Also, I have attended some free events at the Plantitarian on the UNC campus. You might check the Nasher to see if they have Family days as well.

We always take a day in the summer and have a picnic at the Am. Tobacco Campus and then walk around. My kids love that little river area. Then we head over to the Scrap Exchange where we can get some cool craft stuff. We make a game of how much cool stuff that we can get for under $5.00.

This summer I'm going to add visiting the college campuses to our list. My oldest is 10 and I want them to get a little college exposure. Again we plan to take a picnic lunch and explore. At Duke we'll visit the Sarah P Duke Gardens. NC State we'll add Pullen Park to the visit. And UNC we'll add the botantical gardens to the list.

While it will take a tank of gas, this is a cheap day vacation. Pack a lunch and some snacks in the cooler and head to the beach for the day. North Topsail Island has some nice public beach accesses with outdoor showers and bathrooms. Send me a pm if you want details. Also, Pilot Mountain is a great 2 hour trip.

Lastly, we have made coupon shopping a game with our kids. They help me clip the coupons and when they go grocery shopping with me they like to see how much we can save. Sometimes I will give them part of our "savings" to reward them for helping. Plus, it's a GREAT exercise in real life math.

Lastly, consider joining Triangle Mommies... they list lots of free events in the area.

I'm sorry to hear about the lay off. I hope that he finds a new position soon.
Take Care!!

[meimei88]

Every other Sat morning from 10-11am, Lowes store has build-and-grow project session. Here is the website: BUILD AND GROW
It's free and fun! I'm sure your 8 year old will enjoy it.
Good luck!!!

[J_Lurk]

Sorry about the layoff. We were in that situation last summer ... in fact most of last year. We actually wound up sending our kids to camp for a few weeks and considered it an investment because with both of us pursuing various job ideas we just needed them out from underfoot.

You might want to start assembling a calendar of the free festivals in town.

Artsplosure is May 15-16. Artsplosure

Cary Lazy Daze will be August 28. Lazy Daze Arts and Crafts Festival

There's a good list of festivals all over the state here: North Carolina Festivals

Also there is a good list of local farmer's markets here: Growing Small Farms: Triangle Area Farmers' Markets
A lot of them have live music.

[Adrienne88]

There's an awesome book called The Big Fun Guide to Tar Heel Country that I got at Chapel Hill Children's Store. It has a ton of free things to do in CH.

[208happystreet]

I know the Lumina theater in Chapel Hill has had in the past cheap kids movies once a week during the summer. They also have outdoor movies on the green.

Jordan Lake has an area for swimming that's fun and not expensive yet different from going to the pool.

You might consider a camp at a local church as usually they are extremely inexpensive. If you have girls and they are in a girl scout troup their camps are also generally really inexpensive.

Swim team is another alternative to camp as its something to do.

[happytxmom]

If you want to take a "literary" approach to the summer... you could read a book together and use that as a springboard for ideas.. For example - you could read Little House on the Prairie (just an example - you know what your child likes..). Read one chapter over several days (or at the pace you want to) Each chapter has things that happen to Laura or her sisters - In chapter 1 they are going west... so you could check something out from the Library about pencil drawing and draw animals that lived in the wild country (you could just draw wild anamils of any type), or draw horses (what 9 year old girl doesn't love horses!). You could learn how to wrap a papoose the way native Americans do, . You could build a small wagon out of a shoe box and make the wheels from another cardboard box... the top could be made of twigs and the cover could just be an old pillow case cut up... You could go to a walking trail and spend the entire day outside, then come home and camp out in your back yard - kind of like living on the prairie. You could call around and find people who have horses - or visit a farm - and learn about caring for horses... Sometimes it helps me to use another source to give me ideas for my kids! (and I have 9, 6, and 4 year old daughters)