Free Activities

Nate and I have been doing really well the last month of staying on a budget. I've started developing a list of things to do for free (or really cheap).

• Bean Museum (BYU): Full of animals from all over the world
• Earth Science Museum (BYU): Very small, but it has beautiful rocks and dinosaur skeletons
• Museum of People and Cultures (BYU): Another museum that has a lot of interesting collections, especially Native American artifacts
• Museum of Art (BYU): Offers paintings, photography, permanent and traveling exhibitions, and a peaceful sculpture garden.
• Carillon concerts: Free concerts are sometimes given from the BYU bell tower. The Freedom Festival one will be held June 19 this year.
• Parks: There are so many parks in the area. All of them have fun equipment and provide opportunities to socialize with other parents and kids. One of my favorites is Discovery Park in Pleasant Grove, where you can play in a space shuttle, a volcano, beehives, and play music on all sorts of things.
• Walking/biking/hiking: I can’t wait for spring with warmer weather and Sofia sitting up on her own, so I can do my favorite outdoor activities. We usually walk or bike every day somewhere to run errands, but I also love to hike at least a short distance with Ryan. My favorite biking trail is the Provo River Trail—paved, relatively level, and gorgeous scenery, all so close to my house!
• Temple Square and other church buildings: There are so many activities in and around the area—the Church Museum, the visitor’s centers, tours, free concerts, movies. Additionally, all the construction in the area provides hours of entertainment for little boys.
• Public libraries: Both the Orem and Provo libraries provide scores of free activities, including story hours, puppet shows, movies, family night activities. And we get lots of books and music to take home with us.
• Other free concerts: There are plenty of places to attend free concerts, including BYU, the Provo Tabernacle, and UVU.
• Free days: A lot of places have one or two free days a year, like Hogle Zoo (see the blog below; the next one will be in November) and the Museum of Natural History (their free day will be Monday, March 3). I will have to find out about more free days like these in the area.
• Dinners with friends and family: This is by far one of my favorite activities. I love to get together with the people I love to eat, talk, etc.
• Game Night: I also love to spend time playing games because it provides more opportunities to talk.

In addition, I have joined a book group and have been scrapbooking for free either at people’s houses or at Roberts, which has started a free scrap night once a month. And Nate will start IMFT softball again soon (the whole family goes to watch him play).

So do you have any other free activities that you enjoy doing?