Looking for ways to keep the kids entertained during the summer without breaking the bank? NBC 6 Responds found several options that allow you to take your family to several area museums, movie theaters and even the zoo for free.
Consider the Frost Museum in Miami. Admission fees for a family of four will typically run $100, but if you have a Miami-Dade county public library card those fees could be reduced to zero.
“It’s awesome,” said Diego Garcia during a recent visit to the museum.
The money-saving program is called the Museum Pass. It allows Miami-Dade residents to visit one of 13 museums or Zoo Miami without having to pay for admission.
“A family of 4 can check out a pass at any one of our 50 locations,” said Jennifer Shipley of the Miami-Dade County Library. “It gives them a week to go to the museum and use the pass for free.”
You can only visit one attraction in a week period and there are a limited number of passes available for each museum at any given time. You can learn more about the program by clicking here.
If you don’t have a library card or live outside of Miami-Dade county, you can still save because many museums have free admission days. For example, the Miami Children’s Museum is free on the third Friday of every month from 4 to 8pm. Contact your favorite museum for details. If you have a Bank of America or Merrill Lynch credit or debit card and a picture ID, you can enjoy one free general admission ticket to a variety of attractions in Florida. Click here for details.
If your children like crafts, Home Depot offers free workshops on the first Saturday of each month.
Michael’s stores give free arts and crafts classes, too. You can check out their scheduled events here.
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Miami-Dade Public Library also offers a series of arts classes.
“They get to get their hands dirty with paint and clay and create art with the arts and mimic what they see,” said Oscar Fuentes of the Miami-Dade Public Library System. “They get to create and be an artist for the day.”
Children can also win prizes, like Miami Heat game tickets, by just participating in Miami-Dade public library’s reading program. Libraries in Broward offer electronic tablets and other free prizes in their reading program.
If your children enjoy being active, some bowling alleys are offering two free games every day during the summer. You can get all the details here.
And film lovers are also in luck. You can enjoy select kids movies for a dollar at Regal Cinemas. Paragon and Cobb offer free showings in the morning on select days. The free movies won’t be new releases, but your kids will still have some fun. Click here for Paragon’s program details and here for Cobb.
“It’s a great summer plan,” said Marisela Luis. “It can be so expensive to do plans during the summer … so something for free is incredible.”
