Family Activities

Last year, I made this list for a friend of fun things to do here.  Almost every family I know looks for things that are free or inexpensive to do with their children.  I realized that it might be helpful to post this list on this site.  If you have any other ideas that you think I should add, please email me at lovetopaint.blogspot@gmail.com and I'd be glad to add them!

List of Free (or less expensive) things to do:
Parks:  
Chapel Road Park—great for kites, catch, bikes, scooters
Annie's Playground in Fallston
Giraffe Playground on rte 24 in Bel Air
Walk along the boardwalk to Tydings Park in Havre De Grace
Aberdeen Festival Park
The elementary schools have nice playgrounds.  You can play there after school or on weekends.  Prospect Mill had a very nice playground, as does Deerfield Elementary in Edgewood.
Friendship Park in Forest Hill--this is where a section of the Ma and Pa trail begins that is great for biking with kids.

Hikes:  
The lockhouse in Havre De Grace is right by a park. Behind the park, there is a nice long trail along the railroad tracks.  http://www.thelockhousemuseum.org/  (the North Park Trail)
Gunpowder Falls State Park—hikes off of Bel Air Rd. in Kingsville
Jerusalem Mill Park.  They have a reenactment there in October. In July (the 12th) they're having a Civil War Days with a basebal theme? From 12-4 pm. This is a nice place to hike or go for a walk.  They have events throughout the summer.
Susquehanna State Park—several hikes and a nice park with a field
Rocks State Park
Elk Neck State Park (short hike to lighthouse).  There's also a nature center there.
NCR trail is great for biking with kids.  

Nature Center:  
Anita C. Leight center off 40 in Edgewood  (open Sat/Sun)
Marshy Point Nature Center in Middle River (nice center on the marsh with short walks).  There's a nice park nearby.
Eden Mill Nature Center

Winter Places to Visit:
Rawlings Conservatory in Baltimore: Greenhouses in the city.  I've heard this is a great place to go when you're craving warmth and plants in the middle of the winter!
Science Center in Lancaster, PA.  Fun, Hands-On Museum (This museum is more than the other things I've listed, but may be fun when you're really itching to get out.
Herr's Factory Tour:  Register online for free tour of the potato chip factory.  At Christmas time, they have a wonderful lights display in the evening.
Farther away, but great:  At Washington Dulles Airport, there's the Air and Space Museum and they have a real space shuttle.  The Smithsonian museums are free and so is the zoo in DC.  Free museums, but you do have to pay for parking.

Public Pools:  


Sports:
Swim Lessons 
Harford County Public Schools, Edgewood Middle School  $52 for 2 weeks lessons
Good for kids who are taller or who are comfortable in the water (not for little ones because the pool starts at 4 ft deep).  
Kids First has a more shallow pool that is easier for small children. 
Fountain Green Pool in Bel Air also offers summer swim lessons, as does Beachmont Christian Camp in Kingsville.

Saving Money on clothes and stuff...
Yard Sales in Harford County 
Less expensive thrift shops.  There is a Lutheran one in Havre de Grace, one off Conowingo Rd., and Tabitha's House in Fallston.
Goodwill has a sale quarterly one night from 8 pm -12 am where everything is half off.

Events
Harford County Farm Fair (end of July)
Cecil County Fair (last week of July) has a rodeo
Strawberry Picking end of May at Lohr's Orchard off Snake Lane
Blueberry Picking off Route 1 in Rising Sun at Spring Valley Farm in late June/early July
Earth Day Festival in April at the Aberdeen Festival Park
Harford Youth Orchestra does a free concert each April of the best high school musicians in Harford County.
Kite Festival in April.  They give out free kites to the kids, but be sure to get there in the first hour of the event.

Other ideas:
Go to see the Maryland Saints, homeschool teams play.
HCC also has college sports and music events that I'm sure are free or low fee to attend.
The library has a lot of different programs in Aberdeen that are all free.  That can keep you busy in and of itself with things to do!
Next to Arctic Freeze is Mini Golf—I don't pay for myself to play and only pay for the kids, because I'm always helping them.  
Bowling:  Harford Lanes in Aberdeen.  
Roller Skating: Skateland in Nottingham (Perry Hall) has a monthly homeschooling skate session.  
In the summer, there are many free festivals you can go to on the weekends.  
At the Aberdeen Festival Park, there's free music on Tuesdays at 7 pm.  Take a sandwich and have a picnic.  
In the summer, there are several spots that have concerts in the park.  Shamrock Park in Bel Air, Festival Park in Aberdeen, and Havre de Grace at the Tydings Park.  Google to find this summer's concerts, dates, and times.
Each spring the catholic church in Abingdon hosts a Touch a Truck event for $5 that is great for little kids who love big trucks!

Treats:
Get one large ice cream to share at Rita's, Keye's Creamery, or Broom's Bloom Dairy (on rte 543).  Shoprite has had Buy One Get One coupons on the back of their receipts early in the summer for Rita's.
Broom's Bloom has free music to listen to on Friday, Saturday, Sunday evenings.  
Arctic Freeze on Rte 22 sells soft serve cones.

Museums:
Delaware Museum of Art in Wilmington, DE: Free on Thursdays from 4-8 pm and on Sunday afternoons.  There is a great kids' room downstairs with great picture books about art.  There is a sculpture garden outside and a small rock labyrinth.
Baltimore Museum of Art and the Walters Art Museum are also free to visit.
In Lancaster, PA:  The DeMuth Museum is free to visitors, as well as the Wilbur Chocolate Museum.
Baltimore Zoo:  Register online two weeks in advance and you can visit for free during school hours
Anita C. Leight Estuary Center (Abingdon) and Marshy Point (Middle River) both have nice nature centers and short walks.  Both centers also have various programs available (some for a fee and some are free).
Biggs Museum of American Art in Dover Delaware is free for families to visit this summer through September 11, 2016.




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