Fun & free activities (with news segment video)

Looking for something fun AND budget-friendly to do with the kids? Take a look at these monthly activities found at local stores as well as ideas for free food, parks and museums. If you have any other favorite free activities for the kids in the area, please share them!

Posted 4:50 p.m. Sep 20, 2012 — Updated 3:38 a.m. Sep 21, 2012

By

Faye Prosser

Looking for something fun AND budget-friendly to do with the kids? Take a look at these monthly activities found at local stores as well as ideas for free food, parks and museums. If you have any other favorite free activities for the kids in the area, please post them in the Comments section below.

To see the video from the noon news segment that aired on 9/20, click the "Smart Shopper: Freebies for kids" link in the box to the left.

Lowes Build & Grow

Build and Grow Clinics are free to the public and occur every other Saturday at 10am. The kids get to keep their wooden creations and they also get an apron, goggles and patch! Registration opens a few weeks before each clinic's date and some do fill up so be sure to go online to register your little one. Click HERE for more information.

On September 22, this Saturday, the kids will be building a Fire Truck.

On October 13, the kids will be building a Halloween themed Ghoul Bus.

Home Depot Kids Workshops

Home Depot kids workshops are FREE hands-on workshops for kids ages 5 – 12. They are offered the 1st Saturday of every month at all The Home Depot stores between 9:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. There is no pre-registration required. The kids get to keep their craft and they also receive a FREE Kids Workshop Apron, commemorative pin and certificate of achievement. Click HERE for more information.

LEGO store

Kids can build a free mini-model on the first Tuesday of every month at the LEGO store . Kids ages 6 – 14 learn how to build a cool mini model and they get to take it home for free! Click HERE for more information.

Next Event: Build a LEGO Black Cat on Tuesday, October 2, 5:00 pm until supplies last.

Michael’s

Michael’s usually offers a kids craft activity once a month and multiple adult craft demos almost every weekend. You can check out the events schedule on their website. Click HERE for more information.

FREE parks and food!

Check out the Parks Database and Kids Eat Free Database from Sarah at Go Ask Mom here on WRAL.com. You’ll find that many of your favorite restaurants offer free meals to kids on certain nights with an adult purchase. There is also a long list of area parks with valuable information regarding each one. The links for both databases can be found in the box above.

North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences and the North Carolina Museum of Art here in Raleigh are both FREE! My 11 year old loves to go to both of these wonderful places and we were just at the science museum last Friday. As you can see in the picture above, she wasn't too keen on standing under a giant bee, even if it wasn't real!

Click HERE for more information about the science museum.

Click HERE for more information about the art museum.

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