Free/Cheap Ways to Keep Your Foster Child Busy This Summer

Last week, our blog covered how to help your foster child have a fun and memorable summer. Tips ranged from planning a trip together to finding a great summer camp. But what happens when that family vacation or week at overnight camp ends?

It’s a parenting fact — when school is out for three long months, boredom will eventually set in. But don’t panic! Instead of wishing for the first day of school to arrive, enjoy this time that you have with your foster child and take advantage of everything your town or city has to offer. You don’t need to shell out big bucks to create fun all summer long. Here are a few free/cheap ways to banish boredom and keep your foster child busy this summer.

Get wet!

• If your neighborhood has a pool or if you live near the beach, consider yourself lucky and go for a swim! If not, many towns and cities have public pools or a YMCA that allows residents to swim for a nominal fee.
• As part of a community outreach program, the American Red Cross provides free water safety classes for children and adults. These classes raise awareness of safe behavior in and around water, and help individuals get acclimated to swimming. Contact your local public pool or aquatics center to see if they participate in this program. Visit org for important swimming safety tips before heading to the pool or beach this season.
• If a pool or the beach isn’t an option, simply turn on the sprinklers to beat the heat and summer boredom.

Get active!

• See if your local bowling alley participates in the Kids Bowl Free program for fun all summer long.
• Play a round of mini golf.
• Go fishing or play catch.
• Take an evening or early morning family bike ride.
• Learn how to skate or roller blade.
• Set up a lemonade stand and donate the proceeds to a charity that helps foster children.
• Build a fort, tree house, or sandbox.
• Construct a Cornhole set for the backyard.
• Blow bubbles or fly a kite.

Explore!

• See if your local movie theatre offers free summer movies for kids — a parenting lifesaver on a hot summer day.
• If you have a tent, go camping at a state park and roast marshmallows, or better yet, make S’mores!
• Visit a county fair or an amusement park that offers discounted ride wristbands for locals.
• Participate in free summer activities at your local library.
• Visit a free museum or art gallery.
• Play on a playground and bring a picnic lunch.

Keep this list handy and have the best summer ever!

Every child needs and deserves to grow up safe and protected from abuse and neglect, and caring foster parents offer children support and stability when they need it most. At Camelot Care Centers, we specialize in higher-level foster care for children and adolescents that need extra support. We partner with our foster parents/homes to provide trauma informed care and additional services, including in-home counseling, parent support and training, tele-psychiatry, and therapeutic mentoring, to maintain children at the least restrictive, yet most appropriate level of care. Camelot Care Centers (“Camelot”) is a Child Welfare Agency licensed by the State of Illinois, a member of the Illinois Collaboration on Youth (ICOY), and is accredited by the Council on Accreditation (COA).