How to Keep Cool: Ideas for Free, for $1, for $5, and $10!

It’s hot. Darn hot. Hot, hot, hot. There are only a couple of times a year when I question our decision to live in Texas, and they are July and August. Because it’s so hot!

Before kids, it was easier for me to escape the heat. Park in the garage, drive to an air conditioned office, park in the garage, drive home to my air conditioning at the end of the day. Unfortunately, kids’ energy levels only seem to go up in the summer (no school! 14 hours of sunlight!). So what’s a parent to do?

Well, here are some ideas for making the most of this last month of summer vacation, without burning temperatures – or money.

For Free

You all are likely making as frequent trips to the soft play area at the mall (The Shops at Willow Bend, Stonebriar Centre, and Vista Ridge Mall all have good options) and the library as my family is. And, If you’re not taking advantage of these two obvious options – you should go! I don’t know if all libraries keep their air conditioning as refreshingly cool as Parr Public Library in Plano, but it is certainly a nice place to cool your heels. Your tax dollars are already paying for the AC there, so might as well use it. But if you feel, like me, that you’ve exhausted those options by this point in the summer, here are some other ideas:

Set up a sprinkler in your backyard. Where I grew up, no one had swimming pools, so we learned how to get creative with the garden hose (no, I’m not going to launch into how I had to walk to school uphill both ways barefoot in the snow – or scorching heat, I guess would be more appropriate). You don’t even have to buy a fancy Disney-character shaped sprinkler head that creates some elaborate design with the water. I’ve learned from experience that my 3-year old’s favorite way to get wet is for me to spray him with the hose. Or, turn on your lawn sprinklers and pile the kids in the wagon and pull them around in the yard. They’ll have a blast.

Play an indoor game with the family. We just discovered a new one that has been providing hours of entertainment – albeit more for me, my Mom, and my sister and nieces who’ve been visiting from out of town, though my 3-year old enjoys the resulting pictures. Inspired by the book by Jack Prelutsky, Behold the Bold Umbrellaphant: And Other Poems, we’ve been creating what he calls “Scranimals”, which requires you to think of ways to combine an inanimate object (like an umbrella) with an animal whose first letters/sounds are the same as the last few letters of the inanimate object (like elephant to umbrella) to create a new creature – an Umbrellaphant. Once you create the description, try drawing the picture. It’s a hoot! We’ve been dreaming up things like “ottomanatee”, “brushrimp”, and “watchicken” and then laughing out loud at our resulting pictures – especially because none of us are great artists.

Organize your closet with the kids. What?!? If you do this with your kids it will take forever!!! Well, I’ve decided that while tasks like these take three times as long to do with the kids participating, I actually get them done faster because I don’t put off tackling them week after week until I can fit it into nap-time or those 2 hours in the evening while the kids are asleep and I’m still up. The kids and I actually filled two boxes yesterday from my closet that we’ll give to charity – well, one and a half, because the kids are still “playing” with some of the shoes and clothes that will go into the last box. Talk about great dress up fun! And, we had a great learning opportunity yesterday as well about giving to those in need. All done in the air conditioning. Score!

Do a craft with your kids. Crafting doesn’t have to be elaborate or expensive. While you may not be overwhelmed with the beauty of the macaroni necklace your daughter makes, remember how proud you were of the one you first made! There are a lot of great ideas out there, and here are two of my favorite sites. First, Family Fun (http://familyfun.go.com) has tons of ideas and the glitz/ease of use you would expect from their owner, Disney. Second, more “mom & pop” but very creative, The Idea Box (www.theideabox.com).

For $1 or less

Grab a cool drink at Sonic. I admit it, I’m a Sonic junkie. When I lived overseas, there were two things I continually craved – Kellogg’s Pop Tarts and Sonic Cherry Limeades. But while, Pop-Tarts can be mailed – and were – I had to suck it up until I got home for my drink fix. If you go between 2-4pm (their “happy hour”), you can get a large Cherry Limeade for $.96.

Add a popsicle to your backyard fun. My favorite continues to be the Schwan’s Orange Sherbet Push-Em pop, which is sold for $11.99 for a pack of 24 (50 cents each!). An “orange pop”, as we called them when I was growing up, really means summer to me. Rachel, if you’re reading this, thanks for introducing me to this summer staple way back when!

Catch a $1 Movie playing at one of these area theaters: Studio Movie Grill, AMC Movie Theaters, or Cinemark. This week in the surrounding area, you could pick from Ice Age 2, Shrek, RugRats in Paris, Veggie Tales: Pirates Who Don’t Do Anything, and Surf’s Up. Click any of the sites above to find what’s playing close to you on which day.

For $5 or less

Create a sandbox play area for your kids. Combined with the garden hose idea for free, your kids can have a fun afternoon getting extremely gritty and then washing off with the hose. Play sand can be found at any hardware store (generally around $5 for 50 lbs or so) and even if you don’t have a sandbox, you can probably find a cardboard box in your garage (just don’t get it too wet with the hose, otherwise your box of sand will end up being a pile of sand in your yard).

Go to an indoor play area. If you are lucky enough to live near Going Bonkers in Lewisville, you can take your kids to blow off some steam without getting extremely steamy. Their prices are $2.50 for kids 2 and under, $5 for kids age 3-18, and $1 for adults. I had the privilege of spending time with their General Manager yesterday and found out they will be opening a new location in the Allen/McKinney area just off Highway 121 by the end of the year. Can’t wait!

For $10 or less

Go to an outdoor water play area. We are so fortunate to have great public facilities made available for reasonable prices through our Parks & Recs organizations. Those of you who’ve read my blog before know I’ve been extolling the virtues of the Tom Muehlenbeck Center in Plano. The word is starting to get out; I’ve been there about 5 times in the past 2 weeks and have seen it get busier. Even so, it’s great fun for adults and kids of all ages. I’ve also been hearing wonderful things about the Frisco Athletic Center aquatic area.