Detroit is such a large and diverse area that no child should get bored over summer vacation. There are too many summer camps, programs and amusing activities for children for boredom to become a factor, but the only thing that may prevent children from participating in certain camps is the fact that many of them cost a great deal of money. This makes it impossible for many parents to afford, leaving the kids at home or with a babysitter, at risk of getting into some sort of trouble. Fortunately, there are a few wonderful and entertaining activities in the Detroit area that allow children to stay safe and have fun simultaneously, and the great thing is the fact that the activities don’t cost much, if anything at all. This allows parents to focus more on their children’s entertainment instead of their wallets.
The Boys & Girls Club
The Boys & Girls Club is a wonderful year-round program that allows children to play games like pool, computer games, softball, basketball, etc, as well as meet new friends. These staff-supervised centers are usually open during the school year from 3 p.m. to approximately 7:30 p.m., and during the summer from about 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. One of the best things about the Boys & Girls Club is that the membership is only an annual fee of approximately $25/year, which is very economical for parents without much money or those with several children. Members must have reached their 6th birthday before registering for the program. There are Boys & Girls Club locations all over the metro Detroit area, as well as the suburbs to ensure that all kids who wish to become members have a convenient club to attend. In order to locate the nearest club, simply visit this site: http://www.bgca.org/clubs/ and enter a zip code. It will pull up the 5 nearest clubs to that zip code.
When the weather really starts to get warm, more and more people will be spending time outside. Kensington Park, which is a nearly 5,000 square feet recreational park located in Milford, about an hour west of Detroit, is a great place for children and their families to have fun. This immense park has numerous fun activities, such as golf, a farm learning center, a nature center, picnic areas, beaches, boat rentals and paved walking and biking trails. All families have to do is pack a picnic lunch and the kids, and head out to Kensington Metro Park for an almost no-cost fun-filled day. The contact information and driving directions can be found here: http://www.metroparks.com/parks/pk_kensington.php. There are many other similar Metro Parks available, and information about them can be found by using this link as well.
Libraries
Libraries are a great place for children to learn and have fun simultaneously. Depending on the child’s age, many Detroit area libraries have many free activities like puppet shows, crafts and story hours. For older children, there are computers for playing games, finding research on the Internet, and of course an immense amount of books. The more often a child goes to the library, the more interested in reading they will become. Cinemark Movies 16
Located inside Universal Mall in Warren, MI, on Dequindre and 12 Mile Roads, Movies 16 is a popular movie theater that shows movies that have been at the theater for a while but aren’t yet on video tape. It is a great activity for kids and parents don’t have to worry about going broke. Tickets are generally $1.50, except on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, when the price increases to $2.50 after 6 p.m. On weekdays, the first showing of the day is $1.00, as is all shows on Tuesdays.
Resourcefulness and creativity go a long way when it comes to finding fun things for youngsters to do over the summer. Many children become bored easily and need to do more than just sit in front of a TV set, watching Sponge Bob Square Pants all day long. In addition to becoming boring for children, watching television all day long just isn’t healthy-children need a lot more stimulation and physical activity. And as the preceding activities have proven, having a great deal of fun doesn’t have to be expensive.
