I’m not sure how it happened, but it’s almost the end of July. We have one more month of summer vacation before kids return to school. If you’re like our family, you may be looking for fun activities to do with the kids … without breaking the bank! Here are 15 ideas for some free (or almost free!) family fun this summer.

1. Picnic and play at a local water park: On a hot summer day, a picnic and play at a water park can be the perfect afternoon! Victoria has many water parks to explore, including Beckwith Park, Iroquois Park in Sidney, the water feature at Uptown Centre, Esquimalt Adventure Park, and the new Centennial Park splash pad.
2. An afternoon at the beach: Some of my favourite family days are spent at the beach building sandcastles, going on beach scavenger hunts such as this one by barley & birch, and playing games such as these ones suggested by Active for Life.
3. Free festivals and events: There are many fun events and festivals happening in and around Victoria this summer. Have a look at Tourism Victoria’s calendar of events, and Sidney’s list of annual events and monthly events calendar.
4. Playground hopper: Victoria and the Saanich Peninsula have many parks and playgrounds for children. If your kids are at the park age, try a playground park hopper: plan out a route that takes you and your family around town exploring playgrounds. Spend a half hour or so at each location, then move onto the next! Or each day/week, check out a new playground that you’ve never been to before! The Playground Buddy app can be a great place to start to find some new favourites.
5. Free library events or summer reading programs: The Sidney-North Saanich Library has free programs and events and a Summer Reading Challenge. The Greater Victoria Library offers numerous free events and Summer Reading Programs.
6. Fruit picking at a local uPick farm: The berries aren’t free but the berry-picking fun is!! Check out Island Farm Fresh’s directory of local U-Pick farms.
7. Play Board Games outside: Our family loves board games. Grab a blanket and your favourite games/pack of cards, and play outside in the shade! When we were little we used to each write down our 2 favourite games, and take turns drawing the next game from a hat.
8. Watch the water ballet: Every Saturday and Sunday morning, the Victoria Harbour Ferries perform a water ballet in the Inner Harbour! Check out this free performance, then wander around the Inner Harbour and explore downtown.
9. Sidewalk chalk: Break out the sidewalk chalk for an old-fashioned game of hopscotch, some artwork, or perhaps draw streets and crosswalks on your driveway and the kids can navigate the roads on their bikes (like my brother and I did when we were young!). Pinterest is also full of great ideas for sidewalk chalk games!
10. Ride a Bike: our family loves to go on family bikes rides, and the kids love riding their bikes around the yard. If you have young kids, there is an incredible bicycle exchange program offered by RE-BUY-CYCLE Shop in Langford.
11. Craft Time: If your kids like art and crafts, it can be fun to pull out any materials you have around the house and see what you can create! Pinterest is an amazing resource for this. If you like, take a walk through the woods or along the beach and collect items to use in your craft (shells, beach glass, leaves, twigs, etc).
12. Clapping Games: Our youngest has recently become interested in learning hand clapping games. She plays them with her friends, or us, and it’s a wonderful way to stay entertained anytime you’re waiting for something and the kids are bored. Spend an afternoon learning some clapping games with your child(ren) – you won’t regret it! Our daughter enjoys Lemonade Crunchy Ice, tic tac toe (or another version!) – and we’re on the hunt for more!
13. Cardboard box creations: for younger ones, Pinterest again (can you tell I’m a fan?!) is full of ideas of things you can create with a cardboard box. Everything from forts and castles, to cars for a ‘drive-in movie’ experience for the kids. We did this last one, and it was awesome!
14. Homemade Popsicles: There is a small cost associated with this activity as well, but the end result can make it worth it! My daughter and I recently made these Strawberry Watermelon Popsicles by One Lovely Life and these Yogurt Fruit Ice Pops by Confetti & Bliss. Both were a hit!
15. Water Fun: One of our favourite things to do is play in the water! For days that we don’t feel like venturing out, we set up the sprinkler or kiddie pool, or have a water fight! When we were younger, our water fights always included garbage lid shields and ice cream bucket helmets … and often ended with someone bringing out the hose!

Do you have any other free (or low cost) summer activities that you love to enjoy with your family? Please share with me, so that we can add them to our family’s list!