Low-To-No Cost Adventures

This summer, you can enjoy time off with the kiddos and keep them entertained – without dropping a dime. After all, there are plenty of free, high-energy and low-cost summer adventures waiting just around the corner.

This award-winning 70-acre Tulsa park along the Arkansas River offers free admission, parking and 100-plus activities. Explore art exhibits, splashpads, a high-octane BMX pump track, sports courts and 16 acres of wildflowers. 

“There’s really something for everybody,” says Sydney Brown, the park’s marketing and communications manager. “People can come early and stay late. Or they can kind of pick and choose what sounds the most fun to them.” 

Crowd favorites include free kayak and paddle boat rides, Friday to Monday.

“But this Route 66 Festival will be the biggest event we have all year,” says Brown. 

Indeed, you don’t have to drive 400 miles to get your Route 66 nostalgia fix. Just putter over to Gathering Place and fill ‘er up. You’ll find on-stage performances, hands-on activities, food trucks, special demonstrations, plus these additional complimentary activities:

Sand sculpture showcase (June 25-28): Watch a world-class sand sculptor creating a gigantic masterpiece at Willow Beach.

“It’s like one of those quirky roadside attractions you might see along Route 66,” Brown says. “People can actually watch it come together.”

Sneaker art (through July): View “Get Your Kicks!” sneaker art at the ONEOK Boathouse. Vote for your favorite, then see the winner announced during the Route 66 Festival on July 18. 

Check Gathering Place social media for more information.

While you may be skeptical about taking your toddler to a home improvement store, the Home Depot offers free kids’ workshops monthly, teaching kids helpful, hands-on skills that are also highly entertaining. 

“The workshops happen on the first Saturday of every month starting at 9 a.m., while supplies last,” says Madison Stevens, the company’s senior specialist of brand communications. Summer workshops include: 

• Goalie Game On (June 6): “This is going to be themed for the FIFA World Cup,” shares Stevens. “You won’t want to miss this one.” 

• Go Kart (July 4): Kids build and decorate a wooden go kart model. 

• Rocket Game Workshop (August 1): Participants construct a rocket game, an in-demand wooden project.

Workshops teach children, ages 5-12, to follow instructions, build creativity and use tools, says Stevens.

Children lose about two months of reading achievement if they skip reading during the summer. So, Oklahoma’s libraries are sweetening reading by offering prizes like Pizza Hut coupons or free books via the Summer Reading Challenge through August.

Kids can also explore 3D-printed skull mystery challenges,100-plus gardening workshops and countless reading readiness activities at library systems statewide. 

The exciting “Experience Pass” – offered by Metropolitan Library System and Pioneer Library System in central Oklahoma – offers free access to local museums including the Oklahoma City Museum of Art and Skeletons: Museum of Osteology. 

The Tulsa City-County Library also offers free, all-ages activities, performances and prize-filled reading challenges at all 24 locations.

• State parks, including Spring River Canoe State Park (free day trips) and Tenkiller State Park (low daily entry fees)
• Free museums, including Oklahoma Railway Museum in Oklahoma City, and Spiro Mounds Archaeological Center
• Free tribal nation activities include the Indian Hills Powwow (July 22-26, OKC) and Oklahoma Indian Nation Powwow (July 31-August 2, Concho)