These outdoor games and toys keep kids running, crawling, jumping, and more. Whether trying to keep them entertained at the beach, the backyard, or just at the park, parents everywhere know that an engaging outdoor toy for toddlers to teens can be the perfect antidote to the inevitable "We’re bored" summer refrain with which we’re all so familiar.

Unfortunately, just walking into your nearest retailer and grabbing the most interesting looking outdoor game off the shelf doesn’t always work out. It could end up overly complicated, not age-appropriate, break upon contact—or even worse: not hold their attention! So we at Mommy Poppins rounded up our favorite summer toys for kids from over the years, including water games, and even tested out new ones, to bring you this list of more than a dozen, inexpensive options to play with your kids this summer.

Pool days, water parks and splash pads may be the name of the game when it comes to summer - especially in Houston where any day below 90 degrees is considered cool - but sometimes you need something a little more low-key to entertain the kids. You know - an activity that involves less sunscreen, towels, wet swimsuits and sunburns and more air conditioning and sitting (relatively) still. The solution? You take the kids to see a movie. The problem? Going to the movies can get pretty pricey, especially when you have multiple kids in tow who all want popcorn and candy. But fear not, there are plenty of free and low-cost movie screenings around Houston this summer, both indoor and outdoor just waiting for you. 

Read on for lots of free flicks you can enjoy under the stars (just grab a blanket or lawn chairs) and cheap movies at the theater (think $1 or less) you can hit up during the day, and visit our Summer Fun Guide for more things to do around Houston. 

New York City will screen hundreds of FREE outdoor movies this summer, many of them just for kids and families. The popular Movies Under the Stars series, which debuted with screenings in parks and at playgrounds in all five boroughs in 2016, returns—along with many of our favorite annual series.

A few outdoor movie series, such as RiverFlicks for Kids in the West Village, are aimed specifically at children. But even grown-up series, such as those in Bryant Park and Brooklyn Bridge Park, include a few family-friendly screenings. Movies usually begin when evening falls, between 8 and 8:30pm, but plan to arrive early...the well-known series fill up fast, and many parks offer pre-movie entertainment.

Even if your local park is screening a flick you've watched a dozen or so times at home, it's a totally different experience viewing it in the open air alongside several hundred other fans. It's a thrilling, communal event, and a summer rite of passage for New Yorkers of all ages.

So grab your calendars and start plotting your FREE summer of entertainment now. And be sure to check out the other amazing seasonal activities in our Summer Fun Guide.

June on Long Island is the unofficial kickoff of summer street fairs, festivals, and fun for the entire family. From food-focused events to arts and crafts, and nautical-themed festivals, there is plenty of fun to be found on the streets and in the parks of Nassau and Suffolk counties and on the East End in June. And, the best part: Admission to many of these events is FREE.

So check out our picks for the top June street fairs and festivals and be sure to mark them on your calendar. Click through the listings for locations, times, specific costs, potential weather postponements, and other information. As always, you’ll find more family-friendly things to do this summer in our June GoList, Summer Fun Guide and our Long Island Events Calendar.

It's the first month since your kids got out of school and it's time to find some fun things to do. You don't want to blow your whole entertainment budget in the first month of summer, so FREE is the target price tag. This is a great month because during the month of June, Connecticut celebrates with their Trails Day and their Open House Day. And of course don't forget all the discounted dad-missions for Dad on Father's Day.

Free Things To Do Anytime in Summer 2018

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New York City's festival season kicks into high gear in June. The debut of warmer weather prompts a head-spinning number of fantastic fairs, parades, carnivals, and other fetes—more than two dozen.

And we're not talking about street fairs with random tchotchkes. These are favorites we look forward to every year, including Museum Mile, Egg Rolls, Egg Creams & Empanadas, Figment on Governors Island, and Coney Island's iconic Mermaid Parade—all of which made our list of the top annual festivals for NYC families.

So get your calendar; you're going to want to write these dates down. Here are more than two dozen great family festivals for June 2018, most of which are FREE.

Check our NYC Summer Fun Guide for more freebies and great kid and family events and outings, and be sure to click through to our listings for exact locations, times, and additional details.

Free Things To Do in August 2018

See July Events | See Anytime Events