Back-to-school season is also back-to-after-school season, when families look for enriching and fun programs for their children. Options for arts, sports, and other recreational classes for kids in the LA area are numerous and varied—lucky us!—but many are tough to manage on a budget. The good news is there are also several free and cheap ways to engage students’ minds and bodies in the hours after school lets out.

When talking Florida Keys with kids, it's best to point straight at the dolphin in the room. Swimming with dolphins is without question one of the biggest draws in the Keys for families, and while the experience is not cheap, it is the stuff that bucket lists are made of. I confess that I grew up watching Flipper (I say "confess" because a few of you just worked out how old I am), and I've harbored a secret desire to catch a ride from a dolphin ever since. My kid got to live that dream a whole lot younger than I did when I discovered that Key Largo is barely an hour's drive from Miami and an easy add-on to a Florida vacation. Continuing to Key West adds another three hours along the Overseas Highway, a drive touted as one of the most beautiful in the country, stretching over water for seven straight miles at one point.

A fair number of kids who see Brave or The Hunger Games end up curious about archery, and a fair number of their parents end up scratching their heads and saying, "Where do we do that??" Gymnastics, swimming—that's easy. But where to bring a would-be archer to string a bow and shoot some arrows? Less obvious, perhaps, but not as hard as you might think. And the even better news? It's usually free!