It's the first days off, and it's raining

While Nicole remains the undisputed queen of all things inexpensive to do with kids in Worcester, I'd thought, with the kids just off and it raining, that I'd pass along a few free/inexpensive things to do with kids the next few days:

• tomorrow is the first of the Free Fun Fridays in Massachusetts. You can get in--for free!--to the Freedom Trail Foundation, Mass MOCA, the Stone Zoo, the Heritage Museums and Gardens, and our own Worcester Art Museum*! There are some specifics and some special events at some sites, so check out the link for tomorrow for more information. And if you haven't already done so, print the whole list and stick it on the fridge. If like me, you'd like to get your kids into more of the amazing stuff we have in Massachusetts, but get dizzy when getting the family starts to cost close to $100--this is your chance!
• If you don't mind braving the rain, tomorrow is also the first of three $5 Fridays that Old Sturbridge Village is offering--everyone gets $5 admission! The other two dates are July 26 and August 23.
• If you haven't already done so, you can sign your kids up for summer reading (you can do it online, but if you go down to the main branch, I hear they have tee shirts!). They also have a drop-in storytime tomorrow at 10 am.
• On Saturday (rain or shine: it's under a tent!), the annual Big Dipper Festival is at Elm Park. From 10:30 am to 5:30 pm, it's all you can eat ice cream for $5, ages 10 and up; $1 ages 4-9; free under 4. In my house we call this "lunch." The kids think of this as mostly being about the ice cream, but it also happens to be an excellent cause: Children's Friend goes back to the era that gave us so many wonderful Worcester institutions (in their case, 1849), beginning as an institution that cared for orphaned and neglected children, they now offer mental health support of various kinds, as well as adoption services, and the totally amazing work they do in the Worcester Public Schools with our School-aged Mothers program. You can call ice cream a meal and feel good about it!
• Farther afield (pun intended), Saturday is also Equine Day at Klem's out in Spencer. If anyone in your house is horse or tractor-crazy, you might want to take the drive west.

And enjoy your kids!

*which has free admission for all of July and August!