Visit the U.S. National Parks FREE on June 21st

Visit the U.S. National Parks FREE on the First Day of Summer

This coming Tuesday, June 21st, is the first day of Summer. Celebrate it by visiting a national park for free! The U.S. National Park Service is offering free entry into over 100 parks that normally charge entrance fees.

Other fee-free days remaining this year are Sept. 24, which is called Public Lands Day, and Nov. 11-13, Veterans Day weekend.

Go to the U.S. National Park Service page for more information and to find participating parks.

Summer Reading Programs For Kids

Looking for a way to keep your kids engaged in reading this summer?

There is no shortage of incentive programs to choose from. Check out this varied list:

- This one's new to me: Be sure to check out the Mensa Foundation's
Excellence in Reading Award Program at
http://mensaforkids.com/school_template.cfm?showPage=school_readeraward.cfm

- Half Price Books' program runs June 1st through July 31. If kids read 15
minutes a day, they can earn a $5 gift card. For more information, check
out http://www.hpb.com/community/fyb/. You can get the reading log at:
http://www.hpb.com/community/fyb/pdfs/FYBReadingLog.pdf

- PBS Kids Summer Reading Challenge: PBS/iVillage has a program that could
keep you busy all summer long. There are several aspects to it, and you can
find out more at http://www.pbs.org/parents/read/. Each week there will be
a special theme, and you can read more about that at:
http://www.pbs.org/parents/read/pdfs/themeweekschedule.pdf

- Borders has what they call the "Double Dog Dare Challenge." Kids who read
10 books and track them can get a free book. For more info, check out:
http://www.borders.com/online/store/MediaView_doubledogdare

- Chuck E. Cheese has a number of awards that they will grant 10 free tokens
for, including reading (and no nose picking!). You can find them at:
http://www.chuckecheese.com/promotions/rewards-calendars.php

- Barnes & Noble will give kids a free book for every 8 books they read.
They also have some parent information. Find out more at:
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/summerreading/index.asp

- Scholastic Book also has a summer program in which kids read and log in to
win prizes. Details are available at: http://www.scholastic.com/summer/

- Book It! will give your child a "prize package" for reading. There are
some fun things in it - check out their Web site for more info:
http://www.bookitprogram.com/summerbreak/docs/entryform.pdf. Be sure to
check out the Pizza Hut school year Book It! program as well:
http://www.bookitprogram.com/

- If you are on the east coast, TD Bank has a summer reading program:
http://www.tdbank.com/summerreading/. Commerce Bank will deposit $10 in
young savers' accounts when they read ten books.

- If you are in an area with H-E-B Grocery Store, they have a program as
well. The instructions can be found at:
http://www.hebuddy.com/content/pdf/summerreadingclub.pdf

- Even Pottery Barn has a summer reading program (who knew?!), along
with other kids' events. Check it out at:
http://www.potterybarnkids.com/customer-service/store-events.html

- Old Spaghetti Factory offers a free kids meal to every child who reads
five books. Information at: http://www.osf.com/kids/rewards-of-reading.html

- Sylvan Learning Centers has a free reading incentive program for kids
through grade 8 that runs all the time. You can register and find more
information at: http://www.bookadventure.com/

- Kids 8 & up can be "reading warriors" with this special program built
around Erin Hunter's Warrior series of books. Information:
http://www.readingwarriors.com/rwshell.html

If you're feeling a little less cerebral or need some air conditioning, this
Web site lists places with free summer movies:
http://freebies.about.com/od/familyactivities/tp/free-summer-movies.htm

There are so many great programs from which to choose!  There is bound to be at least one that sparks an interest in every young reader. And there are no rules that say you can't participate in more than one ;) Feel free to share this post. If you participate in any of these programs I'd love to hear your thoughts on your experience.

Happy Summer. Happy reading!

FREE Photobook Offer From Picaboo

This great deal is back for a limited time. If you missed it before, snag a beautiful book for yourself, or for a gift, now.  For 14 days, from March 8 to 22, new customers can receive a FREE Large Classic Custom book from Picaboo using code FREECC.

Daily Deals - Deep Discounts

Deal Pulp has a super deal today…. $3 for $0! All you need to do is sign up for a free account and refer friends and you’ll receive $3 credit in your account. It took me less than 5 minutes and my credit showed up right away! They don’t normally offer anything for sign ups which is why they are doing this right now as a special. So if you haven’t signed up yet the go here to sign up (yes that’s my referral link!) and then send your friends an email and ask them to sign up with your link and you’ll get $3.

Easy money! This offer is good for today only!

Deal Pulp is a great daily deal site. I also love these sites:
Groupon I've gotten great Groupons for museum memberships, restaurants, house cleaning and more!
Eversave I've used this one for magazine subscriptions, an iphone case, photo gifts, etc.
Jasmere This site offers a wide variety - I've gotten kids cookbooks, decals, footwear and more.
Totsy Love Totsy for great baby and kids items. They currently have a super deal on children's books.
Living Social - Great site for deals on local dining, attractions and travel
Mamapedia - Another favorite with sweet deals. I've used this for toys and craft kits, skin care, gifts, etc.
No More Rack - Get an instant $10 credit when you sign up. Deep discounts on clothes, accessories, housewares, etc.
Cookie - cute stuff for kids and families - great stuff for mom too!
Plum District - for magazines, jewelry, restaurant gift cards, stationary, kid stuff, skin care, loads of great deals!

I aslo use Swagbucks for searching the internet. I generally earn about $5 a month, though I know many other bloggers earn much more than that. It's so easy to install and use and I like that I don't have to spend extra time on it. You can earn more though, by watching SwagTV, searching for bonus bucks in the blog and on the site, and entering sweepstakes. 

All sites are free to sign up and most offer credits for referrals so not only do you get great deals on stuff you use, but you can earn credits and get some of them for FREE! Who doesn't love free ;)

But, one of my favorite deal sites, and the one I've been a member of the longest, is MyPoints. I earn several $50 gift cards per year by clicking on emails, using the search tool, shopping through the site links for stuff I'm buying anyway and using coupons when I shop. I have tried other pay per click email sites and it takes forever to earn rewards, but MyPoints is fun, easy and adds up quickly. Plus, they have a super collection of rewards to places I shop all the time (ie. Target, Walmart, Starbucks, Barnes and Noble, Old Navy, and hundreds more, even PayPal). You can even use your earned gift cards to shop through the site and earn more! If you'd like to join, leave a comment with your email and I'll send you an invitation. Or, you can join the site directly from the homepage.

So, how do you save money? Do you use any of these sites? If so, what's the best deal you've ever gotten?

Free Printable Calendars

This is so cool! I was looking at my calendar to make a doctor's appointment and realized that I am in dire need of a new 2011 wall calendar. Fortunately for me, I subscribe to Skip to My Lou and just found a great post on free printable calendars. Check it out!

I'm an owl lover, so I couldn't resist this one.


It's customizable and the artwork is beautiful. Very cool.

New FREE DVD from GeoTrax

Click here to order the newest FREE DVD with 4 episodes from GeoTrax. My kids love these and they're great to stash away for rainy days and road trips. Order yours today (FREE shipping too)! Available while supplies last.

Get a Free Photo Book From Picaboo!

I used to do my best to keep up on photo albums of the kids, but these days...who has time to print, organize and fill all those books? That's why I LOVE photo books. And, so do grandparents ;) What better gift for a birthday, or Mother's of Father's Day?

Check out this great offer from Picaboo for a FREE photobook. This is not a pocket-sized soft cover flip book, but a high quality, customizable hard cover book. For the month of March, new customers can receive a FREE Large Classic book from Picaboo using code AFFLGB.

* Offer good from March 1st through March 31st.
* The cost of one 20-page Large Classic, Classic Leather, or Classic Custom photo book (up to $39.99) will be deducted from your order total. If your book contains more than 20 pages, you will be charged for the additional pages.
* Taxes and shipping charges are not included.
* This coupon is for first-time customers only.

Click the image below to begin creating your FREE book. I ordered mine today. ;) Enjoy!

FREE Reading Resource

Here's a tip I just picked up from Frugal Freebies and Deals. You can download 28 children's picture books, by Hans Wilhelm, for FREE by visiting Children's Books Forever. There are books available in 12 languages!

The books can be downloaded in Adobe Acrobat (also Free) and they can be printed or used on Smartboard, Powerpoint or overhead projectors. Permission is granted for non-commercial use only. Additional stories will be added to check the website for update. Also, be sure the click the links toward the bottom left for titles under "Toddler", "Humor", "Inspiration" and "Holiday".

What a great resource! Enjoy :)

Get A Free Customized Newsletter from Santa!

Get a free customizable news article announcing Santa’s plan to visit your child complete with their picture and an official Santa Tracker map courtesy of Walgreens.

Free Museum Pass for Bank Of America Card Holders

If you have a Bank of America Card, here's another opportunity to visit a museum for free! This coming weekend get free general admission to more than 120 museums nationwide with Museums on Us®. Just present your Bank of America ATM, credit or check card, along with your photo ID.

Click here to find the list of participating museums in your area, and to learn more about Museums on Us®.
http://museums.bankofamerica.com

Educational Freebies

Clip art from Discovery Education's Clip Art Gallery created by Mark A. Hicks, illustrator.

Times are tight and free is fabulous right? Here is a list of free educational resources to take advantage of. I hope you find something that tickles your fancy. :D

Visit CriticalThinking.com and find free printables and software demos by subject and grade/ability.

Visit Sharetheworld.org to order a Free K-5 Lesson Plan on the humane treatment of animals. From the site:
Share the World is a free humane education lesson plan for K-5 teachers that’s designed to help your students better understand and appreciate the animals with whom we share our world. In the reproducible activities that form the heart of this humane education program, your students will use their thinking and writing skills to imagine the feelings and consider the incredible abilities of other animals, examine how our relationships with them have changed through history, discover alternatives to their use, and respond to situations in which their well-being is threatened.

Order a Free copy of The Constitution from The Heritage Foundation. And here's a Free Constitution Lapbook Lesson.

Order Free Diplomatic History Videos and Curriculum from the U.S. Department of the State (several to choose from).

Find Free Nutritional Information pdf's from the USDA here.

Order a Free Teacher's Kit for K-5 from the Georgia Peanut Commission:
Teacher's kits for grades K-2 and 3-5 are available from the Georgia Peanut Commission's Education Services Department at 110 E. 4th Street, P.O. Box 967,Tifton, GA 31793. These kits are free of charge and contain information about the history of peanuts, nutrition information, ideas for teaching, recipes, activities and songs.
By the way, did you know the first U.S. peanuts were grown in VA? (Sorry GA, just thought I'd throw that bit of trivia in there, being a VA native and all.)

Order a Free Planet Protectors Kids Activity Kit from the EPA.

Order a Free Freedom’s Song: 100 years of African-American struggle and triumph DVD and Lesson Plan from The Association for the Study of African American Life and History & Farmer's Insurance.

Order Free science related DVD's from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. You'll need to register on the site, but all items in the catalog are Free of charge. There may be a small shipping charge.

Get Free Farm to Family Dairy Farming curriculum resources from the Wisconsin Dairy website.

Find Free Sample Lesson of Homeschooling Curriculum here.

Free Elementary Ed Lessons from America's Heritage: An Adventure in Liberty

Order your Free copy of Homeschooling and Loving It! while supplies last! Pay only shipping charges - still a $15 savings!

**A great big thank you to The Freebie Blogger for many of these tips!