Come on and take a free ride...

Come on and take a free ride [free ride!]

Come on and sit here by my side

Come on and take a free ride

That's right. I'm taking a free ride. I'm looking for things to do this summer that are free. BUT I also want the activities to be educational. They don't need to be  "in your face" educational but more subtle. 
I still have about 100 hours I need to get done for this school year. What could be better than doing fun things to get the hours? I'll tell you what's better. Doing fun things that are FREE to get the hours.


Here are a few things we've done in the past couple of weeks that were educational on the sly.


Last weekend we went to see Team Shakespeare perform Romeo and Juliet. 
Team Shakespeare is the teen troupe for the Heart of America Shakespeare Festival. I had introduced Shakespeare to mija during history as we study the Elizabethan Age. We read stories from Beautiful Stories From Shakespeare and of course, she thoroughly studied the movie Gnomeo & Juliet! She really enjoyed it. She knew the story line and even critiqued some of the actors!

Of course, we'll be going to the regular Shakespeare Festival in just a few weeks. This year there are two rotating plays: A Midsummer Night's Dream and Antony and Cleopatra. 



We have a great museum that offers free family activities once a month and free children's activities throughout the summer. Yesterday, The Kansas City Museum did one of the Family Fun Days. The theme was different ways of telling your history or a story. She drew a family crest, did cave painting, drew a quilt telling the story of Romeo and Juliet and decorated a journal.  She enjoys the summer programs as well, so that will be some more free things to do this summer!
This is a picture of her at one of the events last year. The museum actually used this photo on their website!

The lady on the right is our friend from church!

Last night, we attended a free concert by the Northland Symphony Orchestra. It was only about an hour long, so perfect for young listeners. The pieces were all dance pieces from ballets, operas, etc. Mija was a little disappointed when no dancers appeared, but she got over it. While waiting for it to start, I explained to her the role of the concert master/1st violin. She looked forward to seeing the person come out. She was also asking about different instruments, so there will be some casual introduction to the orchestra going on today! Summertime is also a great time to see community bands for free.


So, that's what we've done so far. We only have one vehicle, so unfortunately, library activities and other things during the day are not going to happen for us this year!