Summer Reading Programs

The local libraries have fantastic summer reading programs (at least I know Round Rock and Georgetown's programs are great). Here are a few other programs in the area that might be fun for you and your kids!

Barnes & Noble - for kids in Grades 1 thru 6, you can earn a free book after reading 8 and some locations also have a regularly scheduled story time (check find an event for your store). Starts May 25 and ends September 7. (I could not find more information on this one, so you might check with your local store first!!)

Borders "Double Dog Dare" - for kids under 12 you earn a free book after reading 10 books There are 10 titles to choose from for your free book. Starts May 4 and ends August 26. http://media.bordersstores.com/pdf/summerreading.pdf

Half-Price Books "Feed Your Brain" - Stop by a Half-Price Books and CiCi's Pizza where your kids can make money on reading! Kids under 14 can earn a $3 Half-Price Books gift card each week (up to $27 if you participate every
week) for every week they read at least 15 minutes a day from June 1 to July 31. Talk about a rewarding reading program!

http://www.halfpricebooks.com/feed_your_brain.html

Pottery Barn Kids Book Club - not just a Summer program, this regularly scheduled storytime goes on all year long on Tuesdays from 11 to 11:30 am. And your kids get a coupon ($10 off a purchase I hear) after attending 5 sessions and getting their booklet stamped. http://www.potterybarnkids.com/customer-service/book-club.html

Chuck E. Cheese Reading Rewards Calendar - fill the reading chart for 2 weeks and turn it into Chuck E. Cheese for 10 free tokens (with pizza purchase), check out all the Rewards Calendars you can use to motivate your kids. http://chuckecheese.com/promotions/pdf/RewardReading.pdf

Scholastic Summer Challenge - a great way to motivate kids by earning
points for reading. There are tons of resources but I don't see any
sweepstakes this year to win prizes. http://www.scholastic.com/summerreading/index.htm

HEBuddy Reading Club - Watch for details (will be announced soon) read 10
books and earn a free t-shirt and 20 point sticker. http://www.hebuddy.com/content/pdf/readingclub.pdf

Free/Cheap Summer Fun in Central Texas

I've started putting together my annual "summer fun" calendar of all the fun things going on in the Austin area that are free or cheap. Most of the events are kid related, but there are some good ones for all ages (ie--Annie at Zilker, stargazing, etc). I still have things to add, but thought I would put this out there and if you know of something that's not on here...please let me know!! I'm also finishing up my listing of 'kids eat free or cheap." Last year I had trouble with the calendar link, so if it doesn't work (I'm sooooo sorry)...just let me know and I'll try again.

View Summer Fun in Central Texas calendar


Some other fun free/cheap things you might think about for this summer are:
Texas Nature Challenge 2010: http://naturechallenge.tamu.edu/
The LCRA has some free events (already listed on the calendar), but they do have some other events that are reasonably priced...you might check out their website: http://www.lcra.org/parks/parks_calendar.html


Free Summer Movies...there are too many of them to put them all on the calendar, so if you are interested, here are the links:
Regal Cinemas Free Family Film Festival: http://www.regmovies.com/nowshowing/familyfilmfestivalschedule.aspx?state=TX
Cinemark Round Rock Movies 8 Summer Movie Clubhouse (10 for $5 or $1/show): http://www.cinemark.com/summermovieclubhouse/SMC2010_58.jpg
Alamo Drafthouse Free Summer Kids' Movies (Alamo Village and South Lamar locations): http://www.originalalamo.com/Signature.aspx?id=10