Summer means kids are free to explore, free to make plans that don’t involve school. Parents are looking to be free, too – for activities that don’t involve an open wallet. Atlanta Parent has you covered.

Bowling

Many metro bowling centers participate in the summer-long Kids Bowl Free program, which allows kids younger than 15 to bowl two or three free games a day. Participating centers include Bowlmor Atlanta, Cherokee Lanes, Metro Fun Center, Pin Strikes Entertainment Center, Your Bowling Center and most locations of Stars and Strikes, Brunswick’s and Brunswick Zone and AMF bowling centers. Visit kidsbowlfree.com, bowlsummergames.com or the bowling center’s website for information.

Concerts

Metro Atlanta has an abundance of free, family-friendly outdoor concerts, often sponsored by a radio station or municipality. Among them are Riverside Sounds at Riverside Park in Roswell the first Saturday each month; a Music Jam at Mall of Georgia in Buford on the first Friday each month; Glover Park Concert Series in Marietta the last Friday of each month; Concerts by the Springs on Heritage Green in Sandy Springs on the second Sunday each month. The Atlanta Symphony Orchestra has a free concert in Piedmont Park on June 23 at 7:30 at Oak Hill, in the southwest corner of the park.

More than Shopping

Some retailers offer free, or almost free, crafts, classes or activities during summer. Michaels Arts & Crafts stores have Kids Club crafts and classes for $2 per child; Bass Pro Shops offer plenty of free how-to classes in fishing, camping, hunting and more each month; Lego stores invite kids to build mini-models on weekends; Home Depot and Lowe’s have once-a-month crafts on Saturdays for young builders ages 5-12; Lakeshore Learning has a different craft each Saturday; Toys R Us has special events on Saturdays; and Disney Stores have events several times a month.

Library Passes

Check out free passes at your local library (most are good for a seven days). You can get a Georgia ParkPass for free admission and parking for up to four visitors at Georgia State Parks and Historic sites; four free passes to the Go Fish Education Center in Perry; free admission for two adults and two children to Zoo Atlanta; free museum admission to the Center for Puppetry Arts Museum; and other free admissions that vary by county (Gwinnett County, for instance, has passes to the Hudgens Center for the Arts and the Southeastern Railway Museum).

Movies

Theater chains offer low-cost G- or PG-rated movies for as little as $1 admission at 10 a.m. on weekdays; participating theaters include Aurora Cineplex, Cinemark Fayetteville, Georgia Theater Company and Regal Cinemas. You’ll also find free outdoor movies at many local parks.

Museums (always free)

Plenty of fun museums in metro Atlanta are absolutely free, all the time, among them the Georgia Capitol Museum and Tour, where kids learn about government history and lawmaking; Oakland Cemetery, where notable Georgians including Gone with the Wind author Margaret Mitchell are buried; the Martin Luther King Jr. National Historical Site, which includes his boyhood home; the Marietta Fire Museum and the Roswell Fire Museum, where fire fighting history comes alive and antique fire trucks are just part of the artifacts that fascinate kids.

Museums with free days

Some museums that charge admission offer free days for families on occasion. Atlanta History Center and the National Center for Civil and Human Rights offer free admission on the first full weekend each month to Bank of America and Merrill Lynch credit card holders; the Center for Puppetry Arts has free admission for Fulton County residents on select Saturdays each year (upcoming dates in 2016 are July 9 and Oct. 8 ); the Children’s Museum of Atlanta is free on the second Tuesday each month 1-7 p.m.; High Museum of Art has free admission every second Sunday, with free Family Funday activities, plus free admission on the first Saturday for Fulton County residents and one free admission for Merrill Lynch and Bank of America credit card holders; and MODA, Museum of Design Atlanta, has a Family Free Day every second Sunday noon-6 p.m.

Roller Skating

Several metro Atlanta roller skating centers participate in a Kids Skate Free program for kids ages 10 and younger (skate rental fee charged). Each center sets it’s own “free” hours, and skate rental  fees. Participating centers include Let’s Roll Skate ‘n Fun Center, Hot Wheels Skate Center, Skate Zone and Sparkles Family Fun Centers. For information, visit kidsskatefree.com.

Festivals

Four festivals you won’t want to miss this summer:
Virgina-Highland Summerfest: This annual festival, June 4-5, offers a Kidsfest area with games, crafts and activities for kids, many of them free. You’ll find henna tattoos, face painting, a kids’ salon with funky hairstyles, glitter and hair jewelry, and educational activities with unusual animals from Zoo Atlanta. Atlanta. vahi.org/summerfest
Old Fourth Ward Arts Festival: Arts, crafts, music and a kids’ play area attract a big crowd at this annual festival June 25-26 in Historic Fourth Ward Park in Atlanta, plus kids can cool off at the park’s Splash Pad. oldfourthwardartsfestival.com
Piedmont Park Arts Festival: The kids’ area of this annual arts festival, Aug. 13-14, will have bounce castles, spider jumps, balloons and slides. piedmontparkartsfestival.com
Marietta Art in the Park: Young artists in grades K-12 are invited to show off their skills with street chalk art in this family fun festival, Sept. 3-5. Children’s Art Alley draws hundreds of kids for “make and take” arts and crafts. Marietta. artparkmarietta.com
– Amanda Miller Allen