140+ Free and Low Cost Activities

1. Visit the Museum of Natural History in Morro Bay. Then window shop on the Embarcadero.
2. Organize a tea party. Invite real friends or stuffed animals to attend.
3. Write a letter to congress or your local representative, sharing your feelings about local issues- positive or otherwise.
4. Roast marshmallows with toothpicks over the flame of a candle.
5. Go dancing at Concerts in the Plaza in San Luis Obispo.
6. Participate in a coastal clean-up day.
7. Go for a drive with your Little where you only stop or turn when you encounter a pre-determined area or event, such as a garage sale sign or a street that starts with the letter M.
8. Check out a theatre production at the SLO Little Theatre or at Cal Poly.
9. Visit Boo Boo records and listen to the featured artists at the listening stations.
10. Go to Farmer's Market. See if you can identify the different types of fruits and vegetables. For more of a challenge, try to identify the different types of flowers.
11. Go to the mall. Let each person have $5 and see who can buy the best item for it.
12. Have a competition to design a protective package for an un-boiled egg. You can not spend more than $1 on supplies. Then see whose egg can be dropped from a pre-determined height with out breaking.
13. Take an architectural tour of a nearby city. Spend a few minutes researching the buildings online and then stake 'em out. You may have passed by cool sites you have never even noticed.
14. Make up short stories and remove random nouns, verbs, and adjectives. Ask your Little to fill in the blanks, then read the story aloud.
15. Hold a movie marathon. Show movies that you enjoyed when you were younger.
16. Finger paint with chocolate, strawberry, or lemon pudding.
17. Visit the Green Acres Lavender Farm in Atascadero.
18. Play croquet with a twist (in the wintertime or at night with flashlights.)
19. Go to Doc Bernstein's Ice Cream in Arroyo Grande on Tuesdays and check out the Reading Lab.
20. Learn to skate at a local skate park. Talk to your Little about why it's important to wear safety gear.
21. Take a trip to a discount clothing store. Let your Little design a new look for you.
22. Get a free make up demonstration at Sephora in downtown SLO
23. Pick berries at Avila Valley Barn
24. Write a letter to one of your Little's favorite celebrities.
25. View elephant seals at Point Piedras Blancas in San Simeon.
26. Take a tour of the Monarch Butterfly Grove.
27. Visit Carrizo Plain National Monument, the nationally protected wilderness & ecotourism area in Paso Robles.
28. Try out one of the 1,000+ challenging climbing routes at the Crux Climbing Gym in SLO.
29. Learn a magic trick.
30. Have an ice cream sculpting contest. Use a block of ice cream, spoons, knives, and toppings. See who can build the best house, boat, car, etc.
31. See the animals, stroll through the herb garden, and pick fresh products at Jack Creek Farms in North County.
32. Volunteer yourselves as models for a beauty school.
33. Check out the oldest residence in SLO County, the Dana Adobe in Nipomo
34. Rent a kayak from the Kayak Shack in Morro Bay. Get up close and personal with local wildlife.
35. Look at old photos and try to guess their career, lifestyle, and make up a story about that person.
36. Watch a melodrama in Arroyo Grande
37. Bake and frost cut out cookies or a cake
38. Learn about plants and ecosystems of five Mediterranean climate zones, from California and Chile to Australia and South Africa at the SLO Botanical Garden.
39. Get a couple of disposable cameras and go some place to take pictures. Then once the pictures are developed, compare how different they are.
40. Roll up and make paper balls. Hold an indoor snowball fight or shoot hoops into a waste paper basket.
41. Volunteer at the Cal Poly Organic farm.
42. Go to one of the several local farmer's markets and try new foods.
43. Take a walk together or at a local beach and with a memento bag, collect interesting leaves, rocks, junk.
44. With your Little's birthday money, open a savings account for him/her at a local bank
45. Feed the ducks at Atascadero or Laguna Lake.
46. Take your Little to a volleyball or basketball game at the high school he/she will attend.
47. Skip rocks on the water.
48. Take turns playing advice columnist and help seeker. Take turns to see who can come up with the worst problem and the best advice. Then try coming up with some of society's most challenging problems, wit your ideas for real solutions.
49. Visit a second hand store. Buy and design old t-shirts for each other.
50. Pain each other a piece of pottery at Red Hot Pottery in SLO or Serendipity Artworks in Atascadero.
51. have a water balloon fight.
52. Teach your Little how to bargain shop and find treasures at a flea market or garage sale.
53. Research famous individuals that have lived in SLO County. Find out which ones attended Cal Poly.
54. Spend an afternoon at Cena To Go in San Luis Obispo putting together ingredients for a special dinner. Take the food home and cook it together.
55. Visit and tour Cuesta and Cal Poly. Explain the difference between a junior college and a university.
56. Take a dive with out getting wet! Enjoy underwater views on the Sub-Sea Tour in Morro Bay.
57. Cheer on your favorite racecar at the Santa Maria Speedway
58. Plan an outing around a book checked out from the library (i.e., astronomy, origami, French cooking, etc.)
59. Challenge each other to a contest. Anything works, and the sillier the better! Try sand castle building, hop scotch, name that tune, marbles, or kite flying.
60. Go for a hike at Montana de Oro or up Bishop's Peak.
61. Learn to Salsa dance with the Salsa Club at Cal Poly.
62. Art Center and the Historical Museum.
63. Visit a farm and milk a cow or a goat. Have your Little taste fresh milk.
64. Hike the sand dunes together- in Los Osos and Oceano.
65. Use a Frisbee to knock down 2 liter plastic soda bottles, set up like bowling pins. Score the game the same as bowling.
66. Try out a few fitness classes at the SLO YMCA.
67. Practice filling out applications for everything.
68. Take a health and safety class at the SLO Country Red Cross.
69. Visit a local coffee shop to sip hot chocolate or soda while playing chess, checkers, or backgammon.
70. Create a time capsule and bury it. Open the capsule on your one year matchiversary.
71. Take a tour of City Hall or attend a City Council meeting to find out how your local government works.
72. Visit the Sweet Springs Preserve in Los Osos.
73. Make up a non-sense word and come up with a creative definition. Add the word on Wikipedia.
74. Read through the Guinness Book of World Records together. Look for a record you and your Little could potentially beat.
75. Get active with a local intramural sports team.
76. Plan a trip to Solvang. Visit antique shops and guess how old each item is.
77. Create your own nature or shopping mall scavenger hunt and use a camera to capture items. Ex- something from each color of the rainbow, something living, something dead, something non-natural, something that begins with "X."
78. Go out to breakfast before school.
79. Walk around a local boat or car show.
80. Fly a kite in Morro Bay and have a picnic lunch near Morro Rock.
81. Raise money for future outings by collecting recyclable bottles and cans, holding a lemonade stand, or ice cream stand.
82. Explore the SLO or Paso Robles Children's Museum.
83. Get low cost manicures/pedicures at the San Luis Obispo Beauty College in San Luis, or the Institute of Beauty in Pismo Beach .
84. Buy a glow in the dark Frisbee and two glow sticks. Go to the beach at night and play a game of Frisbee. Each person holds a glow stick so the other knows where to aim.
85. Have a sock war- five minutes and 20 pairs of socks.
86. Have a bonfire at Avila Beach. Invite friends.
87. Attend a local sporting event.
88. Learn a new trick. It could be a day of learning card tricks, learning how to juggle or learning to make bird calls.
89. Take a tour of the Luffa Farm in Nipomo
90. Volunteer together at a local non-profit or charity during the holidays.
91. Go to the airport for lunch and watch planes take off and land.
92. Taste some fresh apple cider at the Glenbrook Apple Farm in Templeton.
93. Rent a paddle boat at Lake Nacimiento.
94. Go to the mall. Discuss body image and how certain clothes affect body image.
95. Spend a day at Mustang Waterslides or at the Ravine Water Park.
96. Hold a thematic dinner for your friends or family (e.g. beach, 50's, jungle, superhero, etc.) Pick foods, decor, invitations that reflect the theme, and ask everyone to dress up.
97. Learn how to play a musical instrument with your Little. Form a band-choose a name for your band and make a music video.
98. Walk around a boat show, car show, or convention of some kind.
99. Swim at Sinsheimer pool or at the Avila Hot Springs
100. Get a book of animal's tracks and explore a pond or trail together to see what animals live in the area.
101. Bowl a strike at Paso Bowl, Mustang Lanes, or Pismo Bowl.
102. Pick apples at the Swanton Organic Apple Orchard.
103. Sign your Little up for the First Tee Golf Program at the Laguna Lake Gold Course.
104. Help preserve our local trails. Volunteer with SLO Rangers.
105. Use pre-made pizza dough or pie crust and make pretzels or cinnamon snacks.
106. Explore Poly or Stenner Canyon.
107. Develop a list of 30 questions: odd and unusual facts you would like to know about each other. Fill them out and read them to each other.
108. Make a calendar of the major events of his/her year.
109. Go puddle hunting on a rainy day and make a BIG splash.
110. Collect leaves and safe plants on a hike. Make plant rubbings or press the leaves between wax paper and hang in your window. Watch how the plants glow.
111. Create an "International Night." Decorate the home with an international theme, dress up, prepare ethnic foods, listen to appropriate music, and watch a foreign film on DVD.
112. Take him/her to a photo darkroom to see how negatives and prints are made.
113. Build a sand-structure. Use colored sand and the things you find in the surroundings to enhance your creation.
114. Open the hood of a car and learn about the different parts of an engine. Teach your Little how to change the oil in your car.
115. Grow fruits and vegetables. When it comes time to eat your creations, discuss how much sweeter your foods are.
116. Take a Ranger-led hike. Learn about the city through a personal tour.
117. Ride the Old SLO Trolley around down town
118. Visit the tide pools at Morro Rock
119. Sit on a bench and watch people. Take turns guessing where you think people are going.
120. Go star gazing at Prefumo Canyon
121. Find hidden images at the stonewall of the Mission or Bubblegum Alley in downtown SLO.
122. On a sunny morning, travel around the coast and photograph serene scenery.
123. Check out the Ticket and New Times for activities in the area.
124. Listen to a poetry reading or slam poetry at a coffee shop.
125. Invent a new meal. Put outrageous ingredients together and dare each other to eat it.
126. Borrow a boogie board and hit the waves.
127. Go fishing off the pier in Pismo or by the lake.
128. Hold your own Olympic games. Create your own teams, flags, colors, etc.
129. Check out the BBBS Big Newsletter's Free Stuff.
130. Attend a BBBS Match Activity.
131. Check out fun activities at your local library.
132. Make a themed picnic lunch.
133. Organize a scavenger hunt together, then go find everything on the list.
134. Make a kite together and see if it will fly.
135. Go grocery shopping. Make a list before hand or find the cereal brands with the most and least sugar.
136. Make a cake together. Decorate it. Eat it!
137. Visit San Simeon. See who spots Hearst Castle first and how many animals you can identify on the Hearst Ranch.
138. Take in an IMAX movie at the Hearst Visitor Center.
139. Check out the interactive exhibits at the Coastal Discovery Center at San Simeon Bay.
140. Take a break from hiking the beautiful trails at Montana de Oro at the Spooner Ranch House Visitor Center.