Free fun around Seattle!

Looking for inexpensive ways to have a little fun with the kidlings? Here's a few local suggestions...and best of all, they're completely free!

First Thursdays: Did you know that the Seattle Art Museum and Seattle Asian Art Museum are free for everyone on the first Thursday of every month? Experience Music Project and the Science Fiction Museum are also free from 5pm-8pm on First Thursdays.

Game Night: Blue Highway Games on Queen Anne Avenue offers a free, all-ages game night on Saturdays from 7pm-11pm. Check out their website for other fun events!

Books, books, books: in addition to our great Thursday mornings with Moonpaper Tent and Fridays with Polly-Glot Tots, you can catch storytime at Queen Anne Books every third Sunday.

Sail away...: The Center for Wooden Boats has a free public sail and canoe carving every Sunday and their museum is free all the time!

Do The Write Thing: For kids 8 and up, local nonprofit 826Seattle offers free writing workshops. Encourage your little novelist, poet, or playwright -- and maybe get some writing time for yourself.

Hunt for Buried Treasure: If you have a GPS unit, give Geocaching a shot! Pretend to be pirates or explorers on the hunt for cursed treasure...see what you can find!

So Hot it's Cool: Down on 5th Avenue, Seattle Glassblowing Studio is open to the public every day. Bring your kids and watch glass artists create spectacular works of art with this beautiful (and super cool-looking!) technique.

Have (cheap) fun, and don't forget the next free Urban Kids event: Moon Paper Tent magical storytime which is Thursdays at 10:30 a.m.

Top 5 Tips for Exploring the Low Tides

It's Top 5 Friday and today's list is tied into a MUST DO northwest activity: Visit a beach during the low, Low Tide. We went to Alki Beach in West Seattle.

Every time we thought, "What is that?" There was a beach naturalist (tan caps) to answer our question in detail. Here's where you check the low tide schedule. And, according to the Aquarium Naturalists page, they will be out again on July 5th (a perfect post-4th of July activity!).

And now, here are our top 5 beach combing tips:

1. Dress for beachcombing. Even though its sunny, we found a light wind breaker and, of course, boots or old shoes to be indespensible.
2. Bring snacks. We walked at least a mile checking out the many starfish and anemones and got hungry and thirst faster than I had anticipated. We had lunch in the car but a few well-timed snacks would've helped in the end.
3. Wet your fingers before touching the creatures.
4. Don't forget the hats, sun screen and a camera.
5. Pack for walking, bending and exploring. We used a backpack which had a few essentials and left our hands free for checking things out.

Have Fun! And let us know how it goes. If you're looking for something to do today, check out our Spanish Story Time at 10:30 hosted by Polly-Glot Tots.