From bowling to movies to ice cream, here's a roundup of free and inexpensive summer activities to help keep your children busy this summer.

Join in the fun this Saturday, June 27th, by venturing outdoors for the 4th annual Great American Backyard Campout sponsored by the National Wildlife Federation. Rather you pitch your tent in your backyard or just sleep out under the stars, this is a great opportunity for making some family memories. Make sure to turn the automatic sprinklers off for the night...a lesson I learned the hard way.

Don't forget your Camping Printables. Lisa Hallett Taylor, About.com Guide to Pool & Patio, offers plenty of tips in this get-your-outdoor-space-ready checklist. The About Camping Guide, David Sweet, has basic camping information that will help you get started. So pitch your tents and have fun!

Select bowling centers and schools around the country are participating in the first ever “Kids Bowl Free” program. This program is designed by bowling centers to give back to the community and provide a safe, secure, and fun way for kids to spend time this summer. A family pass is available providing the same great "2 games a day" package for up to 4 adult family members. Shoe rentals are available at the regular price. Check the list of participating centers to see if one is near you.

Need more ideas for keeping kids entertained this summer? Check out this roundup of summer learning activities for kids.

Each summer for the past 11 years I've hosted the About.com Homeschooling Summer Reading Club. Your children can use the same reading time for other reading programs at your local library's summer reading program and/or some of these programs. I've found that summer reading incentives can turn a child into an avid reader which can last a lifetime. So beat the heat with a good book and read the summer away.

More Thrifty Thursday Tips for Parents:

• Free Online Childbirth Classes
• Save on College for Twins
• Family Board Game Night
• Tween Party Locations On the Cheap
• The Great American Backyard Campout
• Fun That's Free, or Almost Free
• Vacationing in Lean Times
• Summer Reading Programs for Kids
• Printable Fathers Day Coupon Book

The costumes were fantastic, the orchestra superb, the set amazing.

I was blown away with the performance of the Sound of Music by the Biola Youth Theatre. I was invited to the performance by a homeschooling family, the Bennetts, who live next door to me. Benjamin Bennett, who graduated from homeschooling this year, had the lead role of Captain Von Trapp. Grace Bennett, the young entrepreneur that I've previously written about, played some bit parts and was part of the ensemble.

Biola Youth Theatre began in 1996 under the name of Biola Home School Music Club. The first home school productions were A Christmas Carol and Joseph and The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. Biola Youth Theater strives to provide La Mirada and the surrounding Southern California communities with a quality theatre program led by highly skilled and dedicated professionals in a caring and nurturing environment for children and youth.

I highly recommend this program for your children interested in musical theatre if you're in the area. If you can make it to see this performance, you won't be disappointed.

Many theaters offer free or cheap movies for kids during the summer. With budgets being watched so closely these days, the summer movies are sure to be a hit. Some of the theaters also have discounted popcorn and soda prices for an extra special treat. Here's a listing of theaters offering summer specials for kids. Be sure to check your local theaters for specific showings.

More Thrifty Thursday Tips for Parents:

• Shop During a Tax Free Weekend
• Free Weekends at National Parks
• A Thrifty Tween Room Makeover
• Consider Camping
• Ideas for Inexpensive Father's Day Gifts
• I Like These Links
• Be Smart About Rewards Programs
• Free (or cheap) Summer Movies for Kids
• When It's Better to Be Safe Than to Save
• Saving Money on School Supplies...Already!
• Free Pregnancy iPhone Apps

Photo: Nick White / Getty Images

Four of the seven Hearn family children are on tour this summer with the David Payne production of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. The Hearn kids are quite talented. This is their first big "gig" and a dream come true. They have been homeschooling "forever." Read more to find out their homeschooling style and preferences.

Dana of Principled Discovery hosts this week's Carnival of Homeschooling. In this edition, we will be consulting the Field Guide to Homeschoolers to attempt to describe this fascinating specimen of educational freedom and gain a greater understanding of its habits, habitat and daily life.

The next carnival will be hosted at The Daily Planet. Submissions are due by Monday at 6 p.m. I look forward to reading your submissions.

Carnival of Homeschooling Schedule

The 11th Annual Summer Reading Club is underway! Get those library cards out! The purpose of the Summer Reading Club is to encourage students to read for pleasure, help the reluctant reader along and reward them for their efforts. Get your kids signed up and reading all summer long.

• 2009 Summer Reading Club
• Reading Club Tour - see what happens to your reading club lists and how the awards and prizes get back to you.
• Favorite Preschool/Kindergarten Level Books
• Favorite Books for Grades 1-6
• Favorite Books for Grades 5-12

Looking for an easy way to keep your kids sharp over the summer months and also help fight world hunger? Then FreeRice.com is for you. For each question you answer correctly, they donate 10 grains of rice through the UN World food Program. From its launch in October 2007, Free Rice has raised over 64 billion grains of rice and fed people in Bangladesh (video clip), Cambodia, Uganda, Nepal, Bhutan and Myanmar.

They've expanded the site to include other subjects:

• Art: Famous Paintings
• Chemistry: Chemical Symbols
• English: Grammar, Vocabulary
• Geography: Countries, World Capitals
• Language Learning: French, German, Italian, Spanish
• Math: Basic Math (Pre-Algebra), Multiplication

So what are you waiting for? Start answering questions and watch your bowl fill with rice. Your kids can spend the summer feeding their minds and feeding hungry people all over the world. Then, why not work it into your homeschool curriculum for next year? It's free, it's fun and it's a great cause!

More Thrifty Thursday Tips for Parents:

• Inexpensive Summer Learning Materials
• Invest Successfully in Uncertain Times
• Take a Hike!
• Cars on Campus
• Listen to Your Closet
• Budget Bath Seat for Twins
• Ask Friends for Help
• Free Summer Fun
• 4 Inexpensive Comfort Aids for Labor & Birth

I attended the graduation ceremony for our homeschool group last week. It was held at the monthly park day. The park has a very nice amphitheater with a stage for the passing out the diplomas. We had kindergarten, 6th grade and 8th grade graduates. Parents, friends and grandparents came to make it a special day. It was simple, but nice.

How do you celebrate your graduate’s achievement? Share your ideas of your celebrations to help other homeschooling families who are promoting or graduating their students.

• Kindergarten Graduation
• 6th Grade/8th Grade Graduation
• High School Graduation
• Homeschool Graduating Class of 2009 - Submit your senior pictures/announcements

Henry Cate of Why Homeschool hosts this week's Carnival of Homeschooling. Announcing the adoption of his son, he presents The Baby Bop Edition. Congratulations to the Cate Family for your new addition!

The next carnival will be hosted at Principled Discovery. Submissions are due by Monday at 6 p.m. I look forward to reading your submissions.

Carnival of Homeschooling Schedule

Governor Phil Bredesen of Tennessee signed SB0433 into law today requiring that diplomas issued by church related schools or homeschools be recognized by all state and local governmental entities as having the same rights and privileges of diplomas issued by public school systems.

More about Tennessee:

• Tennessee Homeschooling
• Tennessee State Unit Study
• Tennessee Printables

I learned how to make these tacos from my mother-in-law who had 8 children and needed to make a little go a long way. The other day I was talking to my neighbor who was making tacos for her family of 10 and gave her my tip of adding potatoes to the hamburger meat to make it go further. We've been eating these for so long...I wasn't aware that other people didn't know about them. They're really very good and everyone loves to come to dinner on potato taco night. To feed my bunch, I have to double the batch and make about 50 tacos.

More Thrifty Thursday Tips for Parents:

• Fitness for Free
• Favorite Brown Bag Lunches
• Cheapest Photo Frame on the Planet
• Save Pounds and Pennies
• Go Through the Grocery Flyer with Your Kids
• Buying and Selling Twin Stuff
• Saving on Birthday Gifts
• Swap Coupons and Money-Saving Tips
• Baby Showers on a Budget
• Cheap Dates Are Good
• 5 Ways to Find Free Child Care
• Do-It-Yourself Day Camp

The first few pictures are up. Submit your graduating senior's photo and profile to be included in the Homeschool Graduating Class of 2009 Photo Gallery. I appreciate your help in building a Class of 2009 Photo Gallery that we can be proud of.

Jessica's family has set up a website with updates on her condition and information on how to donate to the Jessica Hulcy Recovery Fund. They have a long road ahead of them and are blown away by the love and support they've been receiving from the homeschooling community since Jessica's accident.

I had the privilege of selecting and sending my neighbor's senior picture to his homeschool group for their yearbook. It was an honor to be involved and was also my inspiration to create the Homeschool Graduating Class of 2009 Photo Gallery.

Submit your graduating senior's photo and profile to be included in the Homeschool Graduating Class of 2009 Photo Gallery. I appreciate your help in building a Class of 2009 Photo Gallery that we can be proud of. The first few pictures are up.

Dave, Home School Dad, hosts this week's Carnival of Homeschooling. It's a baseball theme, Take me out to the ballgame, so step up to the plate and enjoy the posts.

The next carnival will be hosted at The Common Room. Submissions are due by Monday at 6 p.m. I look forward to reading your submissions.

Carnival of Homeschooling Schedule

Jessica Hulcy, co-author of the KONOS homeschool curriculum, was in a major car accident today. She is listed in critical but stable condition. Reports are her lungs are collapsed, she has internal bleeding, and there is some brain trauma. Please pray for Jessica and her family.

Subway Sandwich is holding their writing contest again this year. This year's theme is "Make It Happen! Contest." Students in grades PreK-8 will write a story about a personal accomplishment that tells how he or she eats healthy, stays active, or limits recreational screen time.

Last year's contest specifically excluded homeschooled students which created quite an uproar. Subway Sandwich apologized and promised to include homeschool students in their next contest and ran a special summer edition for homeschoolers. This year's contest doesn't mention homeschool families at all. I have an email into them to get clarification. Let's hope they honor our submissions this year.

The deadline is June 30, 2009, 11:59 p.m. EST, so don't dilly dally if you're going to participate.

Thanks to Diane Flynn Keith of Clickschooling, I discovered Singing Science Records. These science themed songs are from a collection of Singing Science Records from the 1950's/1960's provided by Jef Poskanzer. The songs are perfect for homeschooling...I think you'll get a kick out of them. I will be featuring the songs in the appropriate unit studies and printable pages. The first of these is Newton's Laws of Motion Unit Study and Newton's Laws of Motion Printable pages.

More Thrifty Thursday Tips for Parents:

• Use a Menu Planner to Save on Groceries
• Tips for Saving Money on Summer Camps
• Saving Money in Pregnancy
• Finding Money for College
• Free Audio Books
• Inexpensive Ways to Say Thank You at the End of the School Year
• Make Saving a Game
• Summer on a Budget
• Creative Adoption Fundraising Efforts
• Dorm Move-Out Day & Summer Storage

Be sure to check out the Carnival of Homeschooling this week. This week's host is Jacque Dixon of Walking Therein. Jacque wraps this week's entries around things our mothers do for us with the theme Some Things Moms Love.

The next carnival will be hosted at Home School Dad. Submissions are due by Monday at 6 p.m. I look forward to reading your submissions.

Carnival of Homeschooling Schedule

With these economic times, it's hard to keep up with the kid's expenses and spending money. My young neighbor raises all her own money to be in musical performances at Biola University, which is quite an expense. She has built up quite a business taking people's trash cans out to the street every week.

As young entrepreneurs, kids learn valuable life lessons. It's a good way to build strong work ethics to give them a strong foundation to take into their adult lives. Young Entrepreneurs will give you some ideas for your kids.

Do you already have an eager entrepreneur on your hands? Tell your story and give other homeschool students ideas for starting up their own little businesses. Eventually, we'll have a nice little library of ideas for kids to choose from.

More Thrifty Thursday Tips for Parents:

• 10 Practical Money Saving Prom Tips
• Tween Book Clubs - A Thrifty Extra-Curricular Activity
• Ways to Score Free Dorm Decor
• Are You a Coupon Clipper?
• Take a Free Money Management Class Online
• Saving Money When Eating Out
• To Work Less, Spend Less

Spring Fever has hit the Carnival of Homeschooling this week, hosted by Andrea Hermitt. As Andrea points out, even homeschoolers get Spring Fever, but:

"... but fortunately we have the freedom to work with and in nature in our final weeks of homeschooling."

The next carnival will be hosted at Walking Therein. Submissions are due by Monday at 6 p.m. I look forward to reading your submissions.

Carnival of Homeschooling Schedule

As the weather warms up, it's the perfect time to start planning a lemonade stand to help your neighbors cool off and make a little spending money for yourself. Use these free Lemonade Stand Printables to get started.

But better than spending your earnings, you can donate it to your favorite charity. Sunkist is inviting kids 7 to 12 years old across America to Take a Stand for their favorite charity. Sunkist plans to give out 20,000 free lemonade stands this year to thoughtful kids eager to make a difference. Registration began on May 1, so act quickly.