What to Do Near Milwaukee for Free with Kids (Part One)

One of my coworkers was asking me about our journey with Project Money. I was explaining what changes we have made so far and how we feel so very lucky to be on this journey. One of the biggest changes we have made is that we aren’t really spending frivolous money outside of our “fun money” budget. My friend has five children and we talked about what activities there are for families with children that won’t break the bank. So, I thought that we could use some of our posts to share what we have learned about free or low-cost activities for families.

One of the things we have done over the past two years is to ask for a Milwaukee Zoo pass for Christmas. With this zoo pass, we have somewhere to go any day we want to for free. And the zoo is great for several reasons. For example, we can go and look at animals, play on the large playground, get our steps in, take a train ride or all of the above.

There are times when the kids need to get out of the house, so we’ll visit a local park. Well, the zoo is basically a park on steroids. However, I would be remiss if I didn’t talk about how much temptation there is to spend money at the zoo. For me, it’s the darn ice cream. So, we have learned to bring our own snacks, make a fun packed lunch or go during off hours when it is less likely the kids (or more likely me) are to be tempted.