Hi friends, I started working on a list of things to do this summer with my kids around Columbia, SC and thought I would jot it down and share with you. Let me know if you have anything awesome to add.
VBS/Camps
First Presbyterian (downtown Cola) – June 10-14
First Baptist (downtown Cola) – June 17-20
Christ Covenant Presbyterian (near Bradley Elm) – June 24-27 – this is our home church, I would love to have you join us.
Shandon Baptist (Forest Dr) – June 24-27
St Joseph Catholic (Devine St)- July 8-12
This of course is not an exhaustive list, just churches I am familiar with and looked up when I was curious about VBS.
Kidding Around made a more complete list if you want to check it out.
Columbia Mom put together a list of great camps if you are still looking for good ideas on that front. In general Columbia Mom is just a great website for things happening in and around the Midlands area. Really a top notch resource.
Movies:
The Nickelodeon theater downtown on Main St – Introducing our Kids Summer Movies series starting this June. Relive your favorite 80s, 90s, and 2000s classics on the big screen every Tuesday, Wednesday, and Saturday at 10 a.m. All movies are just $7, plus a $5 deal for a small popcorn and drink.! Here is a link to a post with the movie schedule.
AMC Harbison is showing different Illumination films for $3 every Monday & Wednesday 6/24 – 8/14 at 11 and 2. Here is a link where you can view what is showing when and buy tickets.
Regal Sandhill is showing a lineup of movies for $1 each week on Tuesday & Wednesday at 10am, 6/11 – 8/7.
A reminder that a lot of summer camps will utilize these offerings so show up early to get the good seats.
Roller skating
At Skateland Fun Park, Monday- Friday, 12pm-4pm, $8 admission per person and $4 for skate rental. There is also an indoor play area but I believe that is an additional cost.
The Library
The Richland Library – Events page
The many wonderful library locations have some amazing and FREE events. Here are a few to show you just what I mean, there are so many options:
Monday June, 3rd at 3pm at the Wheatley location- Summer learning kick off with crafts, games and Pelican’s Snoballs- We went and it was wonderful!
Tuesday June, 4th at 10am at Cooper location, Hands on Art
Tuesday June, 4th at 4pm at the St Andrews Location, Crafternoon
Wednesday June, 5th at 10 am at the Main location, The Market
Wednesday June 5th at 4pm at the North Main location, Read to a therapy dog
Thursday June 6th at 2:30pm at the Northeast location, cooking class
You see!!! I could go on and on, and you could literally spend your summer days hoping from one location to another and enjoying all of these free events. Get on the website and check out the calendar.
Bowling:
Beltline Lanes on 2154 S Beltline Blvd
The Monday special is $2 a game and $4 a shoe rental.
There is also a diner and arcade so just be prepared if you go that they kids will probably want to do that too. Thursday is Military discount day for just $1 a game.
Bowlero Cayce on 900 Axtell Dr
They have a Summer Pass if you have family into bowling- $45 per person gets you up to 2 games and a pair of shoes every day. That is a one time fee. You can also get the premium pass which includes some of the arcade games as well.
Museum:
Columbia Museum of Art downtown on Main St has FREE admission all summer long to residents. This is a great indoor experience and the Hatch room when you first walk in is very kid friendly. I think their instagram page does a great job of keeping you up to date but you can always check out their website too.
The SC State Museum has $1 admission on the first Sunday of the month. This includes just general only admission, the shows are add ons.
Outdoors:
The options around us are so great and endless really so this is not exhaustive but a few things we will work on experiencing this summer.
Boyd Island in Columbia recently transformed for the community and free. We plan to check it out this week.
The Congaree National Park in Hopkins, free entrance.
Sesquicentennial State Park, off of Two Notch Rd. There is an admission fee of $6 an adult, $3.50 for children and under 5 free. You can rent kayaks, paddle boards, and non-motor fishing boats and they now have a splash pad plus all the trails and playground.
Dolce Vita Farms – in Eastover SC, U-pick blueberries, flowers and veggies the month of June and early July.
I have not been but I have been told that Neptune Island Waterpark in Hartsville, SC is a great day trip.
As I said in the beginning, this is a list of summer adventures we hope to take. There are lots of websites that are more dedicated to this type of thing, I wrote this down for my family and I am sharing it with yours.
One final thing I will add that I try to make a regular practice is allow my children to be bored and use their imaginations. It may make a mess of my house, yard and stuff but I know when they are not over-scheduled and use their imaginations to play; research shows they are becoming much better people for it.
Live well friends,
Christy
P.S We watch a good bit of TV too 😛
