If some magical parenting fairy gave me a dollar each time my kids spilled a drink, stained a shirt, or sent enough water out of the tub to wash the entire bathroom floor, I’d have all their college funds ready to go. Little humans are wild and splashy creatures. It’s not their fault. They get excited about stuff. This time of year, they get especially excited about the 12 weeks of summer break. I think we’ve had a countdown going since March.
Fortunately for us, a local five-year-old recently estimated that the Twin Cities metro has approximately “eleventy billion” summery things to see and do. That’s a lot of things. Here are a dozen (one for every week!) that don’t cost a penny so you can put the savings towards their college fund. Or some stain cleaner.
Outside Fun
Visit the Como Park Zoo. The habitats are bigger and better than when you were a kid. Plus, the sloth just had a baby and honestly, it’s so cute that Kristen Bell would probably faint. St. Paul, 651-487-8200, comozooconservatory.org
Run wild in the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden. Like an artsy jungle gym, many of the 60-plus sculptures invite touching and climbing, and the iconic Spoonbridge and Cherry continues to impress and intrigue even the youngest of Twin Citians. For kids who like a mission, there’s also a downloadable scavenger hunt. Mpls., 612-375-7600, walkerart.org…