Finding activities to do as a family or even an individual can be hard when you are watching your pennies. We share free and frugal alternatives and ideas to help you have fun and save!
Winter is often a hard time of year to get outside and enjoy the fresh air. We are trying to do more and more in the winter months to get outside as a family and enjoy activities in the cold.
While it is sometimes too cold to hit the slopes or skate outdoors, a sleigh ride, bundled up under a blanket with a thermos of hot chocolate could the the perfect family outing. We have put together a list of Horse Drawn Sleigh Rides available to book in New Brunswick.
As a mom of two, who are several years apart in age, it can often be hard to find things to do with both kids. Here is my list for a family with various ages of children, with all free activities to do in the city of Moncton!
Kids Craft: Egg Carton Spider
Do you keep Egg Cartons, thinking you will use them in a craft project, and they are piling up? Here is a cute or creepy little craft you can do with the kids. Great addition to Halloween decor or just to add to your creative creature collection. We have a Swirly Snake and Turkey craft available as well.
There you go, cute spiders to help in your Halloween decorating. I am putting some of these in our shrub next to the front door on Halloween night. You can hang on string from door frames or position on a web made of cheese cloth or cotton string.
Have fun making these in various colours. They can be super cute in bright colours, or slightly creepy if made black or brown. Mine are always colourful!
The Wiggles in Moncton!
The Wiggles Rock & Roll Preschool Tour is coming to the Capitol Theatre in October!
Do your toddlers/preschoolers love to bounce and jive along with the Wiggles? My little guy loves their YouTube channel. On demand songs!
They are coming to Moncton for one show in October.
Date and Showtime:
Friday, October 2, 2015 – 6:30 p.m.
Tickets available through the Capitol Theatre Box Office
The world’s most popular children’s entertainment group, The Wiggles, will be in Moncton this fall for their “Rock & Roll Preschool Tour”, with several shows around the country. The Wiggles would like to meet their biggest fans!
We are going and taking Clayton (2 1/2 yrs) to his first concert!
So excited to see how much he loves this experience.
We will share our experience here for our readers!
Visit the Wiggles online on their WEBSITE
Check out their other Canadian Tour dates and locations HERE 
Overview
Kids will learn how to build a Minions Scooter with easy to follow step-by-step instructions.
• A great free activity for children ages 4-12
• Kids will learn how to build a Minions Scooter using a hammer and glue
(Minions is a trademark and copyright of Universal Studios. Licensed by Universal Studios Licensing LLC. All rights reserved.)
SATURDAY JULY 11th
CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFO 
Vacation Planning Tips
I love doing day trips in the summer with my family, and there are many affordable options around our province and neighboring provinces. If you cannot afford to plan a big trip, or do not have the time to take a week or two off, day trips can be a very fun and affordable option. I find with kids, sometimes a day trip is best, coming home to sleep in their own beds after a long day of activities. It definitely is more cost effective and less stressful on everyone.
If you are planning a trip away, by plane, train or car, here are a few tips that will help you save while traveling.
1. Setting a budget. I suggest working backwards. Determine a budget you can afford and then plan a vacation around it, instead of picking a destination and figuring you are never going to be able to save enough. Work with what you can do.
2. Destination determines mode of travel. If flying, book about 3 months early. Often it is cheaper to book early with insurance, than last minute. watch for seat sales or talk to a travel agent to see if you can get a better Package Deal. Booking mid week vs weekend will save you money as well Trains and rental cars: watch for promotions for both of these options. Via Rail offers discounted rates quite often between cetain destinations. WATCH FOR HIDDEN FEES for all mods of travel .
3. Plan ahead for transportation once you reach your destination: your vehicle or rental + parking, subway, train, bus, etc. Many cities offer family passes and weekly passes for their public transportation methods.
4. Meals: determine if you can make some of your own meals vs. Eating out. When we travel by car, we take a cooler and fill it will breakfast and lunch options. Leaving only suppers to buy. Try to find hotel options with breakfast included and then pack lunches to take with you on your daily adventures.
5. Prioritize activities: depending on your travel companions, you may want to visit theme parks, zoos, shows or spas! Create a "wish list" of activities for your destination, then pick the ones that you can afford.
6. City Passes: many cities have city passes or museum passes. You purchase one pass that gets you into several attractions. Be sure to compare cost of going to individual things and determine if you will be visiting enough for the city pass to be less expensive.
7. Discount Booklets: many cities have coupon booklets available. Check tourist information site for free booklets and also search for paid books. Entertainment Books are available for many cities in North America. Also, Moncton area has Johnny Coupons, with many BOGO options.
8. Staying in hotels can be costly. Look for offers like, book 3 nights get one free. Also, booking through a discount site like hotels.com or priceline.com can save you alot of money. Hotel stays are also often cheaper during the week versus the weekend.
These are a few things to think about when planning your vacations.
Some additional resources you may like to try are listed below Coupons and discounts sites available:
In the Maritimes : ValueStar Coupons (Printable) Offering deals on accommodations, restaurants, services and activities. Mainly in Moncton, Fredericton and Saint John.
Shopico (order ahead) Various discounts on hotels, restaurants, attractions and services across the Maritimes.
HeraldShop.ca (order ahead ) Various discounts for accommodations and even events tickets!
Moncton, NB has a new playground at Centennial Park. Bienenstock Natural Playground was built by employees from Tangerine Bank, the City Of Moncton and many other community members. Hundreds of people joined in the Community build on June 11th, 2015.
I was among the hundreds of community members who helped put the final touches on this beautiful playground.
I have a brand new appreciation for what goes into a playground. Just seeing the many layers of soil, sand, mulch and sod that go into making the ground perfect, it amazed me.
We even had help from the children at Small Blessing Daycare. They brought us lemonade and passed it out. Then they helped us patch up the sod pathway we were filling in, I was working on it when they came over to help pick up the odd pieces of sod around the playground. When they brought it all back, they started puzzle piecing it all together. Hard workers and they were much faster at the job than we adults were 🙂
The following day I went back with my little boy, Clayton, 2 yrs old. Here are a few pics of him enjoying the park.
Playing drums!
Clayton enjoying the playground the next day.
While we were there I spoke to a few people walking by who were amazed how fast the playground was built. Although we were alone for about an hour (we hit the parks early to get our activities in before it gets too warm), there were two daycare groups arriving as we left. This park is a hit with my 2 year old and I know we will be spending many, many days there this summer.
#BrightWayForward
I will have free loyalty cards available to sign up to receive CASH BACK on many of your everyday purchases. Be sure to ask us about this new program just starting in NB!