Guest Author - Kimberly Misra

The city of Boston, Massachusetts can be an expensive place to take the family. But with a little ingenuity, you can discover plenty of free activities to fill up your days without breaking your budget.

1. People-watch at Quincy Market. If you visit Quincy Market on a nice day you’ll find throngs of people gathered to eat, shop, and watch the world go by. You’ll also encounter street performers doing magic tricks, playing music, or juggling surrounded by a crowd of onlookers.

2. Visit the seals. While the New England Aquarium doesn’t offer free admission, it doesn’t cost anything to visit their outdoor tank of harbor seals. Kids can get right up to the glass and watch the seals swim by, seemingly performing for their audience as they float on their backs, jump out of the water, and dive.

3. Stroll in the Public Gardens. This is a great place for a walk on a nice day. The grounds are beautifully landscaped, there are ducks to see, pigeons to chase, street entertainment, and places to play Frisbee. Best of all are the bronze statues of the ducklings from the book Make Way for Ducklings.

4. Walk the Freedom Trail. The whole trail covers 2 1/2 miles; you decide what your kids are up for. Along the way you’ll all learn about the American Revolution. You’ll see such sights as the Boston Tea Party Ship and Paul Revere’s House (both charge admission), and the Bunker Hill Monument, which offers great views of the Boston skyline for free.

5. Visit an art museum. The Institute of Contemporary Art offers free admission for families on the last Saturday of each month (excluding December). The Museum of Fine Arts offers free admission to all Wednesdays from 4-9:45 PM.

6. Play at the Children’s Museum. While it’s not exactly free, the Boston Children’s Museum charges just $1 for admission after 5pm on Fridays.

7. Tour Haymarket. No matter the time of year, you can take your kids to the open-air Haymarket produce market on Blackstone Street to soak up some real local atmosphere. If you do want to buy, prices here are usually much lower than at the nearby grocery stores.

8. Tour the U.S.S. Constitution. This ship, also known as “Old Ironsides”, was originally built to defend America. Your kids can learn the long history behind the name on a free tour of the ship.

9. Go to Frog Pond. If you visit Boston in the spring or fall, the pond is a pretty place to picnic. In summer, it’s a great place to take young kids to splash in the wading pool and play in the fountain. In winter, the pond becomes a skating rink where kids 13 and under skate for free (there is a charge for skate rental).

10. See a movie. Watching free kid-friendly movies on Friday nights at the Hatch Shell is a tradition for many local families. The movie season generally runs from late June through the end of August