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Columbus Parent | The Go-To Guide: Best Budget-Friendly Summer Entertainment for Families

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Looking for free or low-cost entertainment options? Here are more than 50 ideas to explore around Central Ohio.

Compiled by Julanne Hohbach
 |  Columbus Monthly

It’s always good to have a few tricks up your sleeve to keep the kids entertained—particularly over summer break. If they’re budget-friendly, well, that’s even better.

With this in mind, we compiled a list of free and low-cost things to do with children around Columbus. The options are wide-ranging, from season-specific movie and concert series to year-round deals on museum admission. Given the number of available options, we did not attempt to create a comprehensive list, instead choosing some of the most popular events and deals that fly under many parents’ radar.

Don’t be afraid to look beyond these suggestions, though. Outdoor options abound, including city splash pads and programs hosted by Metro Parks, Preservation Parks of Delaware County and many municipalities’ parks and recreation departments. Interested in sports? Check out our installment of The Go-To Guide featuring low-cost (or free) spectator sports.

To suggest an addition to our list, send an email to contact@columbusparent.com.

Free Movie Series Around Columbus

Gateway Film Center and the Columbus Metropolitan Library are teaming up again for the annual From Book to Film summer series. Fifteen family movies, including “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory” and “Shrek,” will be screened weekends through August. Show your library card for free admission.

The Free Movie Nights series returns to John F. Wolfe Columbus Commons, with monthly screenings in July (“Ratatouille”), August (“The Secret Life of Pets”) and September (“Coco”).

Several family titles are featured in this year’s free Movie Nights at Topiary Park. The series takes place monthly through September and also includes games and activities.

Other free film series to check out include Free Family Flick Night in New Albany, Bexley’s Main Event, Screen on the Green at Goodale Park and Friday Night Flicks in Pickerington.

Get in Free to Central Ohio Museums

It’s always free to visit these venues, which don’t charge an admission fee:

  • The Orton Geological Museum on the Ohio State University campus features a collection of rocks, minerals and fossils, including a cryolophosaurus (a therapod dinosaur) and a giant ground sloth.
  • The Wexner Center for the Arts, which focuses on contemporary art and culture, offers free gallery admission and tours.
  • The Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum at Ohio State houses the world’s largest comics and cartoon collection and produces a series of rotating exhibits.
  • Ohio Statehouse visitors can take a self-guided tour and learn about government in the Museum Education Center. Guided tours are available.
  • The Riffe Gallery highlights work by Ohio artists and items from state-owned galleries and museums.
  • The Ohio Craft Museum, owned by Ohio Designer Craftsmen, offers a variety of rotating exhibits, as well as children’s programming.
  • The Priscilla R. Tyson Cultural Arts Center hosts exhibits in two galleries showcasing local, regional and national contemporary works.
  • The National Museum of the U.S. Air Force in Dayton, which celebrated its 100th anniversary in 2023, offers exhibits and aircraft highlighting all manner of flight, from the Wright brothers to a space shuttle cockpit.

Two of the city’s most visual venues offer admission deals on select days. The Columbus Museum of Art offers free general admission on Sundays, while the Community Days program at Franklin Park Conservatory and Botanical Gardens grants free admission the first Sunday of each month to residents of Columbus and Franklin County.

The Fourth Grade History Pass, part of the America 250-Ohio project, provides free admission to about 40 museums and historic sites across Ohio for students who were in grade four for the 2023-24 school year. Local venues include the Ohio History Center and the National Veterans Memorial and Museum. The student must be accompanied by a paying adult. The program runs through Aug. 31. For more information, go to america250-ohio.org/fourth-grade-pass.

Columbus Zoo and Zoombezi Bay Deals

COTA and the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium are teaming up again on the Zoo Bus, which offers transportation from Downtown and other select stops, plus discounted attraction admission. The bus makes five trips daily between Memorial Day and Labor Day. Tickets are $2 for adults, $1 for children ages 5-12 and free for ages 4 and younger. Riders receive $5 admission to the zoo or $10 off a Zoombezi Bay ticket. See route maps and more at cota.com/timetables/zoo.pdf.

Franklin County Community Days offer half-price admission to county residents who visit Sept. 15 and 16. The promotion is typically held twice a year.

Family-Friendly Concerts

The Columbus Symphony Orchestra will stage a Popcorn Pops concert with songs—and prices—geared to families. The show, July 12 at John F. Wolfe Columbus Commons, will be followed by a Disney or Pixar film. All tickets are less than $12. (The installment scheduled for June 21 was canceled due to a local heat advisory.)

The Columbus Symphony Orchestra also offers a deal where high school students can get a pair of tickets to a Masterworks concert for $14.

The Jazz Arts Group of Columbus holds free, hourlong, interactive PBJ & Jazz family concerts throughout the year. Four summer performances in Topiary Park include a preconcert storytime; the rest of the season takes place at the Lincoln Theatre. 

ProMusica Chamber Orchestra’s Summer Music Series, on tap Aug. 6, 8 and 9, features free, all-ages concerts at Alum Creek Park Amphitheater in Westerville and Franklin Park Conservatory and Botanical Gardens. Audience members are invited to pack a picnic and enjoy music under the stars.

The New Albany Symphony Orchestra offers a limited number of free tickets to its Sensory Friendly Concert Series, which is designed for young children, those on the autism spectrum or with dementia/Alzheimer’s.

Many suburbs hold their own concert series, including the Grove City Summer Concert Series, Hilliard’s Celebration at the Station, Music on the Lawn at Grandview Heights Public Library, Powell’s Lolli-Pops! Summer Children’s Concerts and Westerville’s Sounds of Summer Concert Series.

Check out a Culture Pass at the Library

The Columbus Metropolitan Library has partnered with more than a dozen Central Ohio arts organizations and attractions on the ever-expanding Culture Pass program. Card holders can “check out” tickets to some of the city’s most popular places and events, including Columbus Children’s Theatre, the CAPA Summer Movie Series, Columbus Clippers, the zoo, the conservatory and Dawes Arboretum. Check out participating organizations and ticket availability at columbuslibrary.org/culture-pass.

Favorite Fairs and Festivals

Central Ohio boasts oodles of fairs and festivals, particularly in summer and early fall. Popular options include the Columbus Arts Festival, Creekside Blues and Jazz Festival (don’t miss the free children’s area), Powell Festival, Worthington Arts Festival, Westerville Music & Arts Festival, Jazz & Rib Fest, Canal Winchester Blues & Rib Fest, Festival Latino, Greek Festival, Obetz Zucchinifest, Canal Winchester Labor Day Festival, Upper Arlington Labor Day Arts Festival, Arts in the Alley (Grove City), Columbus Oktoberfest, Columbus Italian Festival and the Circleville Pumpkin Show.

Worth noting: Children ages 11 and younger get in free at the Dublin Irish Festival (Aug. 2-4), but admission is free for all on Sunday morning with a donation to the Dublin Food Pantry.

On the fair front, don’t overlook county fairs, which can be a more manageable and budget-friendly alternative to the Ohio State Fair.

Other Options to Explore

The free Commons for Kids series offers games, crafts, activities, carousel rides and more on Friday mornings June 7 to Aug. 9 at John F. Wolfe Columbus Commons. (The June 21 installment was canceled due to a heat advisory.)

Abbey Theater of Dublin offers several family-friendly plays and musicals in its lineup each year, with ticket prices that won’t break the bank.

KidX Club at Polaris Fashion Place is a free monthly program offering rotating themes, activities, games and more. The series is geared toward ages 4-11.

The Dublin Market at Bridge Park kicks farmers markets up a notch with live music, animals, kids’ activities and more. The weekly event takes place Saturday mornings through September.

Nationwide Children’s Hospital will host a series of free PlayStreets events in the Linden and South Side neighborhoods throughout the summer, featuring games, music and activities. Go to nationwidechildrens.org/playstreets to find dates and locations.

The national Kids Bowl Free program is offered at several area alleys, including Columbus Square Bowling Palace, Gahanna Lanes, RollHouse Entertainment-Columbus, Rule(3) and Sequoia Pro Bowl. Registered children can bowl up to two free games a day throughout the summer, and parents can purchase a discount pass.

Columbus Metropolitan Library and other local library systems will offer robust programming lineups for children and families as part of their Summer Reading Club programs.

Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library of Ohio offers free books for children infant to age 5. The program mails participants a book a month—for free—until their fifth birthday. Sign up at ohioimaginationlibrary.org.

This story is from the Columbus Parent section in the June 2024 issue of Columbus Monthly. It was updated to reflect several event cancellations due to a heat advisory on June 21.

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