Hannah Fleshel’s Guide to Free Activities In and Around Atlanta

Sit Back and Be Entertained

In the summer, Dekalb and Fulton County libraries offer educational and entertaining shows. Get the catalog in May and pencil in amazing activities every week of June and July. We have seen magic shows, balloon shows, petting zoos. All free. We alternate between Chamblee, Toco, Sandy Springs, and Dunwoody library. Dekalb County libraries also give out prizes for reading. Sign up to earn raffle tickets.
Watch a Braves baseball game outside on the big screen at the Battery when there is a game going on.
The library has so many free passes to check out and experience museums here in Atlanta and surrounding areas. Check out the Puppetry Museum, Zoo Atlanta, Chattahoochee Nature Center, Carlos Museum, Georgia Sports Hall of Fame, etc.

Local Stores

Petland store. Awesome pet store. Ask to play with any dog. Near Walmart by Perimeter Mall.
Barnes and Nobles gives out a free book for completing their reading program during the summer. The store at Emory
University also has a free children’s book reading weekly Wednesdays at 10am during the summer.
Pro Bass Shop. Thursday and Sundays activities for kids noon to 5pm. Near Sugarloaf Mall.
Lego store at Sugarloaf Mall. First Tuesday of the month you get a free Lego set. Must sign up a month ahead.

Get Wet

Garden Hills public pool has free admission Monday - Friday, 10:30AM-1PM from end of May to end of July. Other times there is a fee.
Jones Bridge Park. Awesome steps into Chattahoochee River and great playground. Bring sand toys and inflatable tubes.
Pine Lake Beach. Walk into the lake from a sandy beach and playground 20 minutes from Toco. Bring sand toys
Old Fourth Ward spray pad and awesome playground.
Spray pad at Piedmont Park. Park for free on West Minister Road off of Piedmont Road. Piedmont park pool free from 3-5pm.
Spray pad at Centennial Park. There are also free concerts from noon -1 on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
Watson Mill Bridge state park has great rock slides.

Things That Move

Marietta Fire Museum. Free small museum of old fire trucks. About 20 min to walk through it.
Atlanta mounted patrol horse stables in Grant Park. You can bring apples and carrots to feed the horses. They’ll give you a tour too. Call first to be sure there are horses there.
Delta museum. Second Tuesday of month at 1 there is a free tour inside a plane after you pay for admission.
Museum of Aviation in Warner Robbins. Cool airplanes and helicopters to explore.

Good Eats

Krispy Kreme – gives a free donut for every report card A or highest mark like tdsa gives a 4 or O. max 6 free donuts per kid. There is also a free donut day on the first Friday of June.
Dekalb International Farmers Market. 3000 E Ponce de Leon Ave, Decatur, GA 30030. See fish and crazy vegetables.
Free little ice cream at Bruster’s in Toco Hills if your kid is shorter than the counter every time you go.
Baskin Robbins Ice cream - gives a free scoop of ice cream with good grades.

Indoor Play

Free indoor jungle gym and cheap arcade at plaza Fiesta Mall at corner of Buford Highway and Clairmont.
Ikea has a playroom. Get 45 minutes of play for your kids who are potty trained-9 yr old while you stroll and dream about your dream kitchen. There is also a really nice new park with shade canopies right behind the store.
Kidsbowlfree.com sign up and bowl free at stars and strikes stone mountain or sandy springs mon thru fri 10am-5pm. You just pay to rent shoes or entirely free if you own bowling shoes.

Jewish

Anne Frank Museum off of Roswell just outside the perimeter is always free.
Volunteer at Breiman House or Berman Commons. Call to arrange a time.

Get Outside

Walk the beltline and see all the graffiti art. I recommend walking by 4th ward park and the skate board park.
If you own a putter, go to a golf course like at Stone Mountain Golf Course and practice putting on the practice greens.
If you own a frisbee, go to Brook Run Park and play frisbee golf near Tree Top Adventures.
Go to Cochran Shoals trails and rent a bike for free for one hour using an app through the Cumberland Bike Share program.
Sweetwater Creek State Park has a nice hike and places to get wet in the creek. Check out the state park parking pass from the library and parking is free. About a 30 minute drive near Six Flags Amusement Park.
Hike 40 minutes to the top of Stone Mountain and go back for the summer’s nightly laser show for free if you have the $40/year parking pass. There is a free museum at the foot of the walk up mountain that is about rock formation. You can get a free “I climbed the mountain” certificate from the museum front desk. Occasionally there is a Groupon for parking.
Mason Mill Park trails. Walk on a paved path to Medlock Park or go onto dirt trails to find the rope swing.
Bring frozen veggies to fee the ducks and take a hike at Lullwater park near Emory.
Hahn Woods on Houston mill. Take the little trail to the waterfall area along the creek. Bring sand toys to play in sand.
Google “parks near me” and go to every park. We discovered a nice shaded park called Briarwood Park this way...sorta near goodwill off of Buford highway. Try Little Nancy Park, Stanton Park and Beaver Brook Park.
Free outdoor movies in town Brookhaven on Thursday nights in the summer and also in central park at Atlantic station.
ELHLAF - E.L. Huie Jr. Land Application Facility and the MELVIN L. NEWMAN WETLANDS CENTER 2755 Freeman Road Hampton, Georgia 30228 – a pond and swamp with a mile-long trail around the pond. Frogs, snakes, fish and a beaver lodge can be seen while you walk on the wooden trail over and around the swamp. About a 45 minutes’ drive
State Botanical Gardens of Georgia at UGA at 2450 S. Milledge Ave, Athens, GA 30605. Open every day but closed on Mondays.

Tour Art & Architecture

Tour the amazing house of the president of Emory University located at Lullwater park the Sunday around Emory graduation (usually mother’s day). It is an amazing castle-like home originally owned by the Coca Cola family.
High Museum of Art - Free admission on the 2nd Sunday every month from 1-4.
Atlanta Contemporary Modern Art is always free.
Paper Museum free entry but a fee for the paper making session. History of paper making. 500 10th St. NW, Atlanta, GA. (Part of Georgia Tech) Free parking next to the museum.
Museum of Design Atlanta Free entrance and activities second Sunday each month. 1315 Peachtree Street Atlanta
Find all the tiny doors in downtown Atlanta. Download map at tinydoorsatl.com

Science

Fernbank Science Center - Free Exhibits. Thursday nights free to look through a huge telescope at 9pm. Small fee for planetary shows though Shows free with science museum membership reciprocity.
Pay $85 for Southern Museum of Flight two year membership and get free reciprocity to over 300 ASTC science museums for two years. My favorites are the museums in Nashville and Birmingham. Tellus Museum in Cartersville is included for free.
There’s a free walking tour of a to-scale solar system in Gainesville, GA: http://www.gainesville.org/attractions/solar-system-walking-tour. It’s 1.8 miles long. Bring a lunch and drinks!
Tour Georgia Power electric power plant

Animals

Free admission to Georgia Aquarium on your birthday. Bring proof to the box office.
Go Fish Conservation – sorta like a little aquarium. Library gives out free passes. Two hours drive south but we stopped by free aviation museum and blue berry picking farm on the way.
Zoo Atlanta has free passes to be checked out from the library. The zoo has free activities like scavenger hunts on their website to download.
Vogt Horse Riding is off of Houston Mill near Adelia in Toco Hills. Ask to donate carrots and feed horses.
Look at horses for free from 8:30-5pm, M-F at Little Creek Farm near North Dekalb Mall or pay $5 for a tour. Http://littlecreekfarmconservancy.com/LCFC/Visit.html
Noah’s Arc. A fee animal sanctuary one hour south near Tanger Outlet Mall. Weird hours and dates though.
Dauset Trails. Free animal habitat with a petting zoo. Not far from Noah’s Ark.
Bear Hollow Zoo is free in Athens, GA, about 65 miles away. Walk the zoo in 30 minutes.

Government and History

Center for Disease Control (CDC) Museum on Clifton Road. Learn about infectious diseases and how the CDC impacts the world.
Tour the Georgia’s Governor’s mansion every Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday from 10-11:30AM.
Visit the Atlanta Monetary Museum - See how money is made and destroyed.
Tour Georgia’s State Capital. Call for a tour. 10:30 or 11:30 during the week. Even without a tour you can wander or go to the fourth floor museum or see legislation in session between January and March.
Visit the Martin Luther King Memorial and Civil Rights Museum. Afterwards, kids ride the streetcar for free, which you can pick up there and take to downtown.
Jimmy Carter Presidential Library. Free for kids under 16. There is a Replica of the oval office. The center celebrates the ex president’ s birthday Oct 1 each year. Admission is reduced for everyone over 16.
Tour every police and fire station in Dekalb County. You can even see a working jail at Chamblee Police if they have no prisoners. Call ahead and make your appointment to see the jail.
Visit the Indian Mounds in Macon and Etowah https://www.nps.gov/ocmu/index.htm | https://gastateparks.org/EtowahIndianMounds