Free Thinking: Midvale, Murray & South Salt Lake050

Families in the cities of Midvale, Murray, and South Salt Lake have a lot of options for keeping their kids amused, fed, and entertained without spending a fortune. We've been searching for free things to do around this region and the following list should help keep your family happy while allowing you to keep some of your cash in your wallet.

Let's start with the restaurants that offer free food or special discounts for kids and families. Kids ages three and under can always eat free at Chuck-a-rama. At Lone Star Steakhouse up to two kids eat free from the Kid's Menu all day on Tuesdays with the purchase of an adult entree. Also on Tuesdays, Fazoli's hosts Kids' Night from 5pm to 8pm. The evening features crafts, games, and 99-cent kids' meals. Fazoli's also offers food specials on Mondays and Thursdays - Meatball Madness on Monday and Pizza Sampler on Thursday. Denny's lets kids eat free on Tuesday and Saturday nights after 4pm; up to two children can eat for free off the kids' menu with each adult meal purchase. Carl's Jr. offers a Kids Eat Free program; on Wednesdays from 4pm to close, get a free kids' meal with the purchase of a regular combo meal. And, finally, Sweet Tomatoes only treats kids ages two and under, but it's worth a mention for the coup of offering the littlest picky eaters absolutely anything they see free of charge!

Libraries are a great source of free entertainment. Not only can families borrow books and movies for free, but libraries also frequently host free events such as puppet shows, magic shows, concerts, live animal visits, book clubs, and storytimes. Libraries in the Midvale, Murray, and South Salt Lake area include Murray Library, Columbus Library, and Ruth Vine Tyler Library. Weekly storytimes also take place at the Barnes and Noble stores in Midvale and Murray, and at the local Borders. We list these venues' upcoming storytimes and events on our calendar; check the "events" section of their venue pages for direct links to the calendar items.

Budding astronomers might be interested in attending free star gazing parties and sun parties hosted by the Salt Lake Astronomical Society (SLAS) each spring through fall. The Star Parties are held in the parking lot of Harmon's. Sun Parties are held at Winchester Park. Watch our calendar for dates and times.

South Salt Lake's Columbus Center offers sports programs that are typically very affordable, and those who qualify for the free or reduced school lunch program can get even better deals on the sport programs here. The center also hosts several special events throughout the year that are either free or very inexpensive.

For crafty kids, or kids who just like to "tool" around, Home Depot offers free Kids' Workshops on the first Saturday of each month from 9am to 11am. The Lowe's stores in South Salt Lake and Murray both host free Build and Grow Kids' Clinics a couple times a month.

For days when you want to get the family out into the great outdoors, consider a visit to Murray City Park. The park is huge and offers lots of recreational opportunities for families. Free concerts and shows are frequently held in the park during the summer months.

Another great outdoor offering is a free treasure hunting game called Geocaching. Geocaches are hidden containers that can be found using coordinates and a GPS unit. If you choose to remove a "treasure" (stickers, toy cars, postcards, pencils, crayons, bubbles, etc.) from the cache, be sure to leave an item to replace it - all of those kids' meal toys laying around the house make great treasures for the cache. Thousands of caches are hidden throughout the Salt Lake area, and some are right here in Midvale, Murray, and South Salt Lake.

Do you know of more free stuff, events, and activities for kids and families around Midvale, Murray, or South Salt Lake? Add a comment below and we'll get right on it!

Note: Our editors make every attempt to keep this list as current as possible, but changes to these programs do happen. We recommend that you visit the venue websites for exceptions, other qualifying details, and any updates before visiting the venues themselves.