Free Thinking: Weber & Box Elder Counties552

Families in Weber and Box Elder Counties 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, and kids in that same age range also can eat free from the salad bar at Sizzler with an adult meal purchase. Fazoli's hosts Kids' Night every Monday from 5pm to 8pm. The evening features crafts, games, and 99-cent kids' meals. Denny's lets kids eat free on Tuesday nights after 4pm; up to two children can eat for free off the kids' menu with each adult meal purchase. And, finally, 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.

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 Weber and Box Elder County area include Weber County Main Library, Weber County Library Southwest Branch, Weber County Library North Branch, and Weber County Library Ogden Valley Branch. Discovery Time programs and Family Fun Night are just some of the family-friendly programming that is available at all of the Weber County Library branches.

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 on Riverdale Road and Washington Boulevard both host free Build and Grow Kids' Clinics a couple times a month.

Military and flight buffs can enjoy free visits to Hill Aerospace Museum where over 80 military aircraft, missiles, and aerospace vehicles are displayed. The museum collection also includes a wide variety of ordnance, an assortment of aerospace ground equipment, military vehicles, uniforms, and thousands of other historical artifacts. The Aerospace Center for Education (ACE) Learning Center is a dedicated classroom space where kids of all ages can learn about flight. The Learning Center features several simulators, including an actual F-16 cockpit. The museum's Plane Talk Lecture Series, offered each fall and winter, is all about airplanes and the people who fly them. There is also a Preschoolers Story Time held each Tuesday and Wednesday morning by appointment only.

For days when you want to get the family out into the great outdoors, consider a stroll along Ogden's Historic 25th Street, and in the summertime don't forget to check out the Historic 25th Street Farmers? and Art Market. Another great outdoor offering in Ogden is the Ogden Nature Center. Admission to the nature center isn't free, but with adults paying $3 and children (ages 2-11) and seniors paying just $1.25, a visit to this amazing nature preserve won't break the bank.

Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge is one of our favorite outdoor destinations. It is a 74000 acre National Wildlife Refuge which has always served as an oasis for shorebirds and waterfowl, and now people are discovering the joy and solitude a day trip to the refuge can offer. The 12-mile loop drive around the refuge affords people amazing opportunities to view wildlife from the comforts of their own vehicles. Birds that can be seen at various times during the year include shorebirds, raptors (eagles, hawks, owls, falcons), pelicans, cormorants, herons, swans, geese, ducks, coots, cranes, swallows, and many, many more. The refuge's James V. Hansen Wildlife Education Center provides opportunities for the public to learn about wildlife and plant species of the Bear River Refuge and the Great Salt Lake ecosystem. Many family-friendly special events take place here throughout the year.

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 Weber and Box Elder Counties.

Do you know of more free stuff, events, and activities for kids and families around Ogden, Roy, Brigham City, and Willard? 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.