Eagle-eyed Hiffers (holy crap, how did you get an EAGLE'S EYE?!) know that my current offspring count sits equal to the number of home runs I've hit for the Seattle Mariners this season. That said, growing up with tons of siblings, I have an inkling for what it's like with bored, moping children around the house. For you see, I myself get bored. A lot. And if your kids are anything like me, it must be insufferable to be around them when they have nothing to do. Plus it's hot outside! I need some cheap, air-conditioned entertainment.

As such, here's a huge list of all the free & cheap summer movie events! Almost every theater chain has a dedicated page advertising their summer deals, plus a helpful list of participating locations. So be sure to make sure your local spot is holding a deal before heading out.

I've included both nationwide and smaller, regional chains so as many Hiffers can take advantage of these deals as possible. I'm sure there are more, so please leave a comment if you find any I missed!

Alamo Drafthouse – Their summer Kids Camp shows children's classics with tickets at $1, $3, or $5, depending on location. Kids earn stickers for your Alamo Kids Club Prize Book and 100% of proceeds go to local nonprofits! You can even buy your tickets online, making this super easy and relaxing!

AMC Theaters – Their Summer Movie Camp program holds kid-friendly movies plus a KidsPack every Wednesday for just $4! This year, the program runs through July 31 and will feature movies such as Trolls, Lego Movie 2, Peter Rabbit and many more.

The KidsPack mentioned includes a kid's size popcorn, small drink, and FrootiTooti fruit snack!

Bow Tie Cinemas – Select locations are showing free kids movies on Tuesdays and Wednesdays at 10am from June 25 to Aug. 21.

Cinemark Century Theaters – They have two different money saving movie programs. During their 10-week program from May 27 to Sep. 8, pay $1 per person, per movie, at the box office on the day of your movie! That's already a great deal. But you can also pay $5 in advanced and get tickets for all 10 movies!

Cineplex – Saturday mornings at 11am through July will feature Cineplex Family Favourites. Watch a family favorite film each week for only $2.50 at participation locations, with a portion of the proceeds supporting the WE Charity.

Classic Cinemas – Running June 5 – August 7, take part in the Wednesday Morning Movie Series. Each Wednesday morning, ticket prices are just $1, with all movies rated G or PG. Movies start at 10am, but doors open at 9am. You're encouraged to arrive early to meet some of your favorite characters and join in on the fun games & activities.

Georgia Theatre Company – Join them for the Summer Kid Show Series at 10:00am every Tuesday and Thursday in June and July. They've got $1.50 admission, $1.50 drinks, and $1.50 popcorn.

Harkins Theater – Prices look to vary by participating location, but kids can enjoy a movie a week for 10 weeks, for less than $1 per film!

Marcus Theaters – Every Sunday, Monday, and Wednesday mornings at 10am from June 16 – Aug. 14 will feature a favorite family flick for just $3! Popcorn and fountain drinks are $2.75 as well. Finally, you can score 2 free tickets and print them from home thanks to your local American Family Insurance agent.

Megaplex Theatres – Individual tickets are $1.50 for 10am movies running almost every day, with sensory friendly shows at 10:30am! You can also buy a 10 movie pass for just $10.

Metropolitan Theaters – Get $2 admission to movies at 10am, starting June 11 – Aug. 13. Dates depending on your regional theater.

• Redstone & Wildhorse are every TUESDAY
• MetroLux 14 & Paseo Nuevo are every TUESDAY & WEDNESDAY
• Camino Real is every THURSDAY

Paragon Theaters – Scroll down to find their Free Kids Movies promotion. Starting June 11 through Aug. 8, get free admission for 10am movies on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. Seats are limited to first come, first serve.

Phoenix Theatres – Absolutely free select 10am showings of kid movies every Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. Doors open at 9am and all ages are welcome. There's also a “special kiddie meal” available, but I'm not sure what's included in that.

Regal Cinemas – All summer long, you can see select G or PG movies for just $1 a ticket! Show times are Tuesdays & Wednesdays at 10am via their Summer Movie Express program.

Studio Movie Grill – Their Summer Children's Series varies by location, but largely runs every weekday at 11am through the end of summer. Like the rest, you get a family friendly film for only $1 a ticket.

Showcase Cinemas – Their Bookworm Wednesdays allow kids to bring in a book report (6 and under don't need this) in exchange for free admission! The best I ever got for a book report was the promise of no more book reports.

Ultra Star Cinemas – Finally, see a different movie every week at 9:30am for just $1. New movies are rotated each week.

So there you have it. Like I said earlier, please leave a comment if you know of any programs I missed!

Other Summer Freebies

• Summer Reading Deals
• Free Kids Roller Skating
• Free Kids Bowling
• Freebies for good grades and report cards
• Weekly in-store Freebie Events

I was a nerdy, smart kid with my nose perpetually in a book and that trait carried over into adulthood. I'm the guy at the end of the bar more interested in reading my Kindle than socializing with strangers. Yet I've never been offered freebies based on how much I read or how smart I am! Oh, to be a kid again.

I should note I started this post in May, but kind of lost track of time 🙂 No worries though, as all the offers below should still be active for the rest of this summer or beyond.

There are a lot of other websites with outdated information on freebies for good grades. I only included offers I could verify to some degree, but I strongly encourage you check with your own locations no matter what! Since these restaurants are usually franchises, offers heavily vary by location.

Rewards via Report Cards

Applebee's – While not quite nationwide, they confirmed on Twitter that it's up to your local Applebee's as to whether or not they give out freebies for good grades.

One of the largest Applebee's franchise, RMH Franchise, operates 135 Applebee's locationas in 15 states. They offer an A is for Applebee's program, where students 12 and under can get a free meal from the Kid's Menu if they receive an A on their report card. Many other freebie sites erroneously say this is a nationwide deal, but it's a great example of what kind of offer you can expect if your local franchise participates!

Baskin Robbins – They also confirmed on Twitter that giving away free scoops is “at the discretion of each franchise owner.” So call your local creamery!

Cheryl's Cookies – Their Cookies for A's program is for K-8th grade students who can enter for a chance to win cookies for their A's. Simply upload your students report card here. At the end of every month through out the school year, they will randomly choose 5 lucky winners who each receive a box of cookies AND an extra box of cookies to hand deliver to their favorite teacher!

Chuck E. Cheese – Anybody can print their Super Student Award 🙂 It's a redeemable certificate for 10 free tokens per day, however a food purchase is required.

Family Video – Throughout the month of June 2019, students get a free overnight movie or video game rental for every A on their final report card.

Financial Institutions – Hundreds of small banks, credit unions, and even insurance companies offer rewards for good grades as well! I highly suggest checking the website of any smaller institution you're with, as well as asking your local branch. I've seen some small banks offering up to $25 for good grades! Others offered smaller cash rewards, discounts, and other prizes.

I wish these offers had been around when I was a kid. I would have made some serious cash!

Jason's Deli – They replaced their old JDPickleCards offer with a new Kids Cash system. Kids under 12 got a free kid's meal at participating locations.

Kudzoo – Download their app either on iOS for iPhones or Google Play for Android. Students aged 13 or older can submit up to 5 report cards a year and earn Kudzoo cash. This can be redeemed at local stores, restaurants, and more.

Pizza Hut – Each marking period, any child who has 3 A’s or the equivalent thereof, will receive one Personal Pan Pizza and a small soft drink or carton of milk by presenting his or her report card to the manager. This offer is good for Elementary and Middle School students. Dine-in only. Students must be present and the original report card must be presented.

Unconfirmed or Old Freebies

Other sites report the following companies give freebies for good grades, but I've been unable to verify these claims. I've reached out to the following companies on Twitter, so please feel free to also message them and help get an answer 🙂

• Bob Evans – As of 2019, the Star Student program “is not a program that is currently active at our restaurants.”
• Burger King
• Chick-fil-A
• Coldstone Creamery
• IHOP
• Krispy Kreme
• Marco's Pizza
• McDonald's
• Sonic
• Wendy's

I'll keep this list updated as I find new offers, so if you find anything I missed, please let me know in the comments!

Next up in our summer freebies series is a “OH DEAR GOD, JUST GET OUT OF THE HOUSE FOR A WHILE!” offer for all those stressed out parents 🙂 You can grab free kids roller skating passes good at a variety of locations in 36 states.

Once you locate a nearby rink, click their name to see dates, times, and age limits for their free skating. There's also a $4 signup fee to register at some locations. While not free, the passes don't expire until the end of the year, so you make your money back pretty fast.

As long as you count the backs of cereal boxes, I'm quite the voracious reader. I read on average two books a month and if your children are anything like me, they might be interested in this list I compiled of free summer reading programs! I've been updating this list since 2014 and was pretty surprised at how many of the offers stilled existed in 2019!

Below are all of the 2019 summer reading freebies and deals for kids! Most follow the “read X books, get 1 free” model, but there are a few that differ. Hopefully your little one enjoys reading or at least getting freebies 🙂

I also have an idea I wanted to pass along. With some of these programs, you earn a free book off a list of available books. If your child reads this summer, but isn't interested in the freebies, consider donating them! School and public library are always desperate for books. Donating them to The Salvation Army or Goodwill is another possibility. Regardless, showing your child that freebies can be fun and helpful to others is a cool idea!

Confirmed 2019 Summer Reading Freebies

Amazon – Grades K-8 can read any 8 books this summer and get a free book!

Barnes & Noble – For kids in grades 1-6, get a free book after reading 8 books and filling out a Reading Journal. For adults, share your school's required reading list and get a free tall hot or iced coffee from the cafe. They also have coupons and discounts listed under the right-most “Summer Reading Deals” tab.

Books-A-Million – For 2019, read 4 books and take the form in-store to get a free Diary of a Wimpy Kid drawstring backpack.

Chuck E. Cheese – They have a ton of methods for kids to earn freebies, from good grades to sports achievements to reading in Spanish or English! This reading rewards calendar doesn't expire until 12/31/19 and gets 10 free Play Points with any food purchase.

Half Price Books – Children 14 and under who read 300 minutes over June and July (that's only 5 mins/day) will receive Bookworm Bucks. I don't see where it says how much you'll get, but it was $5 previous years. You have until August 29, 2019 to claim your Bucks.

Teens can also earn HPB Bookworm Bucks by reading any of the listed titles and writing a short review.

New York Times – Every Friday from June 13 through Aug. 23, children aged 13-19 can read one article in the NYT and write in about why they read it or what interested them. At the end of the week, judges from the Times newsroom pick favorite responses and publish them here. Aside from broadening their horizon's and randomly posting some of the selected weekly responses, there doesn't look to be any “reason” to do this. Still, 15-year-old-Goob would have gone crazy over this offer so maybe there's a kindred Hiffer out there who would enjoy this.

Pizza Hut – I can't find any details on what the prizes are, but Pizza Hut has run their Book It summer programs for many years now and people seem to love it.

Pottery Barn – Every Tuesday at 11am, join Pottery Barn Kids Book Club for readings, activities, and more! Your child receives a special prize after attending five events.

Public Libraries – Be sure to check with your local libraries, as they often host multiple weekly, monthly, and seasonal events and reading competitions.

Scholastic – From May 6 until September 6, kids ages 6-17 can log their reading time online as part of the Scholastic Read-a-Palooza Summer Reading Challenge. Over the course of 18 weeks, kids can enter their summer reading minutes online, unlocking digital rewards as they complete weekly reading challenges; and access book excerpts, videos, and other summer-exclusive content.

Showcase Cinemas – Bookworm Wednesday rewards your little one with free admission to a select children's film when they present a book report. Accompanying parents or guardians and children under six years of age receive free admission and do not need to submit a book report!

SYNC – This free program offers audiobooks each week to teens ages 13+. You don't get any rewards, but hey, free books!

TD Bank – Finally we have the classic offer by TD Bank. Kids in grades K-5 have until Aug. 31 to read 10 books. They'll be rewarded with cold, hard cash in the form of $10 added to their free savings account.

2018 Deals Potentially Returning This Year

American Girl – Select locations in large cities are being held for girls ages 8 and up. Kids get to decorate their own bookmark and summer reading log and can take home a doll-sized poster.

DOGOBooks – Looks to be a $10 gift card this year, but the 2019 details haven't been finalized.

HEBuddy – After reading 10 books, send in the form to receive a “cool prize,” which looks to be a free t-shirt.

LifeWay – Take your completed Summer Reading Journal to the register at your local LifeWay store to get one of nine books plus receive a free Bible, while supplies last. Expires August 31, 2018.