Places to go with Kids in Lafayette, Louisiana

I work with elementary-aged, at risk kids at a non-profit organization. We have a six-week day camp that costs them $25 per kid (total, not per day...), so you can imagine how creative we have to be to stretch the budget to make a memorable and amazing summer at the same time. When looking at the lists of "things to do in Lafayette" I am sometimes astounded at the prices. So here is a list of really cheap (or free) and fun things to do and places to go with a group (or a few) kids in Lafayette or within reasonable driving distance- just in time for summer planning fun! This list is great for groups, but also for moms who want to keep their kids engaged throughout the summer without breaking the bank.

They are numbered only because I like numbers- there is no special order.

For One or More Kids- This section is for all the moms out there!

1. Lafayette Science Museum and Planetarium- Lafayette
Our group rate came out to $1 per person. Can't. Beat. That. Most of the time the kids tire quickly of a museum, but we could have easily spent over two hours there. They have great interactive exhibits upstairs that the kids will love as well as a planetarium show.

2. Louisiana Old State Capitol- Baton Rouge
The Old State Capitol is free to tour and looks like a castle. My kids wanted to know when we would meet Cinderella :) It is a beautiful place to look around and they have a Louisiana history museum inside as well as a video, etc. There is also a beautiful lawn to eat a picnic lunch under the oak trees! The building is beautiful and it is completely free. They have a 3-D video experience available about the history of the building for $3 per ticket that I highly recommend. This is not your boring history film- be ready for a few fun surprises!

3. U.S.S. Kidd- Baton Rouge
Of you have a group of 20 or more the cost is only $4 per person to tour this battleship. However, right now they have the first Sunday of every month themed and the entrance is free! The kids LOVED it! It is like a huge metal playground. They crawled all over everything and couldn't possibly break anything even if they tried. The moveable metal turret guns were a favorite. We could have spent all day there, except there is no air conditioning, so go early before it gets hot. Metal ship + high temperatures = miserably baking. They also have a museum inside (with air conditioning) that is a must see so you can cool off on your way out.

4. Nature Station- Lafayette
All 4th graders take a field trip here, so make sure you take your kids before they hit 4th grade, that way the repeat trip will be on someone else's watch :) I have actually never been since I don't want to duplicate a trip for our older kids, but I have heard good things! They have hiking trails, presentations for groups, a kayak launch, etc. If your child is really into nature, they also have a young naturalists club.

5. Lafayette City Parks- Lafayette
Swimming! If you aren't a part of a gym that has a pool, then the city pools post their schedules at the end of May, and it only costs $1 per visit. Earl J. Chris in an indoor pool for rainy days and Girard Park is usually empty (plus they have a pond where you can feed the dicks, a great playground, and frisbee golf course). Different pools are open on different days and times, so be sure to check the schedule with the city.

6. Ira Nelson Horticultural Center and Gardens- Lafayette
Most people have never heard of this place and pass by it every day! You can tour the greenhouse and gardens used by UL students to do plant and agricultural research for free. I'm not sure how big of a group you need to tour, but we didn't even take the tour and had a blast. We had our kids do a scavenger hunt to find certain flowers, vegetables, and other things in nature, and spent the whole afternoon exploring. They also have a childrens garden with themed beds and trivia questions for the kids to interact with.

7. Lake Martin and Cypress Island- Breaux Bridge
This is another great place for a scavenger hunt. They have a drive through the swamp where you can see alligators along the edge of the road (sometimes even in the road!) If you go in the spring you can see all of the birds nesting, which is pretty amazing. They also have a wooden plank walking tail over the swamp water so you can see the cypress tress, turtles, and egrets close up. They also have swamp boat tours from the dock, and that is the only part that costs anything at all!

8. Tabasco Factory Tour- Avery Island
This one is a bit of a drive, so I won't be taking my whole group anytime soon, but for a family trip it is perfect. The tour of the factory where you see how they make the pepper sauce is free as well as the gift shop, which has free samples of some crazy Tabasco products like Tabasco ice cream and Tabasco Coke. There are also some cool gardens that you can tour, but the price on that is $8 adult/ $5 child. This falls outside of our budget, but if it fits yours, it is a great way to spend the day.

9. FoodNet- Lafayette
A great way to spend time is giving back! Food Net is a great place to take kids because they can help pack the food boxes, sort canned goods and more! Call in advance to see when they can use an extra set of hands and teach your kids about helping others while having a great time. They also now have a FoodNet community garden that they may need help at. If you want your kids to learn about growing their own food, this is a great way to do it while helping others.

10. Movie Theater- Lafayette
The Grand movie theater usually shows already released movies during the day with special rates for kids (like $3 a piece). They put their schedule out as summer gets closer, so be sure to check it out. With the price of regular tickets, this is the only way I'll see the inside of a theater!

11. Public Library- Lafayette
Be sure to look at the public library's schedule of events. They always have TONS of free stuff going on for all age groups!

12. Local Fire Station
Bake cookies and deliver them to the fire station If you let them know in advance and there aren't any fires, you may get to see the fire truck or have an impromptu tour of the fire station.

13. Louisiana State Museum (Baton Rouge)
This museum is amazing! It is full of awesome stuff that will amaze the kids, and best of all it is free! It has a great visual and hands on exhibits including full size steamboats, combines, and mardi gras floats.

14. Cultural Activities
South Louisiana has a ton of cultural activities- so much so that I won't even try to list them all. However, there is always a festival, parade, or local event to attend if you keep an eye out!

15. Downtown Lafayette
I am just going to roll all of these activities up into one. Downtown Lafayette has a lot of family friendly activities include Movies in the Parc, Artwalk, and more. Some of these activities are on a regular basis and others are special events, so keep an eye on the calendar!

16. Be Creative
Take the kids to places they have never seen before. We took our kids to tour a bank once, and they were more impressed with the escalators and windows from the top of the tall building than the bank tour itself. Try going to the airport to watch planes take off and land. Pick fruit or vegetables at a local farm. Explore new areas of the city. There is always something new to see, and kids find the smallest things absolutely fascinating!


For Groups Only- Great for class or church trips

1. Great Harvest Bread Co. Tour and Bread Making- Lafayette
Great Harvest gives an awesome lesson on how bread is made, tour of their bread making facility, and let the kids make their very own bread creations complete with chef hats! Such a great experience for the kids!

2. Police Station Tour- Lafayette
The police station gives tours of the facility to the kids, and it can be a real eye-opener. The kids will get to see armored vehicles, drug dog training in action, drink driver testing, the police training facility and more. It is a great place to take a group for free.

3. KLFY TV-10 News Station Tour- Lafayette
A news station tour is great for the kids! Getting to play in front of a green screen was the highlight by far, but you also get to play on the news sets, see the behind the scenes of the filming and editing process, and sometimes meet some familiar faces from the news.

4. Bank Tour
Check at different places to see is you can schedule a bank tour. Our kids loved seeing the inside of a vault and will never forget seeing over $100,000 in cash! They got to see how the drive through worked with the tubes sending money in and out, etc. This is a great follow-up trip after talking about money or finances.

I know there are LOTS more, and I'm sure I will add to this later as I remember more. What else do you love to do with kids around Lafayette, LA on a budget???

My Top 18 flowers for spring in the South

With the summer heat really rising, I wanted to take a moment to look back on some of my favorite flowers from the spring. Here are my top picks from my yard. The best of spring in South Louisiana!

#1) Apostle's Creed

Love these! They are called Apostle's Creed or Twelve Apostle plants. Each bloom lasts only a day, but where they fall to the ground, they sprout a new plant :) They bring a nice bloom to a shady spot and are super hardy. Definitely a top favorite.

#2) Petunias

This is a pretty commonplace flower in the south- Petunias. Reliable bloomers, and lots of colors to choose from. You can't go wrong. And the white flowers behind them (in the pic on the left) is what my mom calls a "wishbone" plant- not sure of the technical name, but it blooms constantly from spring through fall and reseeds each year if the ground goes undisturbed.

#3) Louisiana Iris

Louisiana Iris, obviously a good choice for south Louisiana. Mine have been growing from baby transplants, so this was their first year to bloom. Well worth the wait!

#4) Dianthus

This photo has a combination of Petunias, "wishbone" flowers, Vincas, and Dianthus. The Dianthus are a must have in any southern garden. In the warm temperatures they are perennials. I bought some three years ago- they have never stopped blooming, have continued to grow in size, and even propagated new plants. This is the perfect touch of year round color!

#5) Gaillardia

Gaillardia comes in several varieties- two of them are shown here. I started with a few plants a couple of years ago, and as fast as the old ones die off, new ones reseed around it. They bloom year round and add a brilliant splash of color.

#6) Canna Lily

Canna Lillies come in many colors, but the brilliant white is my personal favorite. It completely dies down in winter, but it makes up for lost time in the spring with huge gorgeous flowers.

#7) Black Eye Susan

Another perennial that readily reseeds and blooms spring through fall is Black Eye Susan's. I started with one plant grown from seed and now have a garden full! (Bonus question: Can you spot the chicken? My chickens all come running when I pull out the camera...)

#8) Roses

On the left is a bloom from my climbing rose. (Can you spot the chicken now?) And on the right is a bloom from the knock out roses. Knock-out roses are the best plants ever! One plant gets huge and blooms consistently almost year round. Prune it to whatever size you want it to be. Super low maintenance and still has all of the beauty of a rose.

#9) Coreopsis

Coreopsis is another plant I started from seed that didn't die down last winter and have multiplied in the garden. There are two varieties shown here- one with a few large yellow flowers and the other (a wildflower variety) that has literally hundreds of little flowers with brown centers. Both varieties love my yard. (How about the chicken in this one?)

#10) Amaryllis

Amaryllis blooms are just breath-taking. They are bulbs so you just stick them in the ground and forget about them until this bloom the size of your head comes up in spring and makes all the neighbors stop and gaze :)

#11) Tulips

Tulips are another easy bulb to grow are Tulips. The comes in so many colors and varieties! The only problem is that they only bloom once and they aren't the cheapest bulb to buy, so I use them sparingly.

#12) Daffodils

Daffodils are one of the happiest flowers in the garden :) They bloom year after year, and who can resist this bright and smiling flower in spring???

#13) Agapanthus

Agapanthus or Lily of the Nile is a perennial that stays green and leafy year round and sends up these beautiful bunches of blossoms in the spring. I started these from baby transplants, so this is the first year that they bloomed for me. No maintenance at all!

#14)Sparaxis

I planted these bulbs last year and nothing. I thought they had rotted or just didn't like where I had put them, but this year they all came up in bunches and gave off a huge show of blooms. I immediately bought more and planted them...and nothing. I guess I'll wait until next year to see about those!

#15) Gardenias

Gardenias seem to personify the south- delicate, fragile, and sweet. I have two different varieties, and love them both. I can tell they are blooming before I see the flowers because the whole yard smells like honey! Another good flowering plant for shady spots.

#16) Azaleas

Sadly, I somehow ended up with no pictures of my azaleas this year! Azaleas are beautiful flowering shrubs. They may only bloom a few weeks out of the year, but it is definitely worth the wait with so many blooms you can't even see the leaves!

#17) Fruit trees

I know this isn't your typical garden flower, but I love seeing all of my fruit trees bloom in the spring because it means delicious edibles in late summer and fall. The in the picture is a satsuma- a citrus fruit unique to Louisiana. I have lemon, grapefruit, satsuma, blood orange, kumquat, apple, pear, mulberry, blueberry and pomegranate. Seeing these blooms always brings a smile to my face and makes my mouth water :)

#18) Best for last- Double Ruffle Amaryllis

I absolutely love my double ruffle Amaryllis plants. Each plant blooms multiple times a year with multiple blooms per stalk, and each bloom is easily 12 inches across. The double ruffle is just breathtaking, and it makes a wonderful cut flower. A friend gave me these, so I have no idea where to get more, but every time I get to divide them I get so excited to add another to my collection. God had fun making this one :)

These are just a few of my tried and true favorites. What are yours?