Well, school is out and my kids are already bored. How about yours?

With skyrocketing gas prices, a lot of people are staying closer to home this summer. Luckily, we live in a community that has lots of free and low-cost activities for families. Here are a few ideas:

• Check out the King County Library System for events. Maple Valley Library’s Lunch Bunch story time in the park runs through July, and there are other activities at area libraries. Be sure and sign up for the summer reading program to earn prizes, including the grand prize – a laptop computer. Pick up a flyer at your library or go to: www.kcls.org/programs/library_programs.cfm (click on your library to search programs and events).

• Maple Valley Community Center has a great summer calendar, as well. There is the usual Toddler Time on Tuesdays and Thursdays, plus Toddler Time in the Park on Fridays. The Friday program will visit area parks, all of which have children’s play areas and picnic tables. Snacks are provided, but bring your lunch, swimsuits, towels and sunscreen. The cost is $2 per family. For more information and other programs, including teen activities, visit www.maplevalleycc.org.

• Mud Mountain Dam is great place to spend a summer day. You can hike or bike, see the dam or just play in the recreation area, which includes a wading pool, basketball court, swing sets and picnic tables. Go to www.nws.usace.army.mil and type “tour of mud mountain dam” in the search box for information and directions.

• Letterboxing. This is a great outdoor activity for the whole family. A letterbox is a small waterproof container hidden in public places such as parks. It is like a treasure hunt in which the clues are posted online. All you need is a small notebook, rubber stamp and inkpad, pencil or pen, the clues you printed out from the Web site and (optionally) a compass. The boxes are usually hidden along hiking trails, so dress appropriately. Clues range from easy to difficult, and some I checked out were marked as “good for kids.” There were a few in Maple Valley, and King County alone had 159 listings. Once you find the Letterbox, you put your own stamp in the logbook and write your “trail name” date and hometown. Then you can stamp your own logbook with the stamp from that Letterbox. For complete instructions and listings of Letterbox clues, go to www.letterboxing.org or www.atlasquest.com.

• Bats Northwest is a non-profit, volunteer organization dedicated to promoting the understanding of bats. They host “Bat Walks” at Green Lake each summer. I just attended one with my 8-year-old daughter. More of a talk than a walk, it begins with a talk on bats by experts in the field. At sunset, the bats come out, and the hosts have electronic equipment that allow you to hear the bats echo-locating as you watch them fly around. My daughter really enjoyed it, but I wouldn’t recommend this one for young children, as the talk was not geared toward preschoolers – plus it’s a late night. For schedule and information, go to www.batsnorthwest.org/events.html.

• Free or low-cost movies. AMC and Regal are offering kid’s movies this summer. Regal is free, and AMC costs $1. Find schedules at www.regmovies.com and www.amctheatres.com/smc/.

• Berry picking. It’s not free, but picking your own berries is sure cheaper than buying them in the store. We live in an area abundant with berries, and berry picking makes a nice outdoor family outing. Go to www.pickyourown.org for a list of farms.

• Beachcombing. Take a picnic lunch and spend a day at the beach. On low-tide weekends, many beaches have Beach Naturalists on duty to point out marine life and answer questions. Bring your camera to take pictures of the stuff the kids find, because some beaches don’t allow you to take shells home. For times, dates and beaches go to www.kingcounty.gov/environment/dnrp/newsroom/newsreleases/2005/june/0602Beachkickoff.aspx.

• First Thursdays. Many museums are free on the first Thursday of the month, some all day and some just at night. Participating museums include the Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture, Experience Music Project/Science Fiction Museum, Henry Art Gallery, Museum of Flight, Museum of History and Industry, Seattle Art Museum and the Wing Luke Asian Museum.

• Scavenger hunt. Get together with a few neighbors and create an old-fashioned scavenger hunt. Each family can come up with a list of things to find outdoors or at their houses. Then, set off as teams (each accompanied by an adult) and let the kids try to find the objects. For older kids, you can also do a “digital” hunt in which they take a picture of the object. They can then print out the pictures as a souvenir.

Tiffany Doerr Guerzon lives in Maple Valley. She can be reached at homespun@reporternewspapers.com.