If you missed the Field Trips with Sue segment this week on CBS Better Mornings Atlanta, here is what we discussed:

Atlanta Braves Kids Day (Next Kids Day is Aug. 8
Kraken Water Polo
Home Depot Workshop

Silver Scream Spookshow (Sat. show is Godzilla on Monster Island)
Fulton Free Days at the High Museum (Dali: The Last Work opens Aug. 7)
Target Free Days at The Children’s Museum of Atlanta (Newest Exhibit is Conservation Quest)

A friend once told me she was surprised I could keep this blog going for over a year. “I would have thought you’d run out of things to write about,” she said. Well I am continually amazed at how many cool, fun things there are to do in Atlanta. I’m even more amazed that there are so many free and inexpensive things to do.

Here is a fantastic list of free and inexpensive summer activities for families from Amy Ryan and Amy Rice. We’ve reviewed many of these activities on this blog, so if you want a little more info, use the search box on the right column of the blog to find the post. There are also several videos we’ve reviewed at www.youtube.com/suerodman.

Thank you to Brandi Diamond, Pam Hansen, Patty Harris and Jaime Lackey who forwarded the Amy’s email to me. As summer begins, be sure to tell your family, friends and caregivers to subscribe (it’s FREE) to Field Trips with Sue via email, or Facebook and follow @suerodman on twitter for fun activities throughout the summer.

What: Wednesday WindDown, Music @noon
When: April – September 2010
Time: Wed. evenings 5:30 – 8 pm, Tuesdays and Thursdays at Noon
Where: Centennial Olympic Park Southern Company Amphitheater
Cost: FREE, but you will have to pay $5 – $10 to park in a lot around the park

Centennial Olympic Park was built less than two decades ago for the 1996 Olympic Games. It’s a great legacy of a fantastic event and a fantastic destination for families. April kicks off two FREE music programs, the Wednesday WindDown and Music @noon. For a list of musicians, visit the website.

There are lots of other things to do while you are at the park. If it’s a nice day, bring a bathing suit and towel so the kids can play in the Fountain of Rings, or just watch the water show (although I warn you, children cannot help but get wet, so bring a towel). The Fountains are a lot of fun in the spring before it gets too hot and all the school groups appear.

Wander to the other end of the park and play on the two Centennial Olympic Park Playgrounds. If you’re looking for more excitement, visit the Georgia Aquarium, National Museum of Patriotism, World of Coca-Cola or the Children’s Museum of Atlanta. All of these attractions are located across the street from the park. For more information, see a post I did for Travel Savvy Mom on Downtown Atlanta: Five Family Favorites.

1. Center For Puppetry Arts Museum – The Center for Puppetry Arts offers world class puppet shows and a fantastic museum of all kinds of puppets including a recently acquired collection from Jim Henson. The Henson display includes, Big Bird and Bert from Sesame Street, Kermit and the Swedish Chef from the Muppets, and others from various commercials, tv shows and movies done by Henson. The museum is FREE each Thursday from 1 – 3 pm. For a list of puppet shows, visit www.puppet.org. Here’s a glimpse of what you’ll see.
2. Imagine It! The Children’s Museum of Atlanta – The Second Tuesday of every month is Target Free Day and the Museum is free from 1 – 7 pm. Exhibits include a life-size John Deere tractor, wooden trains, moon sand station, UPS truck, water play area and more! There is also a section just for the crawling set, with soft walls, mats to climb on, over and under, musical instruments to play and even a water bed.
3. Home Depot Workshop - The first Saturday of every month, Home Depot sets aside a corner of the store for kids to hammer and glue a wooden craft. We’ve made treasure boxes, flower pots, fire engines, and airplanes to name a few. Kids get an apron and the craft they make all for free.
4. Lowes Build and Grow Workshop – On select Saturdays, Lowe’s offers kids a similar workshop to the Home Depot. Lowe’s provides all the materials, hammers and gives each child a kid sized apron. Visit the website for specific dates and projects.
5. Kids Day at the Thrashers – The Thrashers offer Kids Day where tickets are free for kids with a paying adult. Upcoming Thrashers Kids Days are March 7 and 14.
6. Fulton County Free Days at the High Museum – The first Saturday of every month, Fulton County residents can visit the High Museum of Art free. Think this isn’t a place for your toddler? Think again. Here is video of the Green Family Gallery and Toddler Thursdays. While you are there, check out a free Discovery Backpack too.

Winner: The Winner of the Georgia Aquarium tickets is Fran B.! Congratulations. Send me an email at sue@fieldtripswithsue.com with your address and I’ll mail you the tickets.

We’re wrapping up the Field Trips with Sue Birthday Bash with a one year membership to the High Museum of Art! My boys are pretty excited for the upcoming exhibit The Allure of the Automobile opening March 21.(ok, so am I) The High has great family programs too. Our favorite field trip is still going to the High Museum and watching the gladiator show during a Target Family Fun Day. We went early to catch the first show and ended up staying all day to see every show! And I can’t talk about the High without extolling the wonders of the Discovery Backpacks. The best part about the High is the employees. They are smart, helpful, problem solvers and most of all, they seem to enjoy the exhibits just as much as the patrons. In a city with a lot of wonderful museums and attractions, good people set you apart and make me willing to wrestle with finding a parking place.

If you don’t win the membership, you can still have two ways to get in free this weekend. Fulton County residents are free the first Saturday of every month. Get there early and be prepared to wait in a line, but what a great deal. Bank of America customers get in free Saturday and Sunday and every first weekend of the month. It’s part of the Museums on Us program. If you aren’t a BofA customer, Sunday is half price in the Score Half Off Tickets promo.

I hope you’ll continue to comment on posts and give me your thoughts next week. I love hearing from you. If you’ve visited someplace great, let us know about it. We even welcome guest posts, and we’ll link back to your blog if you have one.

How to win the High Museum of Art Membership: We’ll announce the winner Friday morning, so become a subscriber of Field Trips with Sue via email (it’s FREE) and leave a comment below to let me know you want to win. That’s it.

Want an extra shot at winning? Follow @suerodman on twitter and tweet this: I want to win a membership @highmuseumofart in the Field Trips with Sue #FTWS Birthday Bash http://bit.ly/53XBco. Make sure you include the link.

Winner: Congratulations to the Johanna the winner of the High Museum of Art tickets and Melissa Witt, the winner of the tickets to Imagine it! The Children’s Museum of Atlanta. Ladies, please send me your address and I’ll get your tickets out to you. Email me at sue@fieldtripswithsue.com

Now for our next present: Four tickets to The Museum of Patriotism. If you haven’t been to this hidden gem downtown, here’s a great opportunity.

This is not a military museum, but a museum of all things American. If you don’t leave full of pride for this wonderful country, then you probably need to think about moving elsewhere.

The museum started with former UPS executive Nick Snider’s collection of sweetheart jewelry. Sweetheart jewelry is anything soldiers sent back to wives, girlfriends, sisters or moms to let them know they loved them. Not wanting his collection to collect dust in a Smithsonian warehouse, Snider decided to open his own musuem. Exhibits include Pop Icons, first responders, branches of the miliatry, and immigration to name a few. The Sept. 11 Memorial is beautiful and moving. Just writing about it conjures an emotional response. Each person who lost their life that day is named on a wall, but it’s the memorial, a cascade of water representing a country’s tears, that really moved me.

It’s not all heavy topics, children can pretend to win the Olympic gold and even get on an official stand to receive a medal. Visitors can touch a hand rail from Ellis Island and pretend to drive an official Army Jeep. Learn the symbolism on the dollar bill or see a real Medal of Honor.

The exhibits are more appropriate for school aged children than toddlers, but it’s never too early to start teaching kids how lucky they are to live in America.

How to win the Museum of Patriotism Tickets: We’ll announce the winner Friday morning, so become a subscriber of Field Trips with Sue via email (it’s FREE) and leave a comment below to let me know you want to win. That’s it.

Want an extra shot at winning? Follow @suerodman on twitter and tweet this: I want to win tickets to the Museum of Patriotism in the Field Trips with Sue #FTWS Birthday Bash http://bit.ly/53XBco. Make sure you include the link.

Image via Wikipedia

Winner: It doesn’t appear that the feed went out yesterday so I’m extending the deadline to Win Tickets to the High Museum of Art. If you want to win tickets to the High, go to the post and leave a comment.

And Now for our Next Present: Today we’re also giving away tickets to Imagine It! The Children’s Museum of Atlanta. You can use your tickets to see the upcoming exhibit in the morph gallery, Cyberchase, The Chase is On! The exhibit begins on Feb. 13 and runs through June 6. Based on the Emmy award-winning PBS KIDS GO! TV series Cyberchase, the exhibit presents math in a fun, kid-friendly environment, allowing children to make use of their critical thinking skills and approach math with an investigative, positive attitude.

How to win the Imagine It! The Children’s Museum of Atlanta Tickets: We’ll announce the winner Thursday morning, so become a subscriber of Field Trips with Sue via email (it’s FREE) and leave a comment below to let me know you want to win. That’s it.

Want an extra shot at winning? Follow @suerodman on twitter and tweet this: I want to win tickets to @ImagineItCMA in the Field Trips with Sue #FTWS Birthday Bash http://bit.ly/53XBco. Make sure you include the link.

Winner: Congratulations to the Imagine It! The Children’s Museum of Atlanta ticket winner Cherie! Cherie send me an email at sue@fieldtripswithsue.com with your address. FYI – All winners are chosen through random.org, I don’t actually pick the winners, I let the computer do that – the other way would be WAAYY too much pressure.

Now for our next present: A slight change in plans, our prize today is four tickets to Callaway Gardens.

Although Callaway Gardens is free in January and February, you’ll want to go back in March and April when the azalea bowl is in full bloom or during the summer to swim at Red Robin Lake. I like just riding bikes on the 10 mile Discovery Bike Trail.

How to win the Callaway Gardens Tickets: We’ll announce the winner Thursday morning, so become a subscriber of Field Trips with Sue via email (it’s FREE) and leave a comment below to let me know you want to win. That’s it.

Want an extra shot at winning? Follow @suerodman on twitter and tweet this: I want to win a present in the Field Trips with Sue #FTWS Birthday Bash http://bit.ly/53XBco. Make sure you include the link. Thanks to @davecgibson, @kimbianco, @elyserp, @emilybethune, and @millic for playing along on twitter.

Winner: Congratulations to the Young Frankenstein Tickets Winner Briana B.! Briana send me an email at sue@fieldtripswithsue.com with your address. Didn’t win? There are still tickets available, check ticketmaster or visit the Fox Theatre. This looks like such a fun show.

Now for our next present: A four pack of tickets to Imagine It! The Children’s Museum of Atlanta. Use the tickets for your last chance to see Curious George: Let’s Get Curious! The exhibit closes on Sun., Jan. 24.

With curiosity and inquiry as their guides, children explore familiar buildings and locales from the Curious George books and television series on PBS Kids. The exhibition introduces young children to Curious George’s world and leads visitors on a fun, meaningful, interactive math, science and engineering-based adventure. Activities invite children to learn like George – through direct experience and problem solving. The museum’s Imaginators perform shows like Curious about Percussion, Curious Adventures story time, crafts and the original mini-musical, “Get Curious!”

How to win the Imagine It! The Children’s Museum of Atlanta Tickets: We’ll announce the winner Wednesday morning, so become a subscriber of Field Trips with Sue via email (it’s FREE) and leave a comment below to let me know you want to win. That’s it.

Want an extra shot at winning? Follow @suerodman on twitter and tweet this: I want to win a present in the Field Trips with Sue #FTWS Birthday Bash http://bit.ly/53XBco. Make sure you include the link. Thanks to @davecgibson for playing along on twitter.

If you don’t win tickets, consider a membership at the Children’s Museum. In addition to having a great time at the Children’s Museum here in Atlanta, you can enjoy more than 160 other children’s museums around the country. Museum hours are Mon. – Fri. 10 – 4 pm and Sat. and Sun. 10 – 5 pm. Admission is $12.50 plus tax for adults and children ages 2 and above; children under 2 are free.

This train set is included in the Thomas gift set we're giving away this week.

Our winner is… Johanna! Congratulations Johanna. Email me at sue@fieldtripswithsue.com  your address so we can send the tickets. Several people said they had never been to the Center for Puppetry Arts, don’t delay, get tickets today. Included in the price of your show admission is create-a-puppet workshop and admission to the museum (which is worth a trip all by itself). They do a fantastic job and there’s free parking, right out back so it’s an easy place to get in and out. It’s also a great place for birthday parties. My son went to see the Shoemaker’s Elves last month and is STILL talking about it.

Up Next Week: Tickets to Young Frankenstein at the Fox Theater, Imagine It! The Children’s Museum of Atlanta, Callaway Gardens and the World of Coca-Cola. We’ve also got an AWESOME Thoms the Tank Engine train pack that includes a DVD, train set and trains!