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Life Is Better With Friends, founded by a local mom and author in the Austin area, is teaming up with the North Pole to deliver pure holiday magic to families across Texas. The mailbox is about to get a glow-up—because this year, something cheerful, sparkly, and straight from Santa’s desk is headed your way.

Santa’s got his cocoa, the elves are on glitter patrol, and the reindeer are doing warm-up laps—because this year’s mail is packed with praise, giggles, and a little North Pole mischief. Whether your kid rescued a bug, shared their snack, or asked if snow tastes like marshmallows, they’ve earned a moment of magic.

Hurry, spots are limited—request your child's free Santa letter and Nice List certificate now!

Warm enough for splash pad season, don’t you think? There are plenty of splash pads in and around Austin. And we've made a list of all of them, including schedule and pricing info.

It's never too early to start thinking about summer camps. Especially when registration for some summer camps are already open or closing soon or when they're free.

Free camps? Yes, there is such a thing as free camps. We've done quite some research to find camps in and around Austin (up to a 4 hr radius) that are not a financial burden to families, especially families that already have enough to worry about.

Attention, fellow book enthusiasts, parents, and caregivers of budding bookworms! Is your little one an avid reader or do they simply adore listening to your soothing voice as you read to them?

We are inundated with numerous requests to review children's books, and unfortunately, we can no longer keep up with reviewing all of them ourselves. It pains us to decline authors, as we hold a deep love for books and a strong desire to support the incredible individuals who both educate and entertain our precious little readers.

Recognizing that many of you have young book lovers at home or have experienced this joy in the past, we wanted to gauge your interest in a "Read and Share" program. This program would offer you the opportunity to receive free books in exchange for providing book reviews. Interested? Read on for details.

The City of Bee Cave and the Bee Cave Public Library will host their second annual free Books and Bees Festival on April 1st and April 2nd at the Bee Cave Galleria. This year, we are hosting a two-day event including our first ever HoneyFest!

As a hub of literacy for children and adults, our Bee Cave Public Library hosts programs year round that serve hundreds of families in the area and beyond. As a Bee City USA affiliate, the City of Bee Cave is dedicated to educating the public and helping conserve this most important insect. Our one-of-a-kind Books & Bees Festival helps accomplish our two missions - share fantastic literature with kids and adults alike, featuring high-profile, bestselling authors – and teach our residents and their kiddos more about bees! We have so many fun activities, entertainment and readings in store, you will not want to miss this FREE event! 

The average costs for school supplies every year is $35 which creates an extra burden for already challenged families as well as for teachers, who often spend their own money buying missing supplies for their classrooms and students.

In order to ease the burden of both families and teachers, school districts that are continuously facing tighter budgets, are trying to outsource the financial obligation by requesting that parents help provide  these supplies. 

Here is a list of Back-to-School Programs and School-Supply Drives in and around Austin.

Great news: Austin is experiencing a record-breaking early voting turnout!

Downfall: long lines and long waiting hours, which are strenuous for parents who need to bring their children along with them to the polls.

This is where Austin based babysitter agency Babysitting Connection comes into play. In order to make it easier for families to get to the polls and get their vote and voices heard, Babysitting Connection is offering free childcare for voters in line at select Travis County polling locations during early voting as well as on Election Day. Read on for details.

Many children in and around Austin participate in the free or reduced meals programs at their school. When school is over for the summer it can be an expensive time for many families.

Fortunately, many schools and organizations in and around Austin offer a Summer Food Service Program where children age 18 and under can visit a summer meal site throughout the summer while school is out of session to receive free meals, snacks and participate in fun activities. Read on for participating locations. 

Obviously, this is a difficult time for everybody and many local businesses are getting hit extremely hard. We therefore want to use our little platform and help in any way we can.

We asked local businesses to let us know of any products, services, or activities they're currently offering, that can help Austin families keep their kids busy and make this time as enjoyable as possible for their kids and their whole family. In the coming days, we will be introducing those offers on our blog. Sign up for our newsletter, so you don't miss any of these awesome deals.

Read about Sportball's free Zoom Classes.

It’s that time again! Movies in the park all over the 512!

Grab a blanket or a lawn chair, pack some snacks and drinks, check our list and head out to your favorite theater under the stars.

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