From the Scientific and Cultural Facilities District page:
"Since 1989, Scientific and Cultural Facilities District (SCFD) has distributed funds from a 1/10 of 1% sales and use tax to cultural facilities throughout the seven-county Denver, Colorado metropolitan area (Adams, Arapahoe, Boulder, Broomfield, Denver, Douglas, and Jefferson counties). The funds support cultural facilities whose primary purpose is to enlighten and entertain the public through the production, presentation, exhibition, advancement and preservation of art, music, theatre, dance, zoology, botany, natural history and cultural history."
The SCFD provides free admission to a variety of places on certain days of the year. See the calendar to the right for more information.
You should know that Denver Art Museum offers free admission for children ages 0-18 every day.
In 2016 Colorado State Parks offered free admission on Black Friday. Whether or not that will be a new tradition is yet to be seen. (I hope so!)
This program is a partnership with the Colorado Department of Education, State Library, local library systems, and Colorado Parks and Wildlife. It is meant to encourage Coloradans to visit our State Parks and experience all of the great outdoor recreation that this state has to offer.
Starting June 20, 2016, libraries across the state are offering two "Check Out State Parks" passes, each for distribution with an activity backpack containing binoculars, brochures and other educational materials to library patrons.
The Every Kid in a Park program admits fourth graders and their families to National Parks for free for 2016-2017 school year. (Not sure if it will be a sustained program under new administration.) Find NPS Free Days on my calendar to the right.
Otherwise the National Parks offer fee free days at the following Colorado locations:
Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park
Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument
Jeff and Paige: Kid-delighting, parent-approved music about nature and science. Many events are offered free to the public, some charge admission. See their calendar to the right.
Assuming 2017 follows a similar schedule, concerts begin on the first Sunday in June and continues each Sunday until August. 6PM-8PM in Denver's City Park.
The calendar below is one I've called "Free-Learn Colorado" and I will update it with fee-free things as well as pay-for things.
Art Stop: Art Stop provides free, hands-on art making for families during the Boulder County Farmers’ Market. Held outdoors on the front porch of the museum, creative inter-generational projects are designed to complement exhibitions within the museum, as well as the colors, shapes, and textures of the market. Don’t forget to visit the exhibitions inside the museum. Admission is always free during the market!
http://bmoca.org/programs/youth
We provide the fun, you provide the supervision. Nature explorers need to be prepared for any type of weather.
https://bouldercolorado.gov/parks-rec/three-little-twigs
BLDG 61 is an all-ages public workshop located in the 1961 portion of the Main Library that is dedicated to hands-on learning and cultivating valuable experiences in the community through making.
Here is the Building 61 Calendar:
I have attended all of these events. For what it is worth, the SEL Forum is more "academic" than the Happily Family Conference.
What 25 Experts Say About – Empathy, Social Emotional Learning, Mindfulness
The purpose of the Colorado SEL Forum is to advance the understanding of social emotional learning among Colorado practitioners and initiate forward movement on developing a collaborative of partners throughout the Front Range community to promote best practices in SEL that result in “whole child” positive outcomes for students.
Boulder Valley Gifted and Talented was established in 2007 to assist and support gifted individuals in developing their talents, strengths, and abilities. BVGT offers frequent educational programs for parents and teachers of gifted children. BVGT advocates steadfastly for educational support and programming for gifted students by increasing awareness of the nature and needs of the gifted student.
Since 1979, the Gifted Development Center (GDC) has served as a global leader in the assessment and development of gifted individuals of all ages. We support giftedness throughout the lifespan. Through our work, we have changed the lives of over 6,000 children and their families worldwide. We also build awareness and understanding of giftedness, through research, advocacy and development of national policy.
Our philosophy is child-centered: we put your child first. We focus on understanding your child’s inner world (overexcitabilities, emotions, perceptions, relationships, personality, etc.), rather than on his or her potential for success. We see giftedness as a pervasive way of being in the world, not as being "gifted in...."
We provide assessment, advocacy, counseling, books, articles, Advanced Development Journal, and a Speakers Bureau to educate the public about the needs of gifted children and adults.