Giggle Magazine

🎒 BACK-TO-SCHOOL IS HERE, ALACHUA COUNTY! 📚✨

From free backpack giveaways and free haircuts to carnivals and fashion shows, here are 6 awesome events happening this August:

📍 Residences at Oakview (Gainesville) – PEAK Literacy Celebration featuring free school supplies, haircuts, gaming bus, petting zoo & BBQ on Aug 7!

📍 Legacy Park (Alachua) – Alachua Police Dept. Giveaway with free backpacks, Blaze Pizza vouchers & child fingerprinting on Aug 1!

📍 Palms Medical Group (Gainesville) – Back 2 School Bash with free supplies, Kona Ice, and food trucks on Aug 8!

📍 Destiny Community Church (Newberry) – Community Closet offering free clothes, supplies & hygiene items on Aug 8!

📍 Dillard’s at The Oaks Mall (Gainesville) – Back to School Bash featuring a fashion show, supply drive & real patrol vehicles to explore on Aug 1!

📍 CityLight Church (Gainesville) – Community Carnival with inflatables, face painting, games, train rides & free lunch on Aug 9!

🔗 Click the link in the comments to view the FULL guide and get complete details, dates and times for all local events!

Our August/September issue is out NOW!
Inside you will find...
📚How to Build a Strong Connection With Your Child's ESE Team
👭Why Those Elementary Social Circles Suddenly Change
✍️Why Multitasking Is Ruining Homework Quality
📍6 Free Must-Visit Local Education Adventures
Pick up a copy today or READ at the LINK in the comments!

💦 Looking to cool off this summer? We've got you covered!

📍Depot Park
💵 Free
❓️Inspired by Central Florida’s underwater caverns
💦 Ground jets, waterfall, water cannons, fossils and a nearby playground, grassy field and picnic tables

📍Hal Brady Recreation Splash Park
💵 Free
💦 Sprinklers, water buckets, water fountains, picnic tables and an awning over concrete where you can place your own chairs

📍Dwight H. Hunter Northeast Pool
💵 Residents 18 and older are $4.62, residents aged 3 to 17 are $2.63 and non-residents are about $1 more
💦 Lap lanes, a shallow 1.5-foot to 4-foot pool section, diving boards, an ADA access ramp and lift, a splash pad, a water slide, locker rooms and picnic tables

👉️🔗 Click the link in the comments to view the full guide!

Big congratulations to nearly 1,000 Alachua County students recognized as AP Scholars! 👏

❓️The awards recognize exceptional achievement on rigorous college-level AP coursework.

🏆️ 981 ACPS students earned national AP Scholar recognition for the 2025-26 school year.

🏅 455 students received the prestigious AP Scholar with Distinction award.

🌟 An additional 72 students earned the AP Capstone Diploma.

👉️🔗 Click the link in the comments to read the full story.

🍦Looking for the best spots to grab ice cream in Gainesville this summer? Here's a taste of what's on our list...

🍫 Carvel
📍 SW Archer Road
🕐 Noon – 11 p.m. (Sun–Wed), Noon – midnight (Fri–Sat)
Classic ice cream bowls, cones, sandwiches, cakes and sundaes — don't skip the crunchies topping.

🍦 D'lites Emporium
📍 NW 16th Blvd.
🕐 Noon – 9 p.m. (Sun–Thu), Noon – 10 p.m. (Fri–Sat)
Frozen soft serve made with less sugar and no artificial sweeteners, plus rotating flavors.

⛽ GATE Gas Station
📍 NW 13th St.
🕐 Open 24 hours
An ice cream-and-topping bar where you can fill up for a flat $5.

🍨 Kilwins Chocolate and Ice Cream Shop
📍 Celebration Pointe Ave.
🕐 11:30 a.m. – 10 p.m. (varies by day)
House-made ice cream and chocolates, right by the Regal movie theater.

🍧 La Diperie
📍 SE 1st St., Downtown
🕐 1 p.m. – 9:45 p.m. (varies by day)
Dip your ice cream in toppings like cookie dough, mango and red velvet.

👉️🔗 Click the link in the comments to see the full guide.

Red, white, and blue- 3 ways ❤️🤍💙. We’ve got 3 festive, layered popsicle recipes perfect for the 4th of July!

👉️🔗 Click the link in the comments to view the full recipes.

Are you making Fourth of July plans? 🎆 We’ve rounded up all the spots in the Gainesville area to catch fireworks and 4th of July celebrations. ⁠
⁠
👉️🔗 Click the link in the comments to see the full list.

📝 Florida elementary students (grades 2-5) will soon be learning cursive under a new state law.

👉️🔗 Click the link in the comments for the full story.