Cheap Family Fun: 5 Ideas That Won’t Break The Bank

Looking for some ideas for cheap family fun?

Yes, parents, it is possible. See what the author of today’s contributed post has to say.

*******

Spending time with family and having fun together is what we’d all prefer to do, but it’s not always easy to come up with something new and exciting.

Particularly not when the budget is rather tight – sure, heading off somewhere would be great but everything is so expensive.

Luckily, there are a few ways to have fun as a family without having to spend all of your savings. That way, you can enjoy each other’s company without having to feel guilty about spending the money you were supposed to be saving.

Here is a handful of great things you can do together this weekend in case you need a few ideas for cheap family fun to get you going.

Related to cheap family fun:

• How To Make Money For Your Next Family Vacation 
• 12 Tips For Going On A Long Road Trip
• 5 Ways to Save for Your Next Vacation
• Want A Cheap Rental For Your Next Vacation? Try AirBnB!

Enjoy the outside world

You can easily take your family out for some fresh air even though it’s cold outside, you know. Just make sure that they’re all wearing enough clothes and pack a few chocolates to tempt them out.

By spending time in nature when it’s not summer, you’ll get a whole new appreciation of the colder season – and it doesn’t cost anything at all.

The only things you need to budget in might be food, something warm to drink, and perhaps a new rucksack if you don’t have one of those. Go for a walk, have a picnic afterwards, and enjoy the snow if your area has been lucky enough to see the first snow of the season yet.

Remember to bring the dog as well, by the way; he or she is a part of the family, after all.

Cook together

This one is easy for cheap family fun:

Cook with the family.

Families that cook together tends to raise children who know how to take care of themselves and who don’t spend too much money. The kids can help out as well, by the way, even if they’re too young to handle a knife.

Just let the youngest one rinse off the herbs and vegetables, tear the lettuce, and put small items into the dishwasher. He or she will feel like a proper little chef.

If you have children above the age of four who are still a bit too young to cut things with a knife, you might want to consider allowing them to use a plastic knife. With this one, they can easily slice up soft vegetables such as mushrooms, tomatoes and eggplant. Plus, you’ll be able to get started on building up their chef skills a bit sooner.

Baking is also a great way to spend the weekend together without really spending money. The kids will love it as well, by the way, as long as you’re not baking one of those health-breads instead of the mandatory brownies.

Have a look at this article to learn more about just how your kids can help out in the kitchen and make you enjoy cooking just a bit more. Also, be sure to follow this meat doneness guide to ensure your burgers and steaks are properly cooked.

Check out the local area

While you have probably been around the neighborhood and knows what’s going on, there is definitely a lot of different community stuff happening that you should check out.

The benefits are, in fact, many: you won’t have to travel far with the kids since it’s all happening in walking distance from your home, it’s usually for free since it’s a community event, and you will get the chance to interact a bit more with your local area.

Maybe your children meet a new best friend or perhaps you’ll actually enjoy getting to know the neighbors a bit more. Have a look if there is anything happening during those special nature events such as an eclipse, have a look around the web to see if there is a boat raise on the river when spring arrives, or just head out there to join the others build that snowman.

It’s for free, it’s social, and your kids will definitely love it.

Buy some scratch cards

When you’re out of things to do on a Sunday but would still like to have some fun, you should consider introducing your children to scratch cards. They’re easy enough to understand even when you’re little and the youngest ones can also help out with the scratching as long as you make sure that they don’t swallow that coin.

Get them engages in the lottery as well, by the way, and gather around the television like they did back in the old days; have a look here for some more info. Just make sure that everyone knows that this is for fun, mostly, and the chances for winning are so small that it’s basically impossible.

Still, playing the lottery and getting engaged about it with your family can be a lot of fun. If you should win something small, you can always spend it on taking your family out to do something that’s even more fun next weekend.

Teach your kids a new skill

Another great way to have some cheap family fun:

Teach your children a new skill.

Your children still have a lot to learn and you probably have something to teach them. Think about something fun that you know how to do well, such as stitching, drawing, painting or woodwork, and spend an afternoon on it together.

You might have to bulk up on some supplies, though, but other than that it won’t cost you more than your own bright mind. Think about other things you’re good at as well that might not come to mind immediately; photography, for example, is something that your older kids would probably enjoy.

Conclusion: Cheap family fun is actually possible

Having fun with your family doesn’t have to cost that much, after all, as long as you have a few plans up your sleeve.

Drop those expensive plans this weekend and have fun outside together instead.