The weekend is looming, but you still don’t have any plans. The kids are asking you what you’re going to do for family time, but you just don’t know. Don’t panic, here are three simple and cheap ideas to save your weekend and make family time fun.
Treasure Map Your Hike
Pick a place that you’ve been to as a family a few times before, somewhere with clear paths and a couple of interesting landmarks (a lake, an old tree, a sculpture). Draw a “treasure map” of the route you’re going to take, and mark some of the landmarks as treasure spots. Your kids will be super excited to start the walk! When they reach each treasure spot on the map, hand over a candy bar or a dollar to spend on a treat at the end. You will turn what might be viewed as a boring, old walk into something exciting and challenging.
Make a Nature Documentary
If you have an old phone or an iPad with a camera, take the kids to the local park and ask them to create a documentary about some of the wildlife there. It might be the ducks in the pond, the dogs off-leash, or the bugs in the flower patch. The documentary needs to be interesting, informative, and most of all entertaining! Watch their doc together at home, and tell them how proud you are of their camera skills and nature knowledge.
Pick a Day
Get each family member to write down their ideal day trip on a slip of paper. Put them in a hat, shake them around, then ask the youngest member of the family to choose a slip. Whatever is written on the slip, that’s what you’re doing. This will avoid accusations that the decision isn’t fair and stop you from having to plan a day out.