Quality family time is important for parents and children alike. Along with hours of fun, spending time together helps to bring families closer and foster the creation of lifelong memories. There are a number of ways to approach spending time with your family, many of which people are quite familiar with. Whether it is exciting trips or glamorous excursions, our first thoughts of quality bonding time can often come with a steep price tag. Fortunately, there are a number of ways to enjoy the company of your loved ones without paying a pretty penny to do so. To save on your next family day, consider these cheap ways to have fun.

Family Game Night

A super easy and fun way to spend time with your family is having a family game night. There a wide variety of games to pick from that could meet your family’s needs and adding an element of competition can make for some great memories. You can opt for the old-fashioned board games like Trouble or Clue or even step up to something a bit more interactive like Gestures or Speak Out. With older kids, some popular board games include What Do You Meme? and Cards Against Humanity. You can even make family game night a weekly activity to give yourselves a regular time to sit down and have fun together. Work your way through different games or go for the family favorite. Playing a simple game with your family is a great way to have a blast for little to no money.

Family Exploration

A little physical activity is a great way to keep the family active and can add a new element to the time you spend together. For your next family outing, consider a leisurely bike ride or walk. Either provides a great chance to explore, allowing you to take in familiar surroundings or push out instead to new territory. Each trek out could be its own adventure as you and your family navigate new paths. The added bonus of exploration is that it provides you and your family a bit of time outside of your home. Not only does walking or riding come at no cost, the time you spend outside of your home allows you to power down your electronics and get away from devices. In a sense, this powered down period cuts off your electricity consumption and is a great way to save during summer.

Movie Night

Movies are great for spending an hour or two entranced by unique and captivating stories. For families, they are a fantastic way for getting us engaged in the same things and stirring within us the same emotions. As a result, films are a way to connect with your loved ones. Grab some popcorn and candy and get together for a family movie night. You can all agree on a film or rotate who gets to pick. Even better, for kids and other impressionable youngsters, movies can teach lessons or reinforce important messages which transcend time and space. For parents with old school movie tastes, you may find your kids develop a love for the films you enjoyed in your youth. Simply grab a disc, throw it into the DVD player, and enjoy the time you spend with your family.

Picnic

Another way to spend time with your loved ones in the great outdoors is putting together a picnic spread and dining outside. You can make a checklist and assign everyone a job, from making the sandwiches, to packing the napkins and utensils, and grabbing the blanket. From there, it’s just a matter of finding a nice spot and enjoying the beauty of nature and each other’s company. You can pack some things to do together like crosswords and Mad Libs or you can bring along a football to toss around. Picnics do not have to be anything more than a simple meal and quality time. That means aside from some extra snacks, you do not have to go out of your way to buy food or anything else to bring. It’s an extremely cost-efficient family activity. If you really wanted to, you could allow the kids to bring some toys as big as ride on cars for kids so that they stay entertained.

Make A Movie Together

Something that will be fun for the whole family is making a movie together. Everyone can play a part as you write out a script, scope out the sets, and shoot. You would have needed a camcorder and some movie making software in the past but in this day and age, a simple cell phone and the preloaded movie editing software that comes on most desktops is all you need to put together your project. And while there is fun to be had during the making of the movie, a priceless bonus is being able to look back on your movies after years have passed.

Bake Together

Nothing beats the smell of something sweet cooking in the oven. Though typically the job of preparing desserts is left to adults, getting your kids involved is a great way to spend time together without having to spend any money. As you cook let kids read off the directions and teach them the process of measuring ingredients and following instructions. With your batter or icing in hand, you can give everything a quick taste test to ensure it is up to par before throwing it into the oven. Once everything has finished cooking and cools off enjoy the treats that everyone contributed to. You can even challenge yourselves to try and put together something a bit more elaborate after a bit of practice with easy recipes.

Douglas Keller has been a financial expert for 20 years, helping people reach financial stability. He now provides personal finance tips on his blog Peak Personal Finance, where he helps people save money on their bills every month.
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