Fun ideas for weekends

[smilie]

What are some fun things you do on the weekends? Budget friendly ideas?

 

[Tinijocaro]

What are the ages of your kids?

 

[clh2]

Local farmer's markets are fun to go to! Some by our house have entertainment too!

 

[C.Ann]

Pack a picnic lunch and go for a long ride somewhere near your home that you haven't explored before..

Have you ever researched your own area online - as though you were a tourist coming to town for the weekend - to find out what there is to see and do? Sometimes we live in a place so long, we never take the time to explore what is right in our own "backyards" (so to speak)..

Who would be going along for the fun? Ages? Restrictions?

 

[PBF199]

ok so we.....go to WDW!!!!

we bought a membership to our local Science Center (AKA a Touch museum). it was $125 for a 1 yr family membership. The nice thing about this is since we live in Orlando, we also have access to the other Science Centers in nearby cities. At $15-$20 per adult or child this thing pays for itself in 2 - 3 visits and the kid learns stuff (us also).

check out this site www.astc.org. you may be able to do this with children's museums also.

A cheesy thing we do sometimes, and this only works because the kid likes to eat new things, is go to a specialty or ethnic market and pick out something we've never tried before and go home and cook it. You can kill 2 hours in the market and then another hour or two making and eating whatever you've found. IF you have internet, doing the research about that country or ethnicity eats up a lot of time also. Just don't go on an empty stomach.

 

[FireDancer]

We have a great park system around us and a National park a short drive away. Growing up we used to all go hiking or biking in one of the parks and would often bring a picnic. All it cost us was the gas to get there since our parks are all free.

 

[ms.yt]

Geocaching! My family loves it! Except for the gas you use to get to the caches, it's totally free.

 

[npmommie]

Local farmer's markets are fun to go to! Some by our house have entertainment too!

LOL, I thought we were the only ones who liked to do this! we go to an afternoon/evening one, it has entertainment, the kids love it, and I can shop around and they play with the other kids that are there

ok so we.....go to WDW!!!!

we bought a membership to our local Science Center (AKA a Touch museum). it was $125 for a 1 yr family membership. The nice thing about this is since we live in Orlando, we also have access to the other Science Centers in nearby cities. At $15-$20 per adult or child this thing pays for itself in 2 - 3 visits and the kid learns stuff (us also).

check out this site www.astc.org. you may be able to do this with children's museums also.

A cheesy thing we do sometimes, and this only works because the kid likes to eat new things, is go to a specialty or ethnic market and pick out something we've never tried before and go home and cook it. You can kill 2 hours in the market and then another hour or two making and eating whatever you've found. IF you have internet, doing the research about that country or ethnicity eats up a lot of time also. Just don't go on an empty stomach.

we do this too, its a great deal, and pays for itself , its great

I also second the idea of discovering new parks or tourist attractions in your area. that is always fun.

 

[NHdisneylover]

An astc membership is FANTASTIC if you live anywhere near one (or more) of the centers. In some states the centers will not honor each other's cards within a certain radius so you should check into that as well if you live near several.

In addition to the many good ideas listed by PPs:

Check out your local library There are often story, craft or game times on the weekend. Sometimes puppet shows and the like as well. Also, in some areas you can check out passes to local museums/planetariums/etc at the library for free entry. Most libraries will also have a bulletin board which will have information on other free or low cost things going on in the community.

Go letterboxing (letterboxing.org). It is like geocaching without the need for any high tech equipment. It is fun and you are likely to discover some good parks or hiking trails you may not have otherwise known about.

Pack some snacks and cheer on the children of your friends and neighbors when they play baseball/soccer/etc.

Check with local theatres to see if they need ushers to work in exchange for seeing the show for free.

If you live near a university, check their newspaper for free concerts, lectures, etc. If they have a good marching band my kids used to love taking a picnic and watching Purdue's practice years ago. Many university sports matches are also free or low cost.

 

[Squidgyness]

We live about 30 mins away from the North York Moors Railway system.

We park at the end, walk 2 stops up the path that meanders alongside the railway (somtimes follows, other times doesnt) and then get a train back. Costs about 10 pounds a day including a drink and railway tickets.

You get to see the nature, take a steam train, and watch the world go by.

Sometimes we go to York (BIG market city) and take in the old Roman walls there, or to the lake district (has a lot of lakes).

I'm sure there will be some good nature walks near you.

They are always cheap days out, especially good in the summer.

 

[polkadotsuitcase]

What great ideas!

We usually pull out the map and see what's in a certain radius, depending on how far we want to go. Then we figure out any lures each area/little town might have -- a park, an unusual attraction, etc. -- and head for it. We'll take the back roads rather than just flying down the highway. It's just fun hanging out with the family, chatting and sightseeing locally.

We're also into camping, so sometimes we'll just go check out campgrounds we haven't been to before.

 

[PatsGirl]

Beach, kayaking, bike trail, Cape Cod baseball league games, bbqs on the deck where everyone brings something and host provides the dogs and burgers (happens nearly every weekend somewhere), window shopping on the main streets of some of our more upscale towns/commons, just sitting and reading a book on the deck