Do you want to have fun with your family this weekend but think you can’t afford to do or go anywhere?  Well, don’t worry, there are plenty of cheap or free ways to entertain your family, none of which include sitting in the house staring at the television.

The following are just a few of the free and fun activities you can do with your family.

Create a Photo Album

Let you kids take pictures of whatever they want… or pick a theme for your photo album, such as “Big Trees”, then drive out to the country or walk around your own neighborhood and have the kids take pictures of all of the really big trees that they can find.

The themes for your photo album are virtually endless.  After the picture-taking is over, print them out and make an album.  Have your kids add captions to the photos as you place them in your new album.

Making a photo album is easy, inexpensive and fun! And makes a great keepsake.

Go Backyard Camping

Do you love to camp but feel like you can’t afford to go anywhere?  Your backyard can be the perfect camping getaway.  Look at the stars, tell ghost stories and pretend you are camping in some exotic place.

The great thing is if the weather gets bad or someone decides that camping is scary, you can just go into the house and have a campout in your living room.

Hunt Out Garage Sales

Load up the car and hunt out garage sales in your local area. Even if you don’t have any money to spend, it can be fun driving around and finding the next garage sale, looking at all of the stuff… and who knows, you just might find that something special that you have been looking for.

Go on a Road Trip

You don’t have to have a ton of money to go on a road trip with your family.  You can go on a “half-tank road trip,” which is where you take the smallest, non-interstate road(s) you can find and just drive using only a quarter of a tank of gas…then take a different route back home using another quarter tank.

This way you get to go on a mini-road trip and it won’t cost you a fortune… especially if you have a car that gets great gas mileage.

Pack a lunch and stop along the way and have a picnic.

Volunteer

There are no doubt plenty of ways for your kids to contribute to their community. One great way is to volunteer at your local homeless shelter. Also, many towns have gardening clubs that clean up and plant plants in local public spaces.

Your kids can have fun playing in the dirt or pulling up weeds, and older kids can help plant seeds and other plants. Another great way to volunteer and have fun doing it is at your local animal shelter or animal-rescue organization. You could even take your kids to visit the elderly at a retirement home.

Here are a few more ideas for having a cheap (but fun) family weekend activity:

–          Drive by Construction Sites

–          Visit a Pet Store

–          Go Hiking

–          Visit the Library

–          Visit a Museum

–          Have a Family Meeting…to figure out many more cheap family weekend activities!

With a little thought and imagination, you can find many fun, exciting and best of all, cheap weekend activities for the whole family!