One of the absolute best things about the holiday season is that it’s the time of year when you can sit back and spend some much needed quality time with the ones you love the most. However, one challenge can be that if you spent a lot of money purchasing Christmas gifts (oh, and lots of food to feed everyone), the finances can be a bit limited when it comes to keeping everyone entertained.

If you’re looking for a few fun and inexpensive holiday activities, ones that the whole family can enjoy, we have enclosed five ideas below that will create lasting memories without burning a hole into your wallet:

Watch Movies

Thanks to Hulu, Netflix and On Demand, you don’t have to spend $100 to take the whole family out to the movies. You can enjoy a wide variety of them right from the comfort of your own home. If it’s a new movie, you can rent it for less than the price of a matinee admission. If it’s an oldie, there’s a pretty good chance that you can find it on On Demand for free.

Cook Together

Cooking can be a lot of fun when everyone is involved in the preparations. This year for Christmas, rather than leaving everything up to mom, how about having each person pick a dish that they will cook or bake? You can even video tape it and host a bake-off where the best-tasting dish wins some kind of prize.

Go Outdoor Camping

OK, this idea would probably be contingent on where you live because you definitely don’t want to spend all night in below freezing weather. But if it’s around 40 degrees Fahrenheit and above, it can be fun to go into your backyard with a tent, some warm soap and cocoa, a telescope and a flashlight to read some Christmas stories to one another before falling asleep in your sleeping bags.

Decorate Your Tree

Differently. For many families, it’s a tradition to go out and pick a Christmas tree and some stockings for the mantle (you can get  codes at RetailMeNot.com and MyCoupons.com). This year, why don’t you start another one with your family by using pictures instead of Christmas ornaments? It can be fun to have each family member pick out 5-10 of their absolute favorite family photos and then photocopy and frame them so that they can hang them on the tree. It is a beautiful sentiment for your family and a wonderful centerpiece for all who come to visit over the holiday season too.

Play Board Games

Sure, it might not sound all that original, but in the world filled with cell phones, iPads and Wii, honestly, when was the last time that everyone in your house turned off anything with an “on/off” switch and played some board games? It can actually be a lot of fun to play Monopoly, Twister or Life—games that you have probably forgotten all about but thoroughly enjoyed playing before.

Quality time is something that you can never put a price tag on. This year, make sure to make the most of it with the ones that you love.

What kinds of activities do you do with your family during the holidays?