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?
Great tips! I can vouch for the family game night. It is a fun way to spend time together that doesn’t involve electronics.
I agree. While Wii’s and things are fun, I definitely think there needs to be a balance with the interactive non- electronic activities.
Great ideas! We had a movie marathon on Christmas Eve and it’s a favorite tradition of mine if there’s no family obligations that night. Relaxing, cheap fun for everyone!
What did you guys watch?
We did some cooking and some crafting, we made ornaments this year out of old puzzles found at the thrift store. Hiking and walking is a huge way we spend time. She knows how much I wanted to walk on Christmas day so she walked with me in the morning. She was so sure we would be the only ones out there. We weren’t and it was fun to pass by and actually say Merry Christmas to strangers on Christmas Morning. I think she got a kick out of that. We watched a couple movies from the library as well and then spent time with family. It is all about family and I love your ideas. I love your site and come back as often as I can… every day! 😉
That sounds like such a great day. I am glad you two enjoyed yourselves. We played a ton of board games with family and had some awesome laughs. My parents played Cranium for the first time. It was hilarious.
Ps: Thanks for the blog compliments. It means a lot that people like the site and enjoy what they read. That is always my goal.
Very good tips. We do watch a lot of movies, mostly through Library rented DVD’s. Biking is also one of the most frugal and fun activities for couples.
I love biking although my husband doesn’t like doing it in the city. Too much traffic for that country boy. I am working on him though.
Thesr are my family’s traditions! (Minus the camping, we live in NY). My kids also like to make gifts for people. My daughter beaded jewelry for everyone this year.
I bet the jewelry looked really nice. How sweet of her. I guess we are cut from the same mold for traditions. That is awesome!!