Are you trying to figure out what to do with your family over a long weekend? Fortunately, there are plenty of fun activities that everyone can enjoy.
The great news is that you don’t have to spend lots of your hard-earned money to have fun on your weekends. Check out these ten amazing long summer weekend ideas and choose what you like the most.
1. Go camping
Long weekends are the perfect time to go camping. You can enjoy two nights out in the wild with your family. Local parks and campsites are great places to sleep out, but they do tend to get crowded over holidays, so call ahead.
If there’s no room at the local campgrounds, you can just set up a tent in the back yard. It might not be nearly as exciting, but it is still a thrill for small children and the change in sleeping arrangements can be fun.
2. Try your hand at geocaching
Who doesn’t like treasure hunts? Geocaching exists all over the world and can provide you with an excellent weekend adventure. Go online to find a cache near you. Use your GPS to help you find the cache.
Each cache will have a log book to write your name in, but some also include trade items. You can leave something small for the next person to find. It can be an exciting activity for the whole family.
3. Hold an epic scavenger hunt
Grab some friends and hold a scavenger hunt. If you want to make it truly epic, include items that will require traveling by car to find. For example, you might have a river rock on the list, requiring scavengers to head to a nearby river.
Make the list as long and complicated as you want and hand it out to teams of friends. You can have a prize for the first team to retrieve all the items on the list, or just do it for fun. Host a barbecue at the end to celebrate the fun had.
4. Enjoy hiking
No matter where you live, there is probably an area to hike nearby. Local parks, national parks and beaches are all excellent places to enjoy a walk. Plan ahead and take plenty of picnic foods so you can stay out all day.
Perhaps the best thing about hiking is that it’s a great activity for everyone, including your dog. Plus, it has amazing health and weight loss benefits.
5. Do some random acts of kindness
Brainstorm with the family to come up with ideas for random acts of kindness. These can include everything from paying for the person behind you at a drive-thru window or dropping off some cookies with a new mother to shoveling someone’s driveway without them asking. You can come up with lots of small acts, or just a couple of big ones, depending on how much time you want to dedicate to the project.
More: 10 Incredibly Fun Summer Family Activities
6. Fly somewhere new
If you can afford to visit an absolutely new country, then why not? Broaden your horizons, discover new places and learn new things. Traveling plays a crucial role in personal development and helps improve your life.
7. Learn a new skill
What have you always wanted to learn? A long weekend gives you plenty of time to master a skill.
You can take a class if it’s available or ask a friend to teach you. Youtube and books can also help you learn something new. Learning a new language can be a good option, by the way.
8. Be couch potato
Everyone needs to relax sometimes. Just make sure you don’t spend a whole summer on the couch.
9. Volunteer
Soup kitchens, homeless shelters and animal shelters are just a few of the places you can volunteer with your family. Take some time to give back. You won’t regret it.
10. Become a local tourist
See the local sites, visit heritage museums and enjoy the area. Let’s be honest, most of us don’t know all of the landmarks of our native towns, so now is the perfect time to explore the new places and revisit the old ones.
More: 10 Low-Cost Ideas for a Summer BBQ
A long weekend doesn’t have to be boring. In fact, those three days can hold a lot of excitement if you plan ahead. Use one of these ideas or come up with your own to keep your family busy this summer.
Do you have any other long weekend ideas?
