Okay, maybe not zero cost, but a little creative planning can launch your family on an adventure without breaking those already stressed bank accounts.
Plan a camping trip: in your backyard. Break out the sleeping bags and plan a night under the stars in your own backyard. Kids love flashlights and you can find them on the cheap … so wrap up a flashlight for each child, along with a calendar with the date marked for your big backyard camping trip. Commit, and give them something to look forward to until spring!
If you don’t want to wait until spring, Maggie Mackay suggests planning a family camp-in! “Yep, we set the tent up in the family room! We play flashlight tag, dance in the dark, tell stories, do microwave s’mores, snuggle in the tent and watch a movie or play a game! It's lots of fun!!” For under the tree? How ‘bout a box with s’mores fixings, a special DVD and the date of the "camp in” written in big green letters?
Your cousins in Florida keep asking you to visit? Your college roommate lives two states away and you’re yet to meet her new baby? Now is the time to say YES, we’d love to come! Kids like to know where they are going and who they are meeting, so create a little photo book with pictures of your friends and the town where you are going. Add a map with the route highlighted with a few fun stops planned along the way.
Shannon Blackwell likes playing tourist in her own town and turning it into a game. “First, go online and research the places you're going. Arrange little icons of the stops on a Bingo card pattern and pass them out to your kids. Then, head out for the day. First one to get Bingo wins.” The under the tree gift? Easy … the Bingo cards!
Take your "around town adventure" one step further and create a scavenger hunt suggests, Marie Rossiter. Place “clues at each stop that lead to the next. Include parks, playgrounds, a neighbor's house, even a local shop or two with the clues that lead to a final destination of fun – a picnic, bowling, mini golf, ice skating, sledding, etc.”
Jessica Harbor lets her Elf on a Shelf surprise the kids with "golden tickets" for a van tour of neighborhood light displays. “We don't tell the kids until they're already in their pj's, and then they find the tickets on their pillows. The van is stocked with hot cocoa, scones, and Christmas carols and my husband and I plan a route ahead of time. When they find the tickets, we all load up and drive around for about an hour or so.”
“Involve the neighborhood and plan a moving party,” suggests Katy Haney. Partner up with a few other families, preferably those within walking distance. Each participating house has a kid-themed activity and food. Plan to stay for only about 30 minutes at each stop and be prepared, the kids will be “really exhausted by the end of this great adventure!” An invitation to the moving party is a perfect gift.
