How to have a great weekend without going broke: 7 family fun ideas for fall

1. Arrange a homemade dinner

A family dinner is a good occasion to gather loved ones at one table, discuss news, and share plans. While cafes and restaurants are not welcoming guests, practice your cooking at home. A familiar feast can be turned into a whole performance. For example, arrange a master class on the preparation of your signature dish. Or, if the size of the kitchen allows, ask all family members to participate in the preparation of the dinner: one cleans and cuts, the second conjures by the oven, the third follows drinks and entertains the audience with funny stories.

Autumn is a great time for theme parties. The same Halloween will appeal to both adults and children. It is not necessary to have a hearty meal - to create an atmosphere, it will be enough to cook a couple of "scary" snacks and make a funny pumpkin lantern.

If you don't feel like standing by the stove at all, arrange a dinner for yourself by delivering your favorite dishes from the restaurant. Each of these services has a variety of loyalty programs. For example, you can get a discount by completing the simple conditions of the promotions, or save money using promotional codes and coupons.

2. Watch movies all day

For one weekend, forget about rush, productivity and daily routine. Sleep, stock up on snacks and watch your favorite movies. Sounds great, right? But what if you arrange a themed evening and revisit the whole Lord of the Rings or introduce your family to your favorite films of your childhood?

Think about which room it will be more comfortable for the whole family to sit in. If you want to recreate the atmosphere of a movie theater, look for a projector and a fabric screen - surely some of your friends have one. Throw blankets and pillows everywhere. For a soft and cozy evening light, you can adapt New Year's garlands or light candles. Discuss in advance with your family what films and genres will be included in the program of the film day, and try to take into account the interests of each family member.

The surest way to quickly find the perfect movie you want is to buy a subscription to a good online movie theater. You can save a lot here. In fact, each of them has joint promotional programs with other services - banking products, cellular tariffs, supermarkets. According to them, you can get a subscription for free or for symbolic money. Feel free to search for promo codes or use free trial periods.

3. Go out of town without gadgets

Another option for a relaxing family weekend. It is especially good when the November rain outside the window and the city becomes unbearably dreary. If you do not have your own summer cottage or country house, you can rent them. Outside the city, it is especially pleasant to bake pies from autumn vegetables, go to the bathhouse, breathe fresh air in the forest, or just read books.

Try to devote one evening not to current problems and news, but to discuss the literature you read. Share with your close ones your thoughts about the book that hooked you, reflect on the problem that the author wanted to raise. Ask the children about their literature preferences. Such conversations in a calm and peaceful atmosphere are akin to psychological relief.

To save money, it is best to order books from online stores or large marketplaces. Usually there are always promotional offers. It is also useful to keep track of the sales schedule. So you can buy something as a gift or add a copy you've been hunting for in your bookshelf.

4. Arrange an autumn photo session

You can hire a photographer, but the cheapest option is to do it yourself. Fortunately, modern smartphones and photo editors allow you to take pictures as well as professional ones. Head to the fall park or snap a few shots as you walk around town. The juiciest photographs are usually taken by accident, so keep your camera ready. Do not be afraid to entrust the technique to children: explain how to correctly build a composition, how to fit both people and a picturesque background into the frame. Explain the importance of lighting and color rendition.

Finished photos can be printed, attached to a family album or framed. And thanks to such photo shoots, you can come up with a cool picture that you will repeat every year. Over the years, your children will be able to enjoy watching how they grew and changed.

5. Go hiking

If the weather permits, get out on the shore of some picturesque lake before it is covered with ice. Take fishing rods and BBQ set. Dress warmly, preferably in waterproof clothing and shoes, because it is colder in nature than in the city. A must-have for any autumn hike is thermoses with hot tea or coffee.

If you decide to stay in nature for a couple of days, take care of the gear and equipment for the camp. A summer tent is not suitable for night frosts, so get a winter tent in advance, two-layer, with aluminum arches that can withstand the pressure of strong winds. The mat should also be two-layer, not thinner than one and a half centimeters, and the sleeping bag should be synthetic, with an extreme temperature in the region of minus 18-25 degrees.

Also bring along thermal underwear, several pairs of warm socks for the whole family, raincoats, flashlights and extra shoes.

A one-day hike is one of the most budgetary types of recreation; you will have to spend only on gasoline and food. But if you like extreme sports, do not buy equipment, but rent it from specialized rental centers. It will come out significantly cheaper.

6. Make bird feeders and do birdwatching

At the beginning of autumn, it is still easy for birds to find food for themselves, but with the onset of the first cold weather, they need help. If you like to craft something, you can put together wooden houses. There are simpler and cheaper options: the feeder can be cut out of a cardboard box of juice or cookies. Raw seeds, millet, millet, oatmeal, acorns, nuts, finely chopped fresh apple are suitable as feed. On frosty days, you can additionally put a piece of unsalted bacon or butter in the trough. But it is not worth feeding bread: the digestive system of birds is not able to digest yeast dough and such food causes them health problems.

This type of recreation is suitable for families with small children. Tell them how important it is to take care of nature. Flip through guides that describe the birds in your region, go hang houses and watch the birds. By the way, birdwatching is an interesting and completely free hobby. In addition to sparrows and pigeons, bullfinches, titmouses, jays, blackbirds and a dozen more different birds will fly to your feeder. And if you leave the trough with acorns and nuts in the forest, you might be lucky enough to watch the squirrels.

7. Organize competitions in games

Get out your game console and home lotto barrels! One of the most fun ways to keep your family entertained at home is to organize a game marathon for the entire weekend. Children will be delighted if mom and dad offer to play a couple of games in "Twister" or fool around in "Crocodile". Do you prefer mind games? "Monopoly", checkers, chess, "Erudite", "Quirkl" and other board games will not let you get bored on an autumn evening. As a prize, you can play the choice of a movie or dinner, and also assign everyday “wishes” to the losers: dust, walk the dog or wash the dishes.

Tired of board games? Move on to gadgets. Surely you or your friends have a console gathering dust idle. Even if you don't find a console, you can turn your old laptop into a gaming computer using cloud gaming services. As a rule, there is free content on such platforms, but the most top features are available after paying for a subscription. In order not to spend too much, check if the service has promotional codes, referral or affiliate programs. In some cases, you can get premium access without spending a single ruble.