41 free family activities (that are out of the house!)

Sometimes it feels like the act of leaving the house itself costs money. But there are still plenty of free family activities and outing options – you just have to plan ahead.

Here are 41 ideas for free family activities, plus some tips for planning a successful weekend outing, summer activity, or day trip. And for those times when you’re willing to spend some cash, check out the full list of 99 family outing ideas.

How to plan free family activities

With a little planning ahead, you can avoid the Saturday-morning drag of “what are we going to do today” and maybe even “why is it taking us two hours to get out the door”, and set yourself up for a day of fun and togetherness.

To plan ahead:

• Check event calendars for your area regularly, looking ahead. Then note any free events that you’re interested in on your calendar. If you have any favorite venues nearby, such libraries and nature centers, check their calendars directly. I keep a Google Calendar for “local events” of things I’m potentially interested in but haven’t committed to, so I can hide the calendar in the app when we’re just going about our day-to-day, and show it when browsing for ideas to fill an empty Saturday.
• Keep a list of ideas you’re considering – for example, parks and museums you’d like to visit. I made a Notion template to make this easy, so you can filter for indoor vs. outdoor activities; free vs. paid activities; activities that you’ve never done before; and activities that don’t require reservations. You can grab a copy here.
• Food is expensive, which is why my motto is “always be picnicking.” I love to pack a lunch for my family to bring along on an excursion, to save on overpriced options out and about. This is a good opportunity to slip in some drinks, chips, and/or desserts that may not be part of your typical rotation, to have something enticing and keep you away from food vendors.
• Pack up the night before. In addition to your lunch, pack a backpack with water bottles, snacks, and weather-appropriate gear like gloves and sweatshirts or hand-held fans. Load strollers in the car, if relevant.

41 free family outing ideas

Now, let’s get to those ideas! I’ve broken them up into places you can go, divided by indoor and outdoor places, and “make-your-own-fun” ideas which are creative prompts for a fun time rather than specific places to go.

Indoor ideas 

1. Go to a museum – many have a cost, but be sure to look for free museums in your area, free days, and offerings through schools. In some locales, your local library may offer passes for you to visit museums.
2. Go to the library – a perennial favorite! Take time to browse and to sit and read books. Check websites and calendars for storytimes, events, lectures, play groups, etc. Mix it up and visit different libraries in your area, too!
3. Visit a nature center – don’t sleep on nature centers. The ones near me are like mini versions of the things we love about libraries and museums, and they’re all free…and we often have them all to ourselves. We like to see animals, color, play with toys and puzzles, read books, do nature-focused activities, and ask lots of questions about animals to the endlessly-patient volunteers and staff.
4. Find a free sporting event – your best bet will be less popular sports at universities, but browse around and wee what you can find.
5. Learn to play a new game at a tabletop/board game store – check out family-friendly events to learn a new board or tabletop game. There are often free options, depending on the store or event.
6. Volunteer at a food pantry, soup kitchen, or other resource in your community and enjoy quality family time while giving back. Seek out websites that collect volunteer needs for your area to find unique opportunities, like animal care or cleaning up historical sites.
7. Find free workshops at craft stores, home improvement stores, libraries, etc. to build or make something together. 
8. Visit a fire station – I was surprised to learn that the closest fire station to me has open hours every day. Others may have an open house day once a month or special events, fire safety presentations, and tours.

Outdoor ideas 

9. Go for a hike – okay, I love hiking. And let’s go with a definition of “hiking” that my cousin (hi Danny!) came up with: a hike is a walk that you drive to. Boom, not intimidating at all! Depending on your climate, you can go hiking almost any weekend of the year. There are so many beautiful trails, whether to a mountain peak, a river, or simply through the woods. Start with smaller hikes and get exploring. 
10. Find a free concert – see whether there are any free outdoor concert series in your area, or locations that have free entertainment. I would be remiss if I did not mention community bands
11. Go for a bike ride – whether around the neighborhood or exploring somewhere new.
12. Go to the beach – most kids love the beach. Bring your favorite picnic and snacks and enjoy. Don’t count out beach days when it’s too cool to swim. Those have been some of our favorites. 
13. Go mudding in a creek with your rain boots on. I mean, mentally prepare yourself for the cleanup afterward, but kids love exploring water, so I think it’s worth it. Bring one bag for treasures you find and another for collecting trash.
14. Have a picnic – the most flexible activity on the list. You can make your own fancy sandwiches and salads, or grab takeout pizza on your way. Picnic somewhere with a beautiful vista or simply a park you haven’t visited in a while. Remember to bring balls, frisbees, kites, and bug spray!
15. Find an outdoor movie screening to attend – these are generally during the summer, and can be a fun way to enjoy the outdoors while relaxing and munching on popcorn.
16. Play on a playground – search for favorite playgrounds in your area to try something new. Pro tip for parents: once your kids are big enough not to need shadowed on every piece of the equipment, keep camp chairs in your car to sit in at playgrounds with a lack of benches, and bring a thermos of coffee to sip.
17. Go to a splash pad or spray ground – same vein as a pool, but often free! Like above, bring your own chair, plus plenty of towels. A couple of plastic cups can extend playtime at a splash pad, and perhaps sidewalk chalk for when they want to switch things up. 
18. Go geocaching – it’s like a treasure hunt, wherever you are. Learn more here.
19. Find historical sites near you – depending on the site, of course, some of these will be indoors. Once you’ve visited any popular sites, try finding smaller niche sites. You’ll avoid crowds, and sometimes have staff or volunteers all to yourselves for kids to ask their burning questions. 
20. Go hunting for shells or rocks on a shore or in a park near you. Bring bags to put all your treasures in.
21. Go bird watching – Audubon has tips for beginning bird watching. You can do it almost anywhere!
22. Go foraging for mushrooms – depending on your confidence, you can get started with a mushroom identification book or app, or else find a guide or friend to take you out and identify the mushrooms in your area that are safe to eat. Here’s a guide for more mushroom safety.
23. Feed ducks at a pond – find ducks at a pond near you. Note that ducks should not be fed bread or crackers. Better options include cracked corn, oats, rice, birdseed, sliced grapes, frozen peas or corn, and chopped lettuce.
24. Walk around a neighborhood you’ve never been to – pretend to be tourists, or pretend to be locals. Stroll and explore, and brink a drink to sip while you’re at it.
25. Visit a university campus – campuses are hubs of activity, and often have options even if you’re not a student. Check for tours, museums, libraries, archives, dining halls, gardens, and historical sites, plus any events that may be family-friendly. 
26. Volunteer to walk dogs at a shelter or humane society – be aware that some organizations will limit volunteers to ages 18 and older, so be sure to find out the age requirements for your shelter.

Make-your-own-fun ideas

27. Drive around looking at Christmas lights – obviously only relevant for a portion of the year, but one of our favorites to do in the Christmas season. I swear this kept me sane during the COVID winter of 2020. We make hot cocoa for the drive and listen to Christmas music in the car. Look for websites or articles for your area that round up the destination houses that go “all out”.
28. Wander around a large store, like a home improvement store, salvage store, plant nursery, IKEA, etc. Consider making a scavenger hunt or taking photos as you walk through, to give you something to do besides fill up your cart.
29. Have a car picnic – just because it’s raining doesn’t mean you can’t have a picnic! Find an overlook or water-side location to park and crank up the tunes.
30. Make a scavenger hunt – or print one you find online. It could be anything – particular cars you see; types of dogs; items to spot in nature; items of different colors; articles of clothing you see people wearing; items starting with different letters of the alphabet; etc. Walk (or even drive) around and check off the items on your list.
31. Turn errands into an outing — it can be fun for kids to visit somewhere they don’t typically get to go, like a recycling center, dump, bank, post office, car wash, etc. Try to see your errand in a new light and explain the details of how everything works to your children.
32. Play Pokemon go – or a similar virtual reality game that gets your family out and exploring the real world. 
33. Visit an elderly relative or neighbor – consider bringing a newspaper or book to read to them, or a simple game to play with them. Or visit a nursing home and chat with someone new.
34. Participate in a community cleanup – or simply pick up trash in your neighborhood or at a park. 
35. Play photographer – find a scenic spot and take photos of nature and of each other. If you need more picture-taking devices, consider a kids’ camera. 
36. Park at the airport – watch planes land overhead. Pair with taking photos and a picnic.
37. Craft in nature – bring watercolors, brushes, and papers to a table at the park. Or collect items like sticks and leaves, then glue them to cardboard to make a collage. 
38. Find an outdoor spot to make a music video – choreograph a dance, or act out what’s happening in the song, or make a more abstract video to go along with the music. TikTok has made things a little more polished and formal in general, but the weird train-of-thought music videos I made with friends in college would be more up my kids’ alley.
39. Create a video tour of a favorite spot near you – pretend you’re making a travel guide or a documentary. Have your kids do the narration. 
40. Bring your favorite indoor activities to the park – sometimes you need a change of scenery, but that doesn’t mean it has to be a completely different activity from home. Bring bubbles, chalk, a deck of cards, a chess board, a stack of books, or a puzzle to the park with you.
41. Go “day camping” – set up camp with chairs around a fire pit at a park. Grill food and s’mores, throw a frisbee, run around, and enjoy sleeping in your own bed at the end of the day.

How to find the best family activity ideas near you 

While this list has hopefully provided ample ideas you can use anywhere, you’ll want to make your personalized outing wish list with destinations near you. To get ideas, check out:

• Local newspapers and magazines – whether digital or on paper. 
• Blogs and websites local to you – for example, in my area of Northern Virginia, Dulles Moms compiles an event calendar and roundups of recommendations for activities, often featuring free ideas.
• Atlas obscura – a compilation of unique, odd, and hidden gem destinations.
• Reddit – find the subreddits for your local area, which may be a town, city, or region. Search past posts for recommendations or post to ask for your own. My local subreddit also has a weekly thread for “what’s everyone doing this weekend?” for more ideas.
• Facebook – similarly, join Facebook groups for your area, which may help uncover smaller events that don’t make it to the newspaper or magazines’ radars.
• Wikipedia “nearby” – I’ve run across a few interesting historical locations by checking out what Wikipedia articles are about places near me.
• Google…and Google maps – it goes without saying that you can Google “free things to do near me”, “free things to do with kids near me”, etc. I’d also recommend opening Google maps and searching for things to do or other categories. It may uncover smaller locations that don’t have enough of a digital presence to show up in the main search engine results.
• Volunteer opportunity sites – check out sites like VolunteerMatch, JustServe, or volunteer roundups for your locality to find family opportunities. 

The best way to make a bucket list with your favorite free family activity ideas

Hopefully, your mind is now abuzz with all the fun things to do near you! Make sure you track your ideas, so on any given weekend, you can find the perfect activity without spending an hour at your laptop.

I created a Notion doc to track my personal ideas for my family, which I’ve published as a template so you can use it, too. Here’s a quick tour:

• Make a list of all of your ideas
• Easily filter by indoor ideas, outdoor ideas, free ideas, places you’ve never been, and activities that don’t require reservations
• Use built-in research ideas
• Get a random idea the template has pulled from your list for a spontaneous adventure!

If you use the Notion template, I’d love to know what you think.

What did I miss? What do you and your family like to do for free?