How to plan an awesome family fun day outing

I love a good family fun day! On a nice Saturday, I like to pack up my crew and get out to explore somewhere new, whether it’s a park, a museum, or a festival. Of course, every parent knows that it’s easy to daydream about this kind of family bonding time, but harder to actually make it happen. Here are my top tips for planning an awesome family fun day outing so you can actually make it happen and have a memorable day that everyone will love.

Picking a place to go on your family fun day 

First up is the legwork: know what options you have for family outings in your area. While you can do this the morning of, that lends itself to loops of “I don’t know, what do you want to do?” over and over again, and missing out on opportunities that you didn’t know about until it was too late. 

Instead, I recommend sitting down at your laptop and taking a few minutes to research in advance. Keep a list of ideas. I created a Notion template for this, which you can make a copy of here. The template makes it easy to filter your ideas for indoor vs. outdoor activities; free vs. paid activities; activities that you’ve never done before; and activities that don’t require reservations.

I would also create a Google Calendar for local events. That way when a festival, concert, or workshop pops up that you might be interested in, you can keep track of it. By separating it into its own calendar, you can hide it day-to-day, and only make it visible when you’re looking for ideas for your family fun day. 

As for where to do your research, here are some resources I use to find family fun day ideas:

• This list of 99 family outing ideas
• For events check the websites of concert and events venues directly as well as events aggregators such as Eventbrite, Meetup, Ticketmaster, etc.
• 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. Many locales have tourism websites that are helpful for locals, too.
• 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. 
• Places you’ve been before and loved – of course, you should always make time to revisit old favorites. We live near Washington, DC and my kids love visiting the National Postal Museum over and over!

Planning logistics for your family fun day

Once you’ve chosen your outing from your customized list, it’s time to plan the logistics for your day out so it can go as smoothly as possible. Preferably, do this the night before. Here are things to think about:  

• Plan your transportation – if you are driving, where will you park? If you are taking public transportation, what is your route, and are there any timing constraints? 
• Plan your food – I prefer to pack a picnic whenever possible, which often means making sandwiches and pulling out non-perishables the night before. Make sure you remember water bottles, other drinks, snacks, paper plates, plasticware, a trash bag, and wipes for sticky hands. 
• Plan what else you need to bring. My kids are out of diapers now, and for those of you still in the trenches: I can promise you it gets easier to get out the door! I suggest keeping a checklist in your phone of items to bring whenever you go out for the day. It might include:
  • Diapers, wipes, and bags for diapers
  • Changes of clothes for kids…and maybe adults for messy activities. Consider changes of shoes for some activities; for example, hiking followed by a restaurant
  • Weather-appropriate gear such as hats and mittens, raincoats, or sun hats.
  • Sunscreen and bug spray
  • Activities to keep kids busy in the car
  • Phone chargers
  • Allergy or other medical items
  • Hand sanitizer
• Share the plan with your partner – make sure you’re both on the same page about what your family fun day will look like, including when you plan to leave, where you’ll go, how much it will cost, and when you’ll head home.

Time to get your list of family fun day ideas started!

What family fun day activities are you looking forward to with your fam?