Each season I let my boys’ pick out some bucket list items they want to do on break. One of our frugal summer bucket list ideas was to allow the kids to plan the day. At first I was apprehensive because I did not know what they would plan, or how it would turn out.
In addition to this, I felt like there needed to be boundaries. Such as no money spent, or a certain amount of money spent. My kids were planning big things like an arcade, movie and other places that for larger families can be costly. After setting a budget boundary and being on the same page they came up with some great ideas.
Bucket List Lunch Plan
First we went to lunch as a family. This was a nice place. Affordable and something that each person could eat. Our kids chose this location because for me it is usually a “no”. Nothing really wrong with the place, we used to eat there all of the time and I wanted a break.
Therefore, since it was their day and their ideas, I had to eat at the restaurant they picked. Like I tell them to not complain I had to practice what I preach. Lunch turned out to be good, and I was able to find something on the menu I had not tried before.
Active Indoor Games As A Family
We don’t usually play wild games in the house because with four boys’ it can get a little rowdy. But, since this was part of their frugal summer bucket list we allowed them one game. This game we played as a family turned out to be one of the hits for the day. It was so much fun to play this on a cold and rainy day outside.
The game we played was “Murder In The Dark”. To play the game everything has to be dim and dark. So we turned out the lights and covered the windows with sheets. Yes, I allowed it because they knew we were going to love it. So cards are laid out for each person. One card for each person and two of them have to be kings. Nobody can see your card. After the last person has pulled their card, and no more are left on the table, everyone hides.
After everyone has hidden, whoever has drawn the Kings crawls out from the hiding spot to go search for the other’s . Here is the reason for it being dark. Trust me, searching around the house for nooks and crannies where people are hidden is hard. When you do run across someone, if someone else see’s you find them they yell “Murder in the Dark”. Then everyone returns to the meeting room. Each person works through who they think is the murderer until a vote is taken. If one murderer is revealed play continues the same way to flush out the second murderer. It is a variation of clue and hide and seek. We played this game for several hours.
Find A Good Summer Bucket List Movie
It was ironic that they picked the weekend the “Garfield” movie was released, but they had movie passes they received at Christmas. My husband and I only had to pay for our tickets. It was a frugal summer bucket list movie, and we only had to buy popcorn and drinks. By this time I was starting to get tired. We had done church, ate lunch, ran around the house for three hours and then went to a movie.
I was glad it was a movie that I liked, and the kids love Garfield. Summer movie hits are always good for a bucket list. Everyone enjoyed the film for the win.
Kids Plan The Day Bucket List
After the movie we headed home. It was late, so as they had more time left before bed they asked if we could do an arcade championship. They wanted to run it like the playoffs or something. Our basement holds an arcade game with a lot of different 80’s video games. My 15 year old wrote out the sheet of who would play whom and the final championship round.
Several games later we ended up with a winner. Somehow it felt a bit unfair to me because I really had not played any of the games since I was very young. If you want to plan a day the kids’ will remember and enjoy as a family I definitely recommend letting them plan the day. Make it a “yes” day.
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One suggestion — if you’re bringing toys to play with, label them. If you don’t want to put a name, do put some little mark that you can identify.
I’ve walked away from pool noodles and hotwheels cars and other things that I absolutely knew were ours, but my kids had set them down and someone else’s kids had picked them up and I wasn’t comfortable asking for them back when I couldn’t point out that they were ours.