Fun Father's Day Ideas - Affordable Ways to Celebrate!

It's almost Father's Day! Here in the Philippines, we honor the pillars of our homes every third Sunday of June. Of course we honor, respect and love the dads in our lives every single day but we still set aside one special day for them each year to celebrate their existence in our lives.

Every year, I try to come up with ideas on how to surprise the father of my kids, nothing grand or fancy but something that will make him feel extra special and loved. If you need ideas that are fun yet affordable, I have listed a few things below to help you make this day memorable not just for the celebrant but for the entire family!

Write a letter
This one is easy to do and will cost you nothing. You can write a letter to remind your father or husband how much you appreciate him. You can even ask help from kids! If they do not know how to write yet, you can just hand them papers and crayons and ask them to draw something for dad. My kids do this for my husband and they paste it somewhere inside the house where my husband can easily find them when he gets home from work. A back rub while they read the letter will make this extra special!

Uninterrupted Me Time
We all know how hard parenting can be and lets add to that the stress from trying to make a living, making sure that the rent is paid and that there's food on the table. Giving them a much needed me-time will be very much appreciated.

Give them a DIY coupon that says "Free 4-hour pass to go play basketball." or "Get out of the house! Jog, play DOTA, or billiards. Just have fun and stay safe!".

While they're at it, try to avoid interrupting them with texts like "Be home by 10. Or else!" or "Please drop by at the supermarket and get a dozen of eggs and a bag of sugar before heading back home." Let them enjoy their free-time.

Picnic at the park.
Another thing that you can do is to celebrate the day with the whole family by going on a picnic. Go to Plaza Independencia, find a shaded area and set your picnic mat! Let the kids run wild and watch them have fun with your dear husband. You can even run along with them! For food, you can just bring chips, sandwiches and water. If you have extra cash, go inside Fort San Pedro. Entrance fee I think is less than 50 bucks and inside the museum-park, you will see historical artifacts from how the Philippines came to be the country that it is now. My family and I have done this a few times and we all enjoy it!

An afternoon at the beach!
There are many public beaches here in Cebu where you don't have to pay exorbitant entrance and cottage fees to enjoy the day. Just pack sandwiches, chips, lechon manok, puso, and you're good to go! Don't forget to bring a tent or large mats and just set these up under the shade of the trees if you do not want to spend for cottages. Public Beaches with no or minimal entrance fees: Vaño Beach and Hadsan Cove in Mactan/Lapu-Lapu area and Pooc Beach in Talisay. If you are okay spending for bus fare, there's Tingko Beach in Alcoy and Basdaku in Moalboal.  

Visit Cebu Zoo
Visit Cebu Zoo as a family and have your pictures taken with the wild animals. Great educational adventure and awesome way to bond with dad and the kids. What's more awesome is that the entrance fee is very minimal! When we went there, entrance fee for adults is 25PhP and 10Php for the kids.

Special dinner or lunch at home

When I say special, I do not mean expensive dishes. I mean, any food prepared with love and shared by the entire family. Use that special table cloth that you have in the cabinet meant for special occasions, bring out your nice plates and glasses and decorate the table with flowers picked from the yard. Even fried fish and pancit will do as long as there's love! Instruct the kids not to fight on the table just for this one day. You know what I mean, right? :) Say grace before the meal and make sure to thank the Lord for the wonderful family man in your presence.

Lastly, You will never go wrong with cake!
Greet the dads in your life with awesome personalized but affordable Father's Day cakes from Chedz! Dad's day is fast approaching so better place that order now!

I'm pretty sure that your husband or father will appreciate whatever plans you have for them on Father's Day. Remember, it's the thought that counts!

Enjoy!

Jhanis V. - Top 10 Blogs Voice Boks Comedy Edition, featured on BlogHer.com, HumorWriters.org, Bloggys 2015 - Finalist, Family and Relationships Category. She blogs at The Vanilla Housewife and The Cebu Gazette.