Great topic, Stacey! I agree with you about flying kites on the beach. When I lived in the SF Bay Area, this was a super fun, relaxing way for the family spend a weekend afternoon, and it cost us absolutely nothing. If you don’t live near the beach, local parks are great too. These days, I’m lucky enough to have access to park areas that have river views. Water views + free family activities = highly recommended!
Playing tourist in your area can be lots of fun too. Of course there will be the obvious places like museums or local attractions, but for my family some of the best days were the ones where we all just piled into the car and went “exploring.” We would go for a drive, somewhere off our well-beaten path, and “discover” a tucked away small town. We would have a great time walking around and learning about it. Cost: just the price of gas and maybe a snack along the way.